Lawyers call for mental health focus at RC

Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) spokesman Josh Mennen said in a statement that the treatment of those with mental health ailments by the insurance industry is an “important issue” that the commission needs to consider.

“We believe there are systematic problems in the way people with mental health conditions are treated by the insurance industry,” he said.

“The insurance industry needs to be asked to explain its practices and have these decisions externally reviewed by the royal commission.”

Mr Mennen said some insurance clients have had their policies cancelled after disclosing mental health conditions to their insurers, even in cases where it was a “minor or one-off incident”.

“We have also seen examples of clients who have not disclosed a mental health issue and have had their policies cancelled, even when their condition is minor and could just have resulted in a small variation to the policy,” Mr Mennen said.

“With almost half of all Australians likely to experience a mental health issue at some stage in their life, such discriminatory practices will impact many people.”

The ALA said the insurance industry needs to become more transparent in the way it handles these issues, and that the royal commission presents an opportunity for the treatment of mental health conditions by insurance firms to be properly examined.