If you’re affected, there are people you can talk to and support services that can help.

1800RESPECT
For confidential counselling, information and support call 1800RESPECT anytime, on 1800 737 732.
Find more information on the 1800RESPECT website.

See below for more useful resources.

Our frontline teams are trained to support you with your situation.

We can help by:

• providing financial relief options as outlined in our Financial Hardship policy

• offering expert external support services
• being flexible in our approach to claims and provide additional support for claimants through the claims process and/or
• referring you to emergency services if there is an immediate threat of harm, as your safety is paramount.

Our commitments

• We will always treat our customers with empathy, respect and understanding.
• We will treat all information disclosed as confidential.
• We will train our relevant staff on how to support customers who are experiencing domestic and family violence.
• We will support any TAL staff member who is affected by domestic and family violence through various support services, additional leave and flexible working arrangements.
• We will work with industry bodies and consumer groups to continue to refine our approach to supporting customers affected by domestic and family violence.

For customers who are experiencing domestic or family violence, there are a number of things to consider in relation to a life insurance policy. These include, but are not limited to:

• holding and changing a joint policy
• beneficiaries and the payment of claims and
• updating correspondence preferences.

In the event of domestic or family violence, you may no longer feel comfortable being on a joint insurance policy with the person committing the violence. If this happens to you, we encourage you to contact us. We may be able to assist by explaining what needs to happen for the ownership of the policy to be changed, or if you decide to do so, let you know how you may apply to take out your own policy. We can also connect you with services that may be able to assist you.

Under joint ownership arrangements in a life insurance policy, both owners need to agree to any changes that are made to the policy. The policy owner (or joint policy owners, where the policy is held jointly with more than one policy owner) controls what changes can be made to a policy and policy owners do not need consent from the life insured (where the life which is insured is not one of the owners on the policy).

In the case where a negotiation of separating or assigning jointly owned life insurance policies is unsuccessful, the Federal and Family Courts can make orders to specify how a policy is to be administered or varied.

It is important to understand and re-evaluate the beneficiary of an insurance policy when experiencing family or domestic violence. Ensuring beneficiary nominations are up to date ensures loved ones are taken care of financially if something unfortunate were to happen. A beneficiary is the person who will receive a benefit under the policy. In general, this is the policy owner, unless a third party has been nominated instead.

Beneficiaries can be easily updated through myTAL, and a financial adviser or member of the TAL team can guide you through this in a secure and private way. If you have a life insurance policy through your superannuation fund, contact your fund for information about how to update your beneficiaries.

The safety of our customers is paramount, which is why when you correspond with us, your privacy and safety are our top priority. It is important that you keep your correspondence preferences with TAL up to date to help ensure that we only ever communicate with the people and through the channels that you have elected.

Here are some useful resources if you are experiencing domestic or family violence:

1800RESPECT is a phone line available for free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to support people impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence.

Centre for Women's Economic Safety (CWES) supports women experiencing, at risk of experiencing, or recovering from economic abuse in the context of domestic and family violence.

White Ribbon Australia is a global social movement to stop men’s violence against women by engaging men and boys to be part of the solution.

Domestic, family and sexual violence (nsw.gov.au) is the NSW Government's page on how to get help and support, emergency housing, understanding domestic and sexual violence, sexual consent and the law, legal help, and how to stay safe.

Ageing and Disability Abuse Helpline is the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission's helpline that has been established to prevent and better protect older people and adults with disability from abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) offers free, independent and confidential support and information to older people seeking or already using Australian Government-funded aged care services across the nation, along with their families and carers.