Insurance Agent

An insurance agent identifies client needs and recommends appropriate insurance products across categories such as general, life, income protection, and disability insurance. They prepare quotations, process applications, manage client relationships, and liaise with insurers to ensure policies meet regulatory and client requirements. Operating in a competitive sales environment, they build client portfolios and manage renewals while maintaining compliance with ASIC's financial adviser obligations and Australian Securities and Investments Commission conduct rules.

Conduct needs analysis interviews with prospective clients to identify insurance gaps and risk profiles. Prepare insurance quotations using underwriting guidelines and actuarial data from multiple insurers. Complete and lodge insurance application forms with insurers, including medical history and declarations. Advise clients on policy coverage, exclusions, premiums, and claim procedures in plain language. Arrange site inspections or valuations for commercial, property, or high-value insurance assessments. Process policy amendments, endorsements, and renewal instructions in insurer management systems. Manage claim referrals and liaison with claims assessors to facilitate client claim settlements. Maintain client relationship management (CRM) records documenting interactions, policy recommendations, and compliance notes.

The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

Your income depends entirely on commissions from policies you sell. You'll also spend time on compliance paperwork and regulatory training that doesn't generate income.

In practice, agents work in major cities where there's more business, and in regional centres where local brokerages operate. Roles exist in insurance brokerages, banks, and as self-employed agents. Remote work is growing but you'll need established clients to make it work.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 6112, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Active Listeningcore
• Actuarial sciencecore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Calculate insurance ratecore
• Claims procedurescore
• CRM System Operationcore
• Customer Needs Assessmentcore
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
• Inbound Call Handlingcore
• Negotiationcore
• Objection Handlingcore
• Outbound Customer Contactcore
• Policy Interpretationcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Upselling and Cross-Sellingcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Claims Processing
• Confidentiality and Privacy Compliance
• Customer Complaint Resolution
• Data Entry and Accuracy
• Onboarding New Clients
• SLA and KPI Adherence
• Telephone Etiquette
• Time Management and Prioritisation

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Insurance Agent workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026