Changes in legislation and regulation, together with pandemic outbreak, business interruption and cyber incidents, have been named as the top business risks in Australia for 2021, according to Allianz Risk Barometer 2021’s survey.
By comparison, globally the three top business risks were identified as business interruption (41%), pandemic outbreak (40%) and cyber incidents (40%) while the Australian results of the survey proved that the participants, who included risk managers and insurance experts among the others, viewed changes in legislation and regulations on par with cyber incidents (38%) as the third biggest business risks.
Similarly to global results, pandemic outbreak was named as the key business risk by 45% and was followed by business interruption (42%).
Following this, natural catastrophes, which was identified as the fifth (with 24%) also rose in ranking for 2021 after the significant impact of the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires and the Bureau of Meteorology warning of a 70% increased chance of extreme wet weather conditions such as storms and cyclones due to La Niña across the country, while the risk of climate change fell slightly from the third highest business risk in 2020 to sixth place in 2021, the survey found.
Source: Allianz
Commenting on the Australian results James Stack, AGCS Pacific distribution director, said: “As a nation, we are still recovering from the devastating impact of last year’s fires and the threat of natural catastrophes remains front of mind for many when considering potential business risks for the year ahead. Our hope is that business and individuals can learn from their experiences in 2020 and make sure they have in place measures which will reduce the impact of similar events in the future.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed our society, but it has fundamentally changed the way businesses operate, so it is no surprise it will continue to be the number one risk in Australia for 2021. Not only were there financial, operational and emotional challenges, there were broader implications on supply chains as a result of China imposing new restrictions on Australian imports and greater uncertainty brought on by governments introducing tough lockdown measures. Until there is a viable vaccine and public health safety can be restored, the potential for further changes in legislation and regulation remains a high risk for businesses.”
