Of the health professionals surveyed, 76 per cent felt the moratorium resolved some of their concerns about genetic discrimination, but the majority agreed government intervention was needed, as did the vast majority of patients who were surveyed.
It has called for changes to the Disability Discrimination Act so that insurers cannot use genetic or genomic tests results for any policy and for the Australian Human Rights Commission to be provided with more resources to enforce the new obligations."Our research shows, overwhelmingly, that Australian stakeholders believe current protections against genetic discrimination are inadequate, and that legislation is required," she said.
She is now taking on the insurance industry, because one of her sons is struggling to get the level of cover he wants. Her son Dwayne Honor gets regular colonoscopies due to his mother's history but has not undergone genetic testing because he is concerned about life insurance restrictions. "I would definitely be involved in research if we could access life insurance and not be genetically discriminated against," he said.
"In every country where this has been done, the insurers raised the argument that people will take out too much life insurance, that risk won't be priced accordingly and that insurance will become unsustainable or unaffordable," she said.The report has been given to the government. Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones said he would consider the report and its findings.