Treasury Laws Amendment (Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance and Other Measures) Bill 2025; Third Reading

Summary

Life insurance companies will be banned from using genetic test results to decide whether to offer coverage or what terms to charge. The ban applies to the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 and is enforced by ASIC (the financial regulator), with criminal offences and civil penalties for breaches. The Discrimination Act 1992 is also updated to align with this protection. This protects people who undergo genetic testing — whether for personal health reasons or as part of medical research — from being denied insurance or charged more based on those results, which should encourage more Australians to participate in genetic testing and medical research knowing it won't affect their life insurance options.

What happens at this stage

The final vote in this chamber on the bill as a whole, after all amendments have been considered. If it passes, the bill moves to the other chamber to go through the same process. If both chambers have already agreed to identical text, the bill proceeds directly to Royal Assent.

Next: The other chamber, which runs the same process from First Reading, or Royal Assent if both chambers have already agreed