Domestic and Family Violence

TAL's commitment to the safety of our customers

Are you experiencing domestic or family violence?

It is a tough topic to talk about, but domestic and family violence is a key social issue. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 20% of Australians over the age of 15 have experienced or currently are experiencing some form of domestic or family violence.

At TAL, we recognise that everyone’s situation and needs are different. We are committed to making our customers and employees feel safe, respected and supported if they experience domestic or family violence and need assistance.

If you would like to have a confidential discussion with us about your situation, contact us and we can take you through your options.

Contact us

If there is an immediate threat to you or your loved ones, please call emergency services on 000.

Quick Exit

What is domestic or family violence?

Domestic and family violence can affect anyone. It usually involves violent, threatening or abusive behaviour inflicted by a former or current family member, with the aim of coercion or control, causing fear or harm. Domestic and family violence can include, but isn’t limited to:

  • physical violence
  • sexual assault
  • emotional or verbal abuse
  • psychological abuse or controlling behaviour
  • stalking
  • financial abuse and
  • abuse of the elderly.

How we can help you

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.

Insurance policy considerations

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.

 

Holding and changing a joint policy

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.

 

Beneficiaries and the payment of claims

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.

 

Updating correspondence preferences

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.

Resources for more information

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.

13YARN provides 24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

TAL Domestic and Family Violence Policy

We are here to help

Domestic and family violence can affect anyone. We are committed to supporting customers who may be impacted by domestic or family violence to the best of our ability.

This policy has been developed to promote the safety of our customers and outlines the ways we can assist impacted customers.

View our policy
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