It was announced over the weekend that options to reduce household insurance costs and fix an unfair funding model for emergency services will be put to a NSW parliamentary inquiry.

While emergency services benefit everyone, most of their funding comes from a levy that not everyone pays.

Currently, the burden of paying for the ESL is unfairly placed only on those who take out property insurance. The cost of this levy for residential insurance has increased 48% from 2017-18 to 2023-24, adding pressure on household budgets.

This was experienced by households across Lismore and the Northern Rivers following the 2022 big flood. Including the ESL as part of property insurance has been a discussion point locally for nearly four years, and finally, the wheels of government are beginning to turn.

The government says it is committed to removing the Emergency Services Levy (ESL) and replacing it with a simple and transparent levy spread across all properties.

All mainland states, apart from NSW, have implemented property-based levies to fund their emergency services.

In November 2023, the NSW Government committed to reforming the ESL. The parliamentary inquiry will build on extensive public consultation carried out since then, and seeks to develop a consensus and strengthen support for the reform’s direction. 

To inform the inquiry process, the Government will release an options paper which includes five levy model options. This follows a comprehensive collection of property-level insurance policy data and land classifications performed by local councils under legislative amendments.

In designing the reform, the Government is also committed to protecting pensioners and vulnerable members of the community and ensuring a revenue-neutral model for sustainably funding emergency services agencies.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said, “This is an important step in moving funding for emergency services to an equitable and sustainable footing that cuts the cost of insurance.

“The parliamentary inquiry will provide an open and transparent forum to test the proposed framework and ensure stakeholder perspectives are meaningfully considered.

“We want to work with the Opposition and the crossbench to plot the last leg of this journey. This system funds services that protect all of us – and it is time for all politicians to work together to reform it.”