1Name#
This instrument is the Insurance Contracts Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance) Regulations 2026.
2Commencement#
(1)Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
| Commencement information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
| Provisions | Commencement | Date/Details |
| 1. The whole of this instrument | At the same time as Schedule 1 to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance and Other Measures) Act 2026 commences. | 8 October 2026 |
Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.
(2)Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.
4Schedules#
Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1 · Amendments
Part 2 · Disclosures, misrepresentations and use of certain information
2 At the end of Part 2
Add:
Division 4 · Use of protected genetic information in relation to contracts of life insurance
13AInformation taken to be protected genetic information#
(1)For the purposes of subsection 33F(5) of the Act, information mentioned in paragraphs 33F(1)(a) and (b) of the Act about an individual is protected genetic information if the information relates to genetic testing of the individual (or a genetic relative of the individual) for any of the following:
(a)hereditary cancer predispositions, including (without limitation) Lynch Syndrome, Gorlin Syndrome, BRCA1- and BRCA2-associated hereditary cancer syndromes and Li-Fraumeni Syndrome;
(b)hereditary cardiovascular predispositions, including (without limitation) hypertrophic cardiomyopathy;
(c)hereditary haematological predispositions, including (without limitation) Factor V Leiden thrombophilia;
(d)hereditary neurological, neuromuscular and muscular predispositions, including (without limitation) Huntington disease and Friedreich ataxia;
(e)hereditary renal predispositions, including (without limitation) autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease and Alport syndrome;
(f)hereditary respiratory predispositions, including (without limitation) alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency;
(g)hereditary metabolic predispositions, including (without limitation) Fabry disease and familial hypercholesterolaemia.
(2)For the purposes of subsection 33F(5) of the Act, information about an individual is protected genetic information if:
(a)the information relates to a disease for which the individual, or a genetic relative of the individual, has received a clinical diagnosis; but
(b)no signs or symptoms of the disease have manifested in the person who received the diagnosis.
Note: This subsection has effect despite subsection 33F(2) of the Act (see subsection 33F(5) of the Act).
(3)Subsection (2) does not limit subsection (1).
(4)This section does not limit the things covered by subsection 33F(1) of the Act.
3 Part 4A
Repeal the Part, substitute:
Part 4A · Enforcement
39AInfringement notices#
Prescribed offences
(1)For the purposes of paragraph 75X(a) of the Act, each of the following provisions is a prescribed offence:
(a)subsection 33C(5) of the Act;
(b)subsection 33H(1) of the Act.
Prescribed civil penalty provision
(2)For the purposes of paragraph 75X(b) of the Act, subsection 33H(2) of the Act is a prescribed civil penalty provision.
4 In the appropriate position in Part 5
Insert:
43Application of amendments made by the Insurance Contracts Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance) Regulations2026#
(1)Despite the repeal and substitution of section 39A by Schedule 1 to the Insurance Contracts Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance) Regulations 2026, an offence against subsection 33C(5) of the Act is a prescribed offence for the purpose of paragraph 75X(a) of the Act regardless of whether the conduct constituting the offence occurred before, on or after the commencement of that Schedule.
(2)Nothing in Schedule 1 to the Insurance Contracts Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance) Regulations 2026 affects the validity of an infringement notice issued before the commencement of that Schedule.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at legislation.gov.au, © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Compilations may have been reformatted.