The healthcare challenges
facing us as individuals, and as a community, continue to evolve.

Australian cities are regularly rated among the world’s most liveable, and our climate, lifestyle and healthcare infrastructure remain the envy of many other countries. Unsurprisingly, our life expectancy rates are amongst the highest around the world – in 2020 the combined life expectancy at birth of 83.0 years ranked sixth among 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), well ahead of the UK, the US, and even New Zealand .

But while continued improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of serious health conditions means we are living longer, the burden of disease is not shrinking.

Rather, we are increasingly living with – rather than dying from – critical health conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

And while Australians benefit from one of the world’s leading public health systems2, the financial burden of healthcare is increasingly being borne by individuals. This burden includes both the direct financial out-of-pocket costs paid by individuals for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of their conditions, as well as the indirect costs in the form of lost earnings potential.

Designing the optimal protection strategy – in terms of the type, amount, and structure of cover ¬– has thus never been more complex, and unsurprisingly many advisers are revisiting their life insurance philosophies – keen to ensure they reflect contemporary realities.

We hope that the findings contained within this paper will assist advisers and their clients to achieve better protection solutions and outcomes taking into account contemporary realities.