---
title: "2027 Insurance Brokers Code of Practice: what changes for brokers"
url: "https://getcurium.com/news/2027-insurance-brokers-code-of-practice-what-changes-for-brokers/"
published: "26 October 2026"
author: "Tetiana George, CEO & Co-Founder"
publisher: "Curium"
description: "NIBA's 2027 Insurance Brokers Code of Practice starts 1 January 2027. Compare 2022 vs 2027: 14 sections, 28-day renewal notice, dollar remuneration on request, and what applies from 2027 versus 2028."
---

# 2027 Insurance Brokers Code of Practice: what changes for brokers

NIBA's 2027 Insurance Brokers Code of Practice starts 1 January 2027. Compare 2022 vs 2027: 14 sections, 28-day renewal notice, dollar remuneration on request, and what applies from 2027 versus 2028.

The 2027 Insurance Brokers Code of Practice, launched by the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) on 19 October 2026, takes effect on 1 January 2027 and replaces the 2022 Code. It grows from 12 sections to 14. Several of the biggest client-facing changes, including dollar remuneration on request, the 28-day renewal notice, vulnerability support and the catastrophe response, have a 12-month transition and must be met in full by 1 January 2028.

**2022 vs 2027 Insurance Brokers Code: what changed?**

| Topic | 2022 Code | 2027 Code | Applies from |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Sections | 12 | 14 | 1 January 2027 |
| Conflicts of interest | Spread across four sections | One section (Section 6), including claims authorities and an annual review | 1 January 2027 |
| Contingent remuneration | — | Brokers must not receive it from an insurer when acting for a client (clause 7.6) | 1 January 2027 |
| Renewal notice | 14 days | At least 28 calendar days (clause 8.2) | 1 January 2028 |
| Remuneration on request | — | Any client, any product, as a dollar amount (clause 7.2) | 1 January 2028 |
| Strata remuneration | — | Automatic disclosure for every service to an owners corporation, including what is paid to the strata manager (clauses 7.1 and 7.3) | 1 January 2028 |
| Vulnerability and catastrophe | — | One framework in Section 9, including contact after a declared catastrophe (clause 9.7) | 1 January 2028 |
| Records | — | Section 10; baseline record-keeping applies from commencement | 1 January 2027, with some clauses 1 January 2028 |
| IBCCC annual reporting | — | Annual compliance report required by the Code (clause 13.2) | 1 January 2027 |

A dash means the 2027 Code does not state the 2022 position. NIBA's published map from the 2022 Code to the 2027 Code will. Applies-from dates come from clause 2.2 and Schedule 1 of the Code.

**When does the 2027 Insurance Brokers Code take effect?**

On 1 January 2027. Obligations not listed in Schedule 1 apply from that date. The Schedule 1 obligations, which need new systems, processes or training, must be met in full within 12 months. During that period a broker must keep complying with the equivalent 2022 obligation, take reasonable steps towards the new one, and answer any client request for information the new obligation would require. A broker that cannot comply in time may ask NIBA for up to six more months, must ask before the 12 months end, and must tell the IBCCC it has asked.

**What changes for clients**

**Remuneration in dollars on request.** Any client can ask what their broker is paid, whether the client is retail, wholesale, strata or a business of any size.

**Earlier renewal notice.** At least 28 calendar days, up from 14, from 1 January 2028.

**Recorded once.** A broker must ask consent to record a client's vulnerability so they do not have to repeat it.

**Help after disasters.** After a declared catastrophe, brokers must contact affected clients as soon as they reasonably can and offer to help them lodge claims.

**Strata.** Owners corporations get automatic disclosure of remuneration, including amounts paid to the strata manager. Three consumer groups that left the consultation in July have welcomed the final changes.

**What does the new Code change for brokers?**

Brokers need documented conflicts policies reviewed at least annually, including their remuneration arrangements. They must report annually to the IBCCC on their compliance, give every client a copy of the Code, train staff on the Code at least once a year, and require representatives to report breaches within five business days. The IBCCC can direct a compliance audit at the broker's cost, require corrective advertising, publish the broker's name, or refer the matter to ASIC. NIBA will provide implementation guidance and a plain-English guide for clients.

**The conflicts section is built on ASIC's RG 181**

The Code says so itself. Its definition of a conflict of interest is described as consistent with the framing in ASIC Regulatory Guide 181, and NIBA's February 2026 member consultation paper proposed a standalone section aligned with RG 181.

Section 6 follows the same shape as the three tools in RG 181, which ASIC reissued on 16 December 2025: identify conflicts (6.1), avoid the ones that cannot be managed (6.2), disclose to the client (6.3), and manage the rest with the client's consent (6.4). Clauses 6.2 and 6.4 set the standard by cross-reference, requiring conflicts to be managed "in accordance with the law", including the client's best interests, rather than restating a test.

The Code goes beyond that framework in a few places: the ban on contingent remuneration in clause 7.6, the duty to stop acting where a conflict cannot be managed, specific rules for claims authorities (6.5), and the annual review of remuneration arrangements (6.6).

For brokers, the practical point is that one conflicts framework can answer both the law and the Code. The records point is similar: baseline record-keeping is already an obligation for licensees, and the Code says so.

**Remuneration disclosure is still contested**

The final Code gives every client the right to ask for remuneration in dollars. Automatic disclosure is narrower. It applies to Retail Products for individuals and small businesses, and to every service for owners corporations. The Code lists the Retail Products as motor vehicle, home building, home contents, sickness and accident, consumer credit, travel, personal and domestic property and medical indemnity, so most commercial covers sit outside it.

That is the point the IBCCC chair, Oscar Shub, raised about the draft in his submission to the federal inquiry into small business insurance: small businesses buy many products that are not retail products and so are not covered by automatic disclosure. The inquiry is scheduled to report on 27 October 2026.

The Code is a professional code enforced by the IBCCC. NIBA rejected making it contractually enforceable in its January 2026 response to the independent review, and the Code states that nothing in it limits a client's rights under the law.

**The breach data points to a detection gap**

The IBCCC's 2025 Annual Data Report counted 5,417 breaches of the Code. Remuneration disclosure breaches rose from 42 in 2023 to 334 in 2024. Five of six brokers that declared zero breaches in 2024 later recorded breaches in their 2025 Annual Compliance Statements.

**Six steps to take before 1 January 2027**

Sort every obligation into two lists: applies from 1 January 2027, or listed in Schedule 1 and due by 1 January 2028.

Keep meeting the equivalent 2022 obligations during the transition, and be ready to answer client requests the new clauses would cover.

Reset renewal diaries across the whole book for 28 calendar days' notice by 1 January 2028.

Build a process to answer a request for remuneration in dollars, and decide where the evidence sits.

Review conflicts policies and remuneration arrangements, and check contingent remuneration arrangements against clause 7.6.

Put vulnerability policies and training in place, delivered at induction and refreshed annually, and decide early whether you need to ask NIBA for extra time.

Automatic remuneration disclosure does not apply to every product or file, so monitoring should be calibrated to where the Code actually requires it. Curium's compliance platform brings Broker Code and AFSL obligations, controls and registers together, helping brokers track changes and manage compliance in one place.

**Curium's compliance platform.**

[Click here](https://getcurium.com/products/compliance-platform/)

**Frequently asked questions**

**When does the new broker code start?** 1 January 2027.

**How many sections does the 2027 Code have?** 14, up from 12 in the 2022 Code.

**What is the new minimum renewal notice?** 28 calendar days, up from 14, from 1 January 2028.

**Can clients ask what their broker earns?** Yes. Any client can ask and receive the answer as a dollar amount, with the obligation applying in full from 1 January 2028.

**Is remuneration disclosed automatically?** For Retail Products to individuals and small businesses, and for every service to owners corporations. Other clients can ask.

**Is the 2027 Insurance Brokers Code enforceable?** The IBCCC enforces it through sanctions. It is a professional code and does not give clients contractual rights under it.

**Who monitors compliance?** The Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee (IBCCC).

**Is this the same as the General Insurance Code of Practice?** No. That code is the Insurance Council of Australia's and applies to insurers.

**Sources**

[Insurance Brokers Code of Practice 2027](https://niba.com.au/hubfs/2027%20IBCOP/2027%20IBCOP%20v9_FINAL.pdf?hsLang=en-au), NIBA (clauses 2.2, 6, 7, 8.2, 9.7, 10, 13 and Schedule 1)

[Insurance Brokers Code of Practice Review](https://niba.com.au/code-of-practice-review), NIBA

[New broker code launches with stronger disclosure and transparency obligations](https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/au/news/breaking-news/new-broker-code-launches-with-stronger-disclosure-and-transparency-obligations-593985.aspx), Insurance Business Australia, 19 October 2026

[Broker code dispute puts mandatory regulation back in focus](https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/au/news/breaking-news/broker-code-dispute-puts-mandatory-regulation-back-in-focus-590832.aspx), Insurance Business Australia, 23 September 2026

[NIBA's new strata broker rules win over consumer groups](https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/au/news/breaking-news/nibas-new-strata-broker-rules-win-over-consumer-groups-594108.aspx), Insurance Business Australia, 20 October 2026

[RG 181 AFS licensing: Managing conflicts of interest](https://asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/find-a-document/regulatory-guides/rg-181-licensing-managing-conflicts-of-interest), ASIC, 16 December 2025

See how Curium can help your brokerage manage its obligations and prepare for the 2027 Insurance Brokers Code of Practice.

**See Curium in action**

[Book a demo](https://getcurium.com/book-demo/)

**Author:**  
**Tetiana George**, CEO of Curium, Co-Chair of Insurtech Australia and member of ASIC Digital Finance Advisory Committee. [LinkedIn Profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tetiana-george-%EF%BC%88%E6%A2%85%E7%8E%89%E7%91%9B%EF%BC%89-88756760/).