Abstract
*292 Australia's law reform body has recommended sweeping changes to the law governing marine insurance in Australia.(1) At present, the law of marine insurance in Australia is governed by the Marine Insurance Act 1909 (Cth) ("M.I.A."), a virtual duplicate of the Marine Insurance Act (U.K.).(2)
In 1982 the Australian Law Reform Commission proposed far reaching reforms to the law of general insurance in Australia essentially with the aim of better protecting the insured. Those reforms are now embodied in the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) ("I.C.A."). As a consequence, there is a chasm of difference between the law of marine and general insurance in Australia(3), a situation unique in the common law world. Some 15 years later, the A.L.R.C. received a mandate(4) to review the law relating to marine insurance. If implemented, the recommendations would see the chasm between the two insurance regimes lessen appreciably.
This article briefly sets out the more significant recommendations of the A.L.R.C. in its report of April 2001(5).