Strategy
At any one time, more than 10 million people are protected under one of the State’s insurance compensation schemes – CTP, workers and home building compensation. The schemes are funded by more than 6 million vehicle owners, employers and homeowners who together pay more than $7 billion in premiums each year. Together, they provide an essential social safety net.
SIRA has a broad range of stewardship, scheme design, and regulatory functions to deliver on the agency’s core purpose - making sure that NSW insurance schemes protect and support the people who need them, now and in the future.
SIRA2025
SIRA2025 was launched in March 2022. It establishes seven goals and a set of strategic priorities to strengthen SIRA’s performance as a customer-centric, intelligence-led, risk-based regulator and deliver improved outcomes for the people of NSW.
Goals
SIRA2025 introduces seven goals focused on enhancing organisational capability and driving improvements in the areas that will have the greatest impact.
Under each of the goals, there is a set of focused strategic priorities that will guide SIRA’s work until the end of 2025.
Putting customers at the centre
A customer-centric regulator that always takes decisions and actions that will lead to the best possible outcomes for customers
- Customer voice: SIRA actively engages with and advocates for customers to ensure its programs, actions, and initiatives have a positive impact
- Customer research: SIRA uses qualitative and quantitative research and insights to ensure that scheme design and supervision are evidence-based
- Improved customer support: SIRA provides proactive support through information, direct contact, and easy to access services to optimise customer journeys
- Education and information: SIRA makes it easy for customers to understand their choices, rights, and entitlements
- Setting the standard: SIRA’s Customer Service Conduct Principles drive improved outcomes
- Transparency: SIRA publishes clear and transparent information about its activity and the performance of the schemes, insurers, and other regulated entities
- Trust in schemes: SIRA actively measures trust and the impact the schemes have on equipping and empowering people to drive their recovery
Building and supporting our talent
SIRA attracts, develops and retains highly engaged staff with industry-leading skills in customer-centric regulation
- Agency of choice: SIRA stands out in the public service as a contemporary agency for quality talent with a highly engaged culture that prepares them for their next role at SIRA or beyond
- Clarity: SIRA’s people understand their role, have a clear sense of where the agency is headed, and how their work connects to its strategy and supports customers
- Ownership: SIRA’s people are accountable and foster a culture of delivery and high-performance that delivers support and recognition to its people
- Capability: SIRA invests in its people to build on their existing skills and stay ahead of emerging trends in regulatory practice
- Openness: SIRA values collaboration, trust, inclusion, wellbeing and fosters a growth and opportunity driven mindset
- Investing in SIRA: SIRA favours building its own capability over outsourcing where it makes sense
Enhancing our capability through digital
SIRA has fit-for-purpose systems that support intelligence-led regulation, make things easy for staff and drive optimal outcomes for customers
- SIRA systems: SIRA’s technology is consolidated, fit-for-purpose, and provides a single source of information to inform its work
- Cyber security: SIRA has mature systems, processes, and the skills to secure and safeguard information
- Digital-first: SIRA makes it easier for customers and scheme participants to do business with SIRA by adopting a digital-first approach
- Intelligence and analytics: SIRA has the right data and insights and uses these to inform its regulatory actions and scheme design to deliver optimal outcomes and impact
- Regulatory technology: SIRA is proactive in developing and acquiring emerging regulatory technology that enhances its impact
- Connected platforms: SIRA’s data platforms are fit-for-purpose and secure, bringing together information from across the sector to achieve better outcomes for customers and the schemes
Setting the benchmark for governance, culture, and accountability
SIRA demonstrates the highest standards of organisational governance to create a strong, sustainable agency
- Delivery approach: SIRA adopts the most recent thinking and models in delivering on its priority projects
- Risk culture: SIRA has a strong risk culture that ensures risk is well understood, documented, and actively managed
- Integrity and public value: SIRA is an exemplar of integrity and delivering public value and others look to the agency as an example
- Financial stewardship: SIRA’s finances and procurement are well managed and supported by its strong commercial acumen and knowledge of government policy
- Funds management: SIRA shows leadership in the administration of operating funds, securities, and administered funds to maximise system-wide value and performance
- Continuous improvement: SIRA’s approach allows it to identify and capitalise on opportunities to improve and evolve its business
Strengthening our regulatory capability
SIRA is respected as a best-in-class regulator that safeguards customer outcomes and sustainable schemes
- Regulatory model: SIRA’s regulatory model is fit-for-purpose, well understood, and delivers maximum impact
- Regulatory approach: SIRA has a range of regulatory tools that are understood by regulated entities and pragmatically exercised in proportion to the harm being addressed
- Regulatory courage: SIRA doesn’t hesitate to take proportionate regulatory action where performance is not meeting or exceeding standards
- Sector knowledge: SIRA has a deep understanding of its regulated entities and their businesses
Holding regulated entities to account for outcomes
SIRA applies an outcome-focused approach to its regulatory activity to ensure that schemes operate to achieve their public policy objectives for customers.
- Insurer performance and supervision: SIRA holds insurers to account for their performance in achieving scheme objectives and continuous improvement through setting standards and expectations for conduct, active supervision, and transparently communicating performance data
- Provider supervision: SIRA’s approach to supervising the range of providers across schemes ensures its schemes operate with the best providers to provide optimal outcomes and value
- Employer supervision: SIRA continuously strengthen its regulatory focus on return to work with an enhanced focus on employer capability alongside increased supervision and enforcement activity
- Effective complaints handling and dispute resolution: SIRA focuses on ensuring customer complaints are effectively handled and that schemes are customer-focused, encourage the early resolution of issues, and the quick, cost-effective, and just resolution of disputes
- Competition and market development: SIRA creates conditions for improved market practice, new entrants, and healthy competition leading to better customer outcomes, affordable products, and more choice
- Visible, proactive regulatory activity: SIRA builds trust through driving compliance and enforcement through timely, intelligence-informed action, and the transparent communication of information on its compliance, enforcement, and prosecution activity
- Return to work: SIRA focuses on driving turnarounds in both return to work and stay at work rates to maintain scheme focus on positive customer outcomes and scheme sustainability
- Scheme integrity: The integrity of SIRA’s schemes is safeguarded through the proactive use of intelligence and data sharing with other government agencies to support enforcement and prosecution activity
- Partner collaboration and coregulation: SIRA improves regulatory effectiveness and insights through collaborating and partnering with coregulators, sector partners, stakeholders, and government agencies
Maintaining a contemporary regulatory environment
SIRA works to ensure that its regulatory environment is responsive to changing community expectations and the overall objectives of the schemes through contemporary, fit-for-purpose legislation, regulations, guidelines and standards
- Scheme design: SIRA’s approach to scheme design takes best practice into account and includes industry consultation so that changes to legislation and regulations are supported and well designed
- Harmonisation: SIRA identifies and delivers opportunities for cross-scheme harmonisation where it makes sense to do so
- Trusted advice to Government: SIRA impartially develops advice to Government based on evidence, insights, reviews, consultation, research, and lived-experience
- Sector capability development: SIRA’s standards and expectations drive continuous improvements in the capability of insurers, employers, and providers to deliver scheme outcomes
- Research and innovation: SIRA builds evidence, evaluates effectiveness, and supports the development of new approaches and innovation that improve policies, customer outcomes, and the effectiveness of markets
- Fair and efficient schemes: SIRA works to ensure that its schemes are fair, effective, and efficient at delivering value-based outcomes and a sustainable market
- Future proof, agile and flexible: SIRA’s forward-thinking approach ensures that current and future challenges and trends can be met by adapting and reforming schemes
- Value-based outcomes: SIRA focuses on improvements to schemes that deliver value for money and achieve optimal customer outcomes while ensuring scheme resources are applied efficiently
- Prevention and early intervention: SIRA encourages research and the implementation of strategies to prevent injuries and focus on early intervention
Outcomes
The implementation of the seven goals and the underlying strategic priorities will move SIRA closer towards a set of outcomes it strives to achieve. These outcomes relate to the customer, compliance, sustainability, and trust. Ultimately, these outcomes will deliver better compensation schemes for the people of NSW.
To measure progress towards each outcome, SIRA has set a range of measures that will track the scheme’s performance and identify gaps for improvement.
Outcomes | Measures |
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People injured at work or on the road can access the benefits and support they are entitled to, and need, to recover, return to work or achieve the best possible quality-of-life outcome after an injury |
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Employers, homeowners, and motorists are well protected through affordable insurance policies |
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Scheme insurers, providers and policy holders comply with regulatory requirements and the Customer Service Conduct Principles, and are accountable for their actions |
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Markets that underpin the State’s statutory insurance schemes are ethical, innovative, and competitive |
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Statutory insurance schemes are financially viable and responsive to social and economic changes to meet the needs of customers today and into the future |
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Customers, stakeholders, and the community trust that SIRA-regulated schemes are operating as intended and meeting the needs of customers and policy holders |
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