[Photo: File]

The Government is defending its decision to suspend Fiji’s social welfare insurance scheme, saying the programme was costing taxpayers millions of dollars while delivering limited returns to beneficiaries.

Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection Sashi Kiran told Parliament the scheme, which began in 2018, had cost Government about 60-million dollars in premiums over eight years.

However, only $33.8 million dollars was paid out in claims.

“On average, a mere 56 percent of the total funds paid out by the government ended up in the hands of the beneficiaries.”

Kiran says the scheme covered around 100-thousand welfare recipients, but only about five thousand claims were processed each year.

She says the figures demonstrate that the insurance model was not an efficient way of delivering social assistance.

In the 2025–2026 financial year, Government paid $7.7 million dollars in premiums, while only $3 million dollars was paid in claims.

The Minister says personal accident coverage was particularly underutilised.

She told Parliament only four accident claims were paid nationwide in the 2022–2023 financial year, at a total cost of 10-thousand-500 dollars.

“Every single dollar we locked away in private insurance premiums was a dollar taken away from direct high multiplier economic investment.”

Kiran says the cessation of the scheme will have minimal to no impact on existing welfare recipients.

She says Government has other assistance mechanisms in place for families facing hardship, including funeral expenses, accidents and fire emergencies.

For the 2026–2027 financial year, more than 184-million dollars has been allocated across six major social protection schemes.

These include the Family Assistance Scheme, Child Protection Allowance, Social Pension Scheme, assistance for rural pregnant mothers, support for persons with disabilities and transport assistance.

Kiran says the Government will also continue to provide support for people affected by serious accidents through the Accident Compensation Commission of Fiji.

For fire victims, 75-thousand dollars has been allocated under her ministry for immediate emergency assistance, while the Ministry of Housing has a further 200-thousand dollars for long-term reconstruction.

Kiran says the insurance scheme has been suspended and will now undergo a comprehensive review.

The review will examine governance, beneficiary verification and whether future coverage reflects the actual needs of vulnerable Fijians.

The Government says its priority is to redirect resources from what it considers an inefficient insurance model into more direct and targeted social assistance.