ASIC has published its 2026 enforcement priorities, and if you’re an authorised representative, there are a few items on that list that deserve more than a quick scan.
This isn’t about theoretical regulatory risk. These priorities describe where ASIC is actively looking – and some of those areas sit squarely in the day-to-day work of insurance brokers.
What the priorities actually say
The formal media release confirms three themes that are directly relevant to brokers: fairness in insurance pricing and product distribution, claims and complaints handling, and harm to small businesses.
ASIC has also been explicit about expectations beyond technical compliance. Recent enforcement speeches signal a “strong growth in enforcement” across financial services, with an expectation that regulated entities can demonstrate how they treat customers fairly – not just that they’ve ticked the right boxes.
Where the real gaps tend to appear on the ground
In practice, the compliance risks for most ARs aren’t dramatic. They’re quiet and cumulative. The most common gaps we see are thin file notes that don’t record the reasoning behind advice, pricing conversations that focus on the headline premium without documenting coverage trade-offs, and claims handling processes that aren’t consistently applied across the book.
Each of these is exactly the kind of thing ASIC’s current priorities are designed to surface. “Harm to small businesses” in the insurance context isn’t just about mis-selling – it includes situations where a client didn’t fully understand what they were getting, or where a claim outcome could have been better managed.
What you can do right now
A few practical steps that don’t require a compliance overhaul.
First, review your file note discipline. For each piece of advice, can you clearly show the options presented, why you recommended what you did, and what the client understood and agreed to? If a regulatory query landed tomorrow, would your files answer those questions?
Second, look at your pricing communication. When you present renewal options – particularly in a softening market where clients might be tempted to trim coverage – are you documenting the coverage trade-offs alongside the premium movement? A note that says “client accepted lower sum insured to reduce premium” is better protection than no note at all.
Third, map your complaints and claims handling process. Is it consistent? Do clients know how to escalate? Are you tracking themes across your book, or treating each complaint as a one-off?
Compliance isn’t a burden – it’s a business signal
At Better Broker, we think about compliance as one of the clearest indicators of professionalism in this industry. Brokers who document well, advise clearly, and handle claims consistently build practices that are more defensible, more sustainable, and more attractive to clients who have options.
Our compliance and regulatory support framework is built to help ARs stay on the right side of both the rules and community expectations – through regular audits, guidance on documentation requirements, and direct support when regulatory queries arise.
If you’d like to sense-check your current compliance processes against ASIC’s 2026 focus areas, get in touch.