Insurance Council of Australia
When a Significant Event declaration occurs, the Insurance Council’s preliminary data collection and stakeholder engagement catastrophe processes are activated, assisting the ICA and insurers to better assess the insurance impact of a particular event.
A Significant Event may be escalated to an Insurance Catastrophe if there is a material increase in claim numbers or complexity, if the geographical spread of this event is extended or in consultation with insurers.
Insurers support Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ decision to designate the Bondi attack a Declared Terrorism Incident (DTI) under the Terrorism Insurance Act 2003.
The Treasurer’s declaration activates the Terrorism Reinsurance Pool (TRP) and overrides terrorism exclusion clauses in eligible insurance contracts, meaning businesses will be able to claim any damages arising from Sunday’s devastating attack in line with their policy terms and conditions.
The TRP is operated by the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (the ARPC).
On 16 December 2025, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) declared the Bondi attack a Significant Event.
On 28 October, the Insurance Council declared a ‘significant event’ for the hailstorm that impacted the wider Brisbane region on Sunday 26 October 2025, activating the ICA’s preliminary catastrophe processes including insurance claims data collection, analysis, and stakeholder engagement.
On Wednesday, 5 November, this event was extended to include the hail and strong winds that impacted south-east Queensland between Friday 31 October and Sunday 2 November.
On 2 February, the Insurance Council declared a ‘significant event’ for regions of North Queensland impacted by severe storms and flooding.
The impact of flooding has been felt most significantly in communities in and around Townsville, Innisfail, Ingham, Gordonvale and Cardwell, however all regions impacted by flood in North Queensland and Far North Queensland since Wednesday 29 January fall under the significant event declaration.
An Insurance Hub was established on 5 February to assist policyholders on the ground in Townsville.
As flood waters recede, roads reopen and the clean-up begins, insurers expect claims numbers to increase. In the short-term, claim numbers will be reported daily on the Insurance Council’s X page.
* As at January 2026
The Insurance Council declared the 3-8 April storms across NSW and QLD, which largely impacted the Hawkesbury-Nepean and Illawarra regions, a Significant Event on 10 April.
* As at May 2025
On 16 February 2024, the Insurance Council declared a Significant Event for the February 14 Valentine’s Day storms across regions of Victoria.
* As at May 2025
On 29 May 2023, the Insurance Council of Australia declared a Significant Event for the Hunter and Central Coast regions of New South Wales impacted by hailstorm on the afternoon of Friday 26 May.
* As at April 2025
The Insurance Council retrospectively declared the River Murray Floods SE 225 in its 2023 annual Catastrophe Resilience Report. Making a declaration at this stage reflects the unique characteristics of this event – a ‘blue sky’ flooding event. While this event had a relatively low number of claims, the severity is apparent when considering the very high average claim cost.
Read more in the ICA’s 2022-23 Catastrophe Report, published September 2023.
* As at April 2025
On 15 November 2022, the Insurance Council of Australia declared a Significant Event for parts of Central West NSW impacted by flooding since 12 November. The impact of flooding was felt most significantly in communities surrounding Central West NSW, in particular Cowra, Forbes, Condobolin, Eugowra and Molong.
* As at April 2025
On 5 July 2022, the Insurance Council declared a Significant Event for regions of New South Wales impacted by severe storm and flooding. The impact of flooding was felt most significantly in communities surrounding the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers, however all regions impacted by flood in New South Wales since 1 July fell under the SE declaration.
* As at April 2025
