Impossible Decisions: Community insights into access to affordable insurance in north central Victoria is a community report by ARC Justice that reflects what people across the region have told us about insurance, housing and recovery since the 2022 floods.
ARC Justice recently co-authored the national Housing Resilience Action Plan 2030 on insurance and climate risk. Impossible Decisions grounds those system-level issues in lived experience from regional communities.
It draws on interviews with local residents and service organisations, a community survey and forums held across north central Victoria in 2025 and 2026, capturing how people are navigating rising premiums, reduced cover and, in some cases, the loss of insurance altogether.
Across the region, people are making harder choices than they should have to, cutting cover, under-insuring or going without insurance altogether as costs rise and options narrow.
The report shows how quickly things shift when insurance stops working, with housing becoming less stable, financial pressure building and recovery slowing.
The report will be launched on May 8
Why it matters
Insurance is becoming less accessible at the same time as climate risk is increasing. That tension is now playing out in real and visible ways across regional communities.
This report shows how current settings are landing on the ground, where people are already absorbing more risk than they can safely carry.
The consequences are damaged homes that aren’t fully repaired, businesses operating under growing pressure and communities finding it harder to rebuild and stay. Without change, these pressures continue to mount.
The context
The national Housing Resilience Action Plan 2030 brought together insurers, banks, investors, regulators, governments, consumer advocates and communities to focus on reform to keep homes insurable as climate risk grows.
ARC Justice contributed to that work, with Climate Justice Lead Jack Piper bringing in lived experience from regional Victoria, highlighting how these issues are already unfolding in communities recovering from disaster and providing community insights on what needs to change.
Impossible Decisions complements the action plan, showing in practical terms how current approaches are shaping people’s decisions about where and how they live and what risks they are being forced to carry.
Join the launch
ARC Justice’s Impossible Decisions report will be launched on May 8.
Join the online launch to learn what communities said and what needs to change.
If you can’t make it on May 8, please register anyway and we’ll send you the report.
More information
For more information or to get involved please contact Jack Piper on jack.piper@arcjustice.org.au or phone (03) 5445 0909