@ Squeaky 21,
You are probably not old enough to know, but back in the late 1990's there used to be 57 life offices, 329 products and 13 different product categories.
Comparing that with today's current insurance market, is all under the banner of progress

The LIF legislation in 2013 promoted by the Financial Services Council (FSC) in concert with the government saw the demise of the life insurance industry as we once knew it.
Does anyone think that the Hayne Royal Commission and its subsequent recommendations did anyone any favours ?
And yet the FSC and many of the life companies were happy to endorse it and to see adviser initial remuneration reduced over time by 50.0% and discontinuance responsibility for advisers increase from 1 year to 2 years.

Consider the current landscape.
There are about 8 real life companies left and 3 of those own one of the eight.
There is no product differentiation, premiums are no longer guaranteed, clients see no benefit unless they plan to die too soon or get too sick or hurt to work beyond 2 years.
Today the current Income Protection products are not worth the paper they are written on compared to what was once available.
If profitability is the problem, perhaps the life companies should have been more discerning about who they wanted to take on as a client. Their pricing model and the terms offered, commensurate with the level of risk associated with potential claims.

No one in their right minds thinks that writing risk insurance is anything other than someone jumping out of a plane without a parachute.