Since 5 October 2021 (Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response) Act 2020), Australian consumer life insurance applications are governed by the 'duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation' under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (s20B). This replaced the older 'duty of disclosure' for retail consumer insurance. Under the new duty, you must answer the insurer's specific questions truthfully and accurately — you are no longer required to volunteer information that wasn't asked. The standard is whether a reasonable person in your circumstances would have known the answer was untrue, misleading, or incomplete. Practically, this means: read each application question carefully, answer fully based on what you genuinely know, and if you are unsure, ask the insurer or your adviser to clarify before answering. The insurer's remedies for breach depend on whether the misrepresentation was deliberate, reckless, or a simple mistake — and what they would have done if the truth had been disclosed. Honest answers, even about difficult medical or lifestyle topics, are the single best protection against claim disputes years later. If you discover a mistake on a recently submitted application, contact the insurer and correct it before policy issue.