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Sustainability reports
Our material topics
We conduct an annual materiality assessment to inform our enterprise-wide sustainability priorities, strategy setting and risk management processes.
The material topics we identified in FY23 are:
Affordability and Availability of insurance
Inadequate insurance cover due to affordability issues or lack of suitable insurance products
Many people have inadequate insurance cover due to affordability issues, a lack of understanding around the level of protection they require, a lack of suitable insurance products, or due to different needs and vulnerabilities acting as barriers to being able to access insurance. We are conscious of the affordability challenges facing our customers and know that inadequate insurance reduces the ability of individuals, communities and our economy to recover from adverse events. As a major insurer, we have a responsibility to ensure insurance remains accessible and affordable. Increasing risk makes this a key challenge for IAG. We recognise the need for us to ensure products are in place to meet customers’ and community needs. . We also need to assist customers and communities to understand the level of protection they require. If we focus on our purpose, we will not only improve the resilience of our current customers and communities, but also open new market opportunities for IAG.
Disaster resilience and emergency response
Community preparation, adaptation, and response to the impacts of natural disasters and climate change.
Australia and New Zealand have recorded multiple extreme weather events in the past 12 months, with $10,203 million in claims paid out across IAG. We see first-hand the impact that increases in frequency and severity of extreme weather is having on our customers and communities. By supporting our customers to be more resilient to extreme weather, we can help reduce the impacts physical climate risks have on them and our business.
To support our customers we share our claims data analysis and extreme weather insights through targeted research and brand-led initiatives, including the NRMA Insurance Wild Weather Tracker. This helps people to understand their risk, suggests actions they can take to be better prepared, and provides access to tools and resources that help them put these actions into place. We cannot deliver this change alone and have a long history of partnering with experts, including the Australian Red Cross, South Australia State Emergency Service, Resilient Building Council, Australian Resilience Corps, GIVIT, and Habitat for Humanity in New Zealand.
Climate change
Risks and opportunities of a changing climate, and the social and financial impacts of natural disasters.
Climate drivers and weather systems impacting our communities are already influenced by human caused climate change. Our research indicates the frequency and severity of extreme weather is likely to be strongly influenced by climate change over much of the 21st century. . We are there when extreme weather events occur and pay out appropriate claims to help our customers and communities recover. As a result, climate risk presents challenges for the sustainability of our business – but it also creates significant opportunities. We are well-positioned to use our industry expertise to help customers, partners and communities understand and manage the changing risk environment, build resilience and navigate the just transition to a low carbon economy.
Trust and transparency
Erosion of confidence or trust in institutions due to fraud, corruption, or other dishonest behaviour.
Building trust and maintaining transparency fosters strong and enduring customer relationships. A transparent approach to business practices supports the perception of IAG as reliable and trustworthy, with the potential to attract more customers and business partners.
Materiality approach
Guided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, we completed a full materiality assessment in FY22. We identified material topics using a range of sources, including: our internal risk team and Enterprise Risk Profile (ERP), the World Economic Forum Global Risk Report, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), relevant sustainability standards, and peer activities.
Using these topics, we engaged with customers, employees, partners, shareholders and the communities in which we operate to prioritise the topics based on their impact on the economy, society and the environment and their potential to affect our business performance.
Identification > Prioritisation > Validation
In FY23 we re-examined the outcomes of the FY22 assessment with a customer survey and a review of industry and global socio-economic trends. Engaging with our customers helps us to understand if their priorities have changed, and where IAG is best placed to influence the impacts of our material topics. The survey provided customer sentiment insights that support the prioritisation of our work:
- Climate change increased in importance for our New Zealand customers relative to Australia, reflecting the impact of the North Island floods and ex-Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle in early 2023.
- A heightened focus on natural environment, biodiversity and water scarcity, driven by more frequent natural peril events and a growing awareness of the biodiversity crisis.
- Increased focus on privacy and cybersecurity, driven in part by a series of high-profile privacy breaches in Australia in FY23.
The materiality process in FY23 validated that our four material topics remain consistent with the FY22 assessment: climate change; disaster resilience and emergency response; affordability and availability of insurance; and trust and transparency. These outcomes were validated internally and shared with our Sustainability Steering Committee. Our materiality process is also reviewed by KPMG as part of third-party limited assurance.
Further detail on how we are managing our material topics can be found on pages 8-32 of the FY23 Annual Report and throughout the FY23 Group and New Zealand climate-related disclosures, which can be found in the Sustainability reports area of this website.