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Insurance Inside Your Super (Australia): Check What You Pay For Each Year

By Smart Budget Sheets November 11, 2026
A yearly check of the insurance premiums inside Australian super.

Most Australian super funds include insurance by default: life (death) cover, total and permanent disability (TPD) cover, and often income protection. The premiums come out of your super balance, so it is easy to never notice them.

Why it is worth a yearly look

  • Costs can rise with age. Many funds price cover by age, so the same cover usually costs more each year.
  • Several funds can mean several policies. If you have more than one super account, you may be paying for cover more than once. Some insured events pay out from each policy, but income protection usually does not pay twice.
  • Your needs change. Someone with no dependants and no debts may need less life cover than a parent with a mortgage.

The rules that already protect some members

Since 2019-2020, default insurance generally has to stop for accounts that have had no contributions for 16 months, and new members under 25 or with balances under $6,000 usually get cover only if they opt in. Check your fund’s notices; you can usually opt back in if you want to keep cover.

A 15-minute check

  1. Log in to your fund and find the insurance section: cover type, amount, and yearly premium.
  2. Look up all your super accounts through the ATO in myGov, and consider consolidating, but check what insurance you would lose first.
  3. Decide on a cover level based on debts, dependants and income, then adjust it with the fund.
  4. If you have health conditions, think twice before cancelling: new cover later may be harder to get.

Budget it

The premium reduces your retirement balance. As a rough check, compare the yearly premium with what that amount would grow to if left invested.

Free tools

General information, not financial advice. Figures are rounded examples.

#personalfinance #budgeting #superannuation
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