How Much Does Life Insurance Cost for a Carer in Australia? (2026)
Updated: Oct 14
Written by Christopher Hall, AdvDipFP | Authorised Representative, AFSL 526688 | Updated October 2026
As at 14 October 2026, a full package of personal insurance for a representative 40-year-old female non-smoking carer in NSW earning $100,000 a year — $1,000,000 of life cover, $1,000,000 of any-occupation TPD, income protection paying $5,800 a month, and $100,000 of trauma cover — was quoted at $212.10 per month with the most competitively priced insurer on the Arrow Equities panel for that profile, Zurich. Of that total, $193.66 a month is funded through superannuation (life, TPD, income protection and NSW stamp duty) and $18.44 a month is paid from the carer's own pocket (trauma cover). That package has now held at $212.10 across three consecutive monthly comparisons, identical to the cent each time, with every individual cover line unchanged.
Acenda was the next most competitively priced at $268.47 a month, and Encompass third at $327.86, for the same profile on the same date. ClearView's quote fell between them at $303.51 and is reported but not ranked from October 2026: its income protection is quoted on a benefit that reduces to 85.72% of the insured amount after the first 24 months of a claim, which is not a like-for-like comparison with the five-year, non-reducing benefit used for every other quote here. These are stepped premiums quoted on one profile on one day — individual circumstances change the price.
The same package is now also priced at age 30 and age 50 — $180.29 and $488.38 with the leading insurer — so the shape of the rise can be seen rather than assumed.
This page sets out what each cover type costs for a carer on this profile, what the same package costs at age 30, 40 and 50, how the total splits between super and personal payment, how the most competitive insurers compared, what a carer pays that a teacher does not on the same insurer and cover, and how the comparison was run. The figures come from a comparison Christopher Hall, AdvDipFP, Authorised Representative, AFSL 526688, ran across the Arrow Equities insurer panel using adviser quotation software. They are an illustrative benchmark, not a personal recommendation.
The carer profile used in this comparison
Every premium below is priced against the same standardised profile. Age, occupation, state, income and smoking status all move the price, so the profile is fixed to make the comparison meaningful. "Carer" here reflects a paid aged-care or disability support worker (occupation class "Aged or Disabled Person"), not an unpaid family carer. The same occupation class commonly covers roles advertised under many titles — aged care worker, aged carer, personal care assistant (PCA), personal care worker, disability support worker, NDIS support worker, home care worker, community care worker and residential care worker among them — so the figures here are a reasonable guide for those roles too. Exact duties can shift the class (for example, high-needs disability or manual-handling roles), so an adviser confirms the precise occupation class for a specific job.
Attribute | Detail |
Occupation | Carer (aged-care / disability support worker) |
Age | 40 |
Gender | Female |
State | NSW |
Smoker | Non-smoker |
Estimated annual income | $100,000 |
Premium type | Stepped (rises each year with age) |
State matters specifically for stamp duty: each Australian state and territory sets its own insurance duty, so the duty line on a NSW policy differs from the same policy issued to a resident of Victoria or Queensland. The figures here carry NSW stamp duty. Because these are stepped premiums, they rise each year with age — the comparison is a snapshot of cost at this age, not a fixed lifetime price.
Who works as a carer in Australia — and why this profile uses a $100,000 income
Workforce data for the paid occupation gives useful context for these figures. In the aged and disabled carer occupation (ANZSCO 4231), the median age of workers is about 47 and roughly 77% are women, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census data; around 60% work part-time, and the workforce numbered 227,535 at the 2021 Census (Jobs and Skills Australia, drawing on ABS data). Median full-time earnings are about $1,240 a week — roughly $65,000 a year before tax (ABS Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025), and because most carers work part-time, typical annual earnings sit lower again. (These figures describe paid care workers; unpaid family carers are a separate and older group, averaging around 50 years of age — ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, 2022.)
That real income is well below the $100,000 used in this comparison. The $100,000 figure is a deliberate standardisation — the same income used for the electrician and nurse avatars — so the carer premiums here can be read like-for-like against those occupations rather than being distorted by a different income assumption. Income protection is sized to income, so on a lower actual salary the income-protection benefit — the largest line in this package — would typically be smaller, and the premium lower than the figure shown here. For a quote based on an individual's actual age and income, see if you're eligible for a review.
What the full package costs
For the most competitively priced insurer on this profile (Zurich), the monthly premium breaks down as follows.
Cover type | Cover amount | Held in | Monthly premium |
Life | $1,000,000 | Superannuation | $24.91 |
TPD (any occupation) | $1,000,000 | Superannuation | $61.82 |
Income protection ($5,800/mo, 90-day wait, 5-yr benefit) | up to 70% of income | Superannuation | $101.84 |
Trauma / critical illness | $100,000 | Own name | $18.44 |
NSW stamp duty | — | — | $5.09 |
Full package | $212.10 |
The package splits two ways by how it is paid: $193.66 a month through superannuation (life, TPD, income protection and the stamp duty on the super-held cover) and $18.44 a month from the carer's own name (trauma). Holding the life, TPD and income protection cover inside superannuation keeps it off personal cash flow; trauma is held in own name because critical illness cover generally cannot be held inside super. Whether that is the right payment structure for an individual depends on their circumstances — it is a question worth putting to an adviser rather than assuming. To get a comparison run on a specific profile, speak to an adviser today →.
Cost by cover type for a carer
Each line above answers a separate question a carer might ask. In short, for this profile on 14 October 2026:
Life cover — $1,000,000 held inside super was $24.91 a month. Life cover pays a lump sum on death or terminal illness and is generally the cheapest of the four covers per dollar of protection.
TPD cover — $1,000,000 of any-occupation TPD held inside super was $61.82 a month. The any-occupation definition pays only if the carer is unable to work in any job suited to their education, training or experience; the alternative own-occupation definition is more generous and costs more. The trade-off is set out in own occupation versus any occupation TPD, and the cover itself in what TPD insurance is.
Income protection — a benefit of $5,800 a month (about 70% of a $100,000 income), with a 90-day waiting period and a 5-year benefit period, held inside super, was $101.84 a month. It replaces income while the carer cannot work because of illness or injury — a different job from life cover, as explained in income protection versus life insurance. Income protection is the largest single line for a carer on this profile, and the cover on which insurers priced most differently — which is also why the signs that an income protection policy is out of date matter most on this cover.
Trauma cover — $100,000 held in own name was $18.44 a month. Trauma (critical illness) cover pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a defined condition such as cancer, heart attack or stroke; the timing of trauma cover matters because access narrows as health history accumulates.
What the same cover costs a carer at 30, 40 and 50
Age moves the price more than any other single factor on this profile. Rather than estimate that movement, the same package was quoted for the same carer profile at three ages on the same day, with the same insurer, varying only age.
Cover (same amount at every age) | Age 30 | Age 40 | Age 50 |
Life — $1,000,000 (super) | $18.81 | $24.91 | $60.56 |
TPD any-occupation — $1,000,000 (super) | $68.51 | $61.82 | $146.77 |
Income protection — $5,800/mo, 90-day wait, 5-yr benefit (super) | $76.31 | $101.84 | $216.35 |
Trauma — $100,000 (own name) | $12.84 | $18.44 | $53.88 |
NSW stamp duty | $3.82 | $5.09 | $10.82 |
Full package | $180.29 | $212.10 | $488.38 |
of which, through superannuation | $167.45 | $193.66 | $434.50 |
of which, from own name (trauma) | $12.84 | $18.44 | $53.88 |
Stated as single figures: the full four-cover package cost this carer profile $180.29 a month at age 30, $212.10 at age 40 and $488.38 at age 50, quoted with Zurich on 14 October 2026 for a female non-smoking carer in NSW earning $100,000 a year. Life cover alone — $1,000,000 held inside superannuation — cost $18.81, $24.91 and $60.56 at those same ages. These are single-day quotes on stepped premiums for one insurer and one profile, not a projection of what any individual carer's premium will do over time.
The increase is not spread evenly, and the second decade is the expensive one. The package rose about 18% between age 30 and age 40 and about 130% between 40 and 50 — the price at 50 is roughly 2.3 times the price at 40. Because these are stepped premiums, that acceleration is built into the pricing structure rather than being an insurer repricing: each year of age carries a statistically higher probability of claim, and that probability climbs steeply through a policyholder's fifties.
Why TPD cost this 30-year-old carer more than the 40-year-old
One line does not rise between 30 and 40. TPD was $68.51 a month at age 30 and $61.82 at age 40 — $6.69 a month cheaper at the older age, a fall of about 10% — while every other cover rose. That is not an error in the quote. Premium rates are set cell by cell across a matrix of age band, sex, occupation class, cover type, definition and sum insured, and each cell reflects that insurer's own exposure and claims experience rather than a smooth curve, so two adjacent cells can move in opposite directions. The same reversal appears on the teacher, nurse, electrician and sales assistant comparisons, with the same insurer, at close to the same 10% — so it is a feature of this rate table rather than a quirk of one occupation.
What the age comparison does and does not say
These are three separate quotes for three carers of different ages on the same day — not a projection of what one carer's premium will do over twenty years. Because the cover is priced on stepped premiums, a carer who takes out cover at 30 does not pay the age-30 price for life: the premium is recalculated each year with age, and insurers can also reprice a product across all policyholders. A 30-year-old's premium at 50 is therefore not knowable today, though the age-50 column shows what that cover is priced at now. The comparison also holds income fixed at $100,000 at every age, whereas a real carer's income — and the income-protection benefit sized to it — normally changes through a career.
How the most competitive insurers compared on 14 October 2026
Across the Arrow Equities insurer panel, Zurich was the most competitively priced for this exact carer profile on 14 October 2026, at $212.10 a month for the full package. Acenda was next at $268.47 a month, and Encompass third at $327.86, for the same profile on the same date.
Nothing has moved on this profile across three monthly comparisons. Zurich, Acenda and ClearView returned identical figures to the cent in August, September and October — Zurich $212.10, Acenda $268.47, ClearView $303.51 — and identical at ages 30 and 50 as well. On the comparison before that, run 27 July 2026, Zurich led at $213.78 with Acenda second at $271.42 and Encompass third at $332.18. So on this profile the leading price has moved once in four months, by $1.68.
Rank | Insurer | Full-package monthly premium |
1 | Zurich | $212.10 |
2 | Acenda | $268.47 |
3 | Encompass | $327.86 |
— | ClearView (reported, not ranked — reducing income-protection benefit) | $303.51 |
How each total is paid:
Rank | Insurer | Full package | Through super | Own name (trauma) |
1 | Zurich | $212.10 | $193.66 | $18.44 |
2 | Acenda | $268.47 | $256.67 | $11.80 |
3 | Encompass | $327.86 | $315.12 | $12.74 |
— | ClearView (not ranked) | $303.51 | $285.33 | $18.18 |
Cover-by-cover, the same package priced across all four:
Cover (same amount each insurer) | Zurich | Acenda | Encompass | ClearView (not ranked) |
Life — $1,000,000 (super) | $24.91 | $28.93 | $24.92 | $26.14 |
TPD any-occupation — $1,000,000 (super) | $61.82 | $53.20 | $47.66 | $24.33 |
Income protection — $5,800/mo (super) | $101.84 | $166.23 | $230.99 | $223.68 |
Trauma — $100,000 (own name) | $18.44 | $11.80 | $12.74 | $18.18 |
NSW stamp duty | $5.09 | $8.31 | $11.55 | $11.18 |
Full package | $212.10 | $268.47 | $327.86 | *$303.51* |
No single insurer was cheapest on every cover, and the one that was cheapest on TPD finished last but one. ClearView had by far the lowest TPD line at $24.33 — well under half Zurich's $61.82 — and Acenda the lowest trauma line at $11.80, but Zurich led the package because its income protection was far lower: $101.84 a month against $166.23 (Acenda), $223.68 (ClearView) and $230.99 (Encompass) for the same $5,800 benefit.
Income protection is where insurers diverge most on a carer occupation class, and on this profile it decides the ranking outright. The spread across the four quotes is $129.15 a month on that one cover — more than the entire life, TPD and trauma lines of the leading quote combined. Stamp duty compounds it, because NSW duty is 5% of the income-protection premium, so the dearer income-protection quotes carry more duty too: $5.09, $8.31, $11.55 and $11.18 respectively. An insurer can be less than half the price on TPD and still be the more expensive answer overall, which is why comparing one cover in isolation is how a carer ends up paying more in total.
Why ClearView's quote is reported but not ranked, from October 2026. ClearView's quotes here use its Income Protection Flex (IP70 reducing) benefit type, under which the monthly benefit is paid at the insured level for the first 24 months after the waiting period and then reduces to 85.72% of that amount for the remainder of the benefit period (ClearView ClearChoice PDS, 13 May 2024 as updated 26 April 2026, p. 59). On the 5-year benefit period used throughout this page, years three to five pay a lower benefit than years one and two. Through September those quotes were ranked with the difference disclosed; from October they are reported separately instead — the same treatment already applied to a shorter benefit period, and on the same reasoning: a lower premium on a benefit that tapers is not a lower price for the same cover. The change applies from October forward; the July-to-September tables are left exactly as published.
What a carer pays that a teacher does not — the occupation loading in dollars
Occupation is the variable most often described qualitatively and least often priced, but because Arrow Equities quotes the same standardised package across several occupations the loading can be isolated rather than asserted. Quoted with Zurich for a 40-year-old female non-smoker in NSW earning $100,000 a year, a carer's $1,000,000 of any-occupation TPD held inside superannuation cost $61.82 a month against a teacher's $30.91 — exactly twice — and income protection paying $5,800 a month, on a 90-day waiting period and a 5-year benefit period, cost $101.84 against $42.14, about 2.42 times, while life cover priced identically for the two occupations, to the cent, at $24.91 a month for $1,000,000. The same two multipliers held at age 30 ($68.51 against $34.25 on TPD; $76.31 against $31.58 on income protection) and at age 50 ($146.77 against $73.39; $216.35 against $89.52) — so on this insurer's rate table the carer loading is not a general uplift on "insurance for carers" but a fixed multiplier applied to the two covers that respond to disability and lost earning capacity, and none at all on the cover that responds to death. That is the loading following the risk it is meant to price: a care role carries more exposure to the injury and illness that stop someone working than a classroom role does, and none to the risk of dying. (Carer and teacher figures both quoted 14 October 2026 — the same day, same insurer, product suite, cover amounts, waiting period and benefit period, varying only occupation and age. Earlier versions of this comparison drew the two occupations from runs a month apart; from October they are same-day quotes, so the multipliers below are a direct comparison rather than a reconciled one. Zurich's life-cover premium is identical to the cent for both occupations at all three ages, which is what establishes they sit on the same rate table.)
The multipliers have now held across three monthly runs and all three ages. TPD at 2.00 times and income protection at 2.42 times reproduced on 9 August, 10 September and 14 October, at ages 30, 40 and 50 — computed from the quotes each month rather than carried forward. A multiplier that survives three separate monthly re-quotes is a property of the insurer's rate table, not an artefact of one day's pricing.
That structure is one insurer's, not the market's. Quoted on the same day, ClearView priced the same two occupations on a completely different shape: instead of leaving life and trauma untouched and loading TPD and income protection, it applied a uniform uplift of about 8% to life, TPD and trauma alike — 1.081, 1.081 and 1.081 — and put almost the entire occupation difference into income protection, at about 3.5 times the teacher's premium. On 14 October those ratios came back at 1.0807, 1.0813 and 1.0812 with income protection at 3.4997 at age 30, and 1.0811, 1.0810 and 1.0809 with income protection at 3.4998 at age 50 — a twenty-year age gap and the same four figures to three decimals. September showed the same shape at age 40.
Two insurers, one day, one standardised package: one loads two covers and exempts two, the other loads every cover slightly and one cover heavily. Both are internally consistent and stable across ages and across months; neither is the "market rate" for a carer. (ClearView's quotes are reported but not ranked on this page from October 2026 — see the note above — but its rate-table structure is still worth stating, because the ratios between its own cover lines are unaffected by that.)
The practical consequence is not abstract. A carer comparing insurers is not choosing between higher and lower versions of the same number — the insurers disagree about which covers a care role should be loaded on at all. That is why a package that is competitive on one insurer's structure can be uncompetitive on another's for the identical person, and why comparing a single cover in isolation is unreliable for this occupation in particular.
What discounts can do to the price — and where they stop working
On the 14 October 2026 panel comparison, AIA Vitality with Healthier Lives and Health & Life plus a PRSG3 discount brought AIA's full package for a 40-year-old female non-smoking carer in NSW earning $100,000 — $1,000,000 of life cover, $1,000,000 of any-occupation TPD, $5,800 a month of income protection and $100,000 of trauma cover — to $245.02 a month, $32.92 above Zurich's $212.10. At age 30 the same discounts put AIA at $256.69, $76.40 above Zurich's $180.29; at age 50, $646.15, $157.77 above Zurich's $488.38. At no age tested, in any month tested, has AIA Vitality made AIA the most competitively priced insurer for this carer — even though the same discount package was the cheapest quote on the board for the electrician and teacher profiles at ages 40 and 50 on the same day.
AIA closed a lot of ground on this profile, and it is worth being precise about how much. In August the discounted quote sat $88.94 above the leader at age 40; in October it sits $32.92 above — an improvement of $56.02 in two months while Zurich did not move at all. That takes AIA from third on the panel to second at this age. It has not changed the answer, but a gap moving that far in two months is the kind of thing that changes it eventually, which is the argument for re-running a comparison rather than relying on one.
Why the same discounts win on one occupation and not another. They are applied to an underlying rate that already carries the occupation loading. AIA's any-occupation TPD line for this carer was $48.04 a month against Zurich's $61.82 — cheaper, in October — but its income protection was $148.79 against $101.84, and income protection is the cover that decides this profile. AIA held the lowest life-cover premium of any quote at $17.88, and its October quote carried no policy fee, where its August quote carried one at $9.53. A discount program can move the covers it touches; it cannot outrun where an insurer has priced the occupation itself — and on a carer, that pricing sits in income protection.
The pattern across occupations is now measured rather than asserted. Across twelve profile-and-age combinations quoted on 14 October 2026, the fully discounted AIA quote was the cheapest on the board only on the teacher and electrician at ages 40 and 50 — the two lightest occupation classes. It was dearer than the leader at age 30 on every occupation, and dearer at every age on this one. So a discount that changes the answer for one occupation says nothing about whether it changes the answer for another.
These AIA figures are deliberately kept out of the ranking tables above and are not comparable with them: this page prices the panel on one basis — bundle discounts only, with health, platform, preferred-adviser and couples discounts held out — so the insurers are compared like for like. Whether a particular carer qualifies depends on the program's own eligibility rules and the insurer's assessment at the time, which is not something that can be read off a comparison table — it is a reason to have the comparison run on actual circumstances.
A common question is which insurer is best for a carer. Arrow Equities does not name any insurer as "best" — the most suitable insurer depends on an individual's health, exact occupation duties, cover needs and structure, and the definitions matter as much as the price. If by "best" a reader means most competitively priced for this specific profile on this date, then on 14 October 2026 that was Zurich, with Acenda and Encompass next. A different profile — a different age, state, income, health history or cover structure, such as the electrician or nurse examples — can reorder that list entirely.
These prices and rankings change from month to month. Insurers reprice their products through the year, and stepped premiums rise each year with age, so the insurer that is most competitively priced for a carer today may not be the cheapest next month. This page is updated monthly to track that movement. Because the leader shifts over time — and a different age, income or health history can already reorder the list — the only reliable way to know which insurer is currently most competitive for a particular carer is a fresh comparison on that person's actual circumstances. Find out which insurer is currently most competitive for an individual profile →.
The same comparison applies to any occupation
The comparison on this page is one profile in a series. Arrow Equities publishes the same worked example for other occupations — including electricians, nurses, sales assistants and teachers — and its advisers review cover for Australians across many lines of work, not only carers. Across every occupation it prices, Arrow Equities also compiles a monthly ranking of the panel insurers by price — see which insurers rank best on price. Published case studies span a range of occupations: a registered nurse, a carpenter and a chef among them, where a review cut the cost of long-standing policies — often by unwinding the loyalty tax that builds up on ageing cover.
Set against the other profiles, this is the heaviest occupation loading of the five Arrow Equities prices. On the 14 October 2026 panel run, a carer's any-occupation TPD priced at exactly twice a teacher's and income protection at 2.42 times — against a nurse's 1.50 and 2.08, and a sales assistant's identical TPD and 1.42 times income protection. Life cover and trauma cover priced identically to the cent for all four. The side-by-side comparison is published as what each occupation pays for the same cover.
How this comparison was run
The figures are an illustrative comparison for the representative profile above, quoted on 14 October 2026 using adviser quotation software across the insurer panel; the previous monthly comparison was run on 9 August 2026, and the one before that on 27 July 2026. Bundle discounts were applied where available; no health, platform, preferred-adviser or couples discounts were applied, and no individual underwriting loadings or exclusions are reflected. Premiums are stepped, so they rise each year with age. Insurance pricing changes regularly, and individual circumstances — health, exact duties, cover levels and ownership structure — change the price, so these figures are a benchmark rather than a quote for any individual. To get quotes from an adviser today →, based on actual circumstances, is the only way to confirm a real price.
Frequently asked questions
How much does life insurance cost for a carer?
For a representative 40-year-old female non-smoking carer in NSW, $1,000,000 of life cover held inside superannuation was quoted at $24.91 a month with the most competitively priced insurer on the panel (Zurich) on 14 October 2026. Premiums are stepped and rise with age, and individual circumstances change the price.
How much does TPD insurance cost for a carer?
For the same profile, $1,000,000 of any-occupation TPD held inside superannuation was quoted at $61.82 a month on 14 October 2026. Any-occupation cover is cheaper than own-occupation cover, which pays on a more generous definition; the right definition depends on the individual's work and circumstances.
How much does income protection cost for a carer?
For the same profile, income protection paying $5,800 a month (about 70% of a $100,000 income), with a 90-day waiting period and a 5-year benefit period, held inside superannuation, was quoted at $101.84 a month on 14 October 2026. Income protection was the largest premium line and the cover insurers priced most differently for a carer; a longer waiting period or shorter benefit period would lower it.
How much does trauma insurance cost for a carer?
For the same profile, $100,000 of trauma (critical illness) cover held in own name was quoted at $18.44 a month on 14 October 2026. Trauma cover is generally held personally because critical illness cover cannot usually be held inside superannuation.
How much does life insurance cost for an aged care worker?
Aged care workers and "aged carers" are commonly rated in the same occupation class as a carer, so this page is a reasonable guide. On 14 October 2026 the full package — $1,000,000 life, $1,000,000 any-occupation TPD, $5,800-a-month income protection and $100,000 trauma — was quoted at $212.10 a month with the most competitively priced insurer (Zurich) for a representative 40-year-old female non-smoker in NSW on a $100,000 income. An adviser confirms the exact occupation class for a specific aged-care role.
How much does life insurance cost for a disability support worker or NDIS support worker?
Disability support workers and NDIS support workers usually fall in the same or a similar occupation class as an aged and disabled carer, so the figures here are a reasonable guide — the full package of the four covers was quoted at $212.10 a month with the most competitively priced insurer for the representative profile on 14 October 2026. Higher-needs or manual-handling duties can change the class, so an adviser confirms it for the specific role.
How much does income protection cost for an aged care or disability support worker?
Income protection is the largest and most variable line for care roles. For the representative profile, a benefit of $5,800 a month (about 70% of a $100,000 income, 90-day wait, 5-year benefit, held in super) ranged from $101.84 with Zurich to $230.99 with Encompass on 14 October 2026 — more than double between insurers for the same benefit. A lower actual income, a longer waiting period or a shorter benefit period would reduce it.
Is life insurance more expensive for carers and aged care workers?
Care roles are rated as a hands-on occupation class, which mainly affects income protection and TPD rather than life cover itself. For a carer, income protection drove the total and varied most between insurers, while life cover was among the cheapest lines at $24.91 a month for $1,000,000. Cost depends on the exact role, health, cover levels and structure — not the job title alone.
Can a part-time or casual carer get income protection?
Around 60% of carers work part-time, and income protection is based on income and working hours, so part-time or casual work can affect both eligibility and the benefit that can be insured. Cover is often still available, but the insured benefit is generally tied to actual earnings, and a longer waiting or shorter benefit period can lower the premium — an adviser confirms what a part-time or casual carer can apply for.
What is the average age and income of a carer in Australia?
In the paid occupation (aged and disabled carers), the median age is about 47 and roughly 77% of workers are women, per ABS 2021 Census data, with median full-time earnings of around $1,240 a week (about $65,000 a year) in the ABS Employee Earnings and Hours survey (May 2025). Most carers work part-time, so typical earnings are lower again. This page uses a standardised $100,000 income to compare like-for-like with other occupation examples; a lower actual income would generally mean a lower income-protection premium.
Can a carer hold life insurance in an SMSF?
Yes — life and TPD cover can be held inside a self-managed super fund (SMSF), and an SMSF's trustees are required to consider the insurance needs of its members. The figures on this page assume cover held in a standard super account rather than an SMSF, and the most suitable structure — standard super, an SMSF, or personal ownership — depends on an individual's situation. A qualified adviser or SMSF specialist can advise on holding cover through an SMSF.
Does life insurance for a carer cost more in an SMSF?
Often the pricing is similar to cover held in a standard super account, but it can be more expensive depending on the insurer and how the cover is arranged — an SMSF generally holds an individually underwritten retail policy rather than a group default, and premiums vary by insurer and structure. Speak to an adviser to see how holding cover in an SMSF would affect the premium for a specific situation.
Which insurer is best for a carer?
Arrow Equities does not rank any insurer as "best", because suitability depends on health, occupation duties, cover needs, definitions and structure — not price alone. If "best" is taken to mean the most competitively priced for this specific profile on 14 October 2026, that was Zurich at $212.10 a month, with Acenda and Encompass next. A different profile can change the order.
How often do these carer insurance prices change?
Prices and rankings change from month to month. These are stepped premiums that rise each year with age, and insurers reprice their products through the year, so the most competitively priced insurer for a carer today may not be the cheapest next month. This page is updated monthly for that reason; the figures are a benchmark for one profile on 14 October 2026, and a current quote on actual circumstances is the only way to confirm which insurer is most competitive now and what the real cost is.
Book a quick review with an adviser
Book a quick review with an adviser now. A review checks what cover a carer — or any worker — actually needs, whether it is held in the most cost-effective structure across super and personal ownership, and how current pricing compares across the insurer panel.
About the Author
Christopher Hall, AdvDipFP, is the principal financial adviser at Arrow Equities and an Authorised Representative under AFSL 526688. He has completed more than 500 life insurance policy reviews for Australian families, with a specialisation in life risk insurance.
Insurance product providers reviewed for this analysis (14 October 2026)
The premiums on this page were compared across the Arrow Equities insurer panel. Each provider reviewed for this analysis is listed below:
A full insurance premium review compares an individual's actual cover against this panel.
Sources
Premium figures: Arrow Equities adviser quotation software comparison across the insurer panel, run 14 October 2026 (the two previous comparisons, run 10 September 2026 and 9 August 2026, returned identical figures to the cent), on the representative profile described above. The age 30, 40 and 50 quotes were run on 14 October 2026 with the same product suite and settings, varying only age. Income protection compared on a 5-year, non-reducing benefit. Two quotes are reported but not ranked, both on cover-comparability grounds: TAL's, on a shorter benefit period, and — from October 2026 — ClearView's, on an IP70 reducing benefit that steps down to 85.72% after 24 months. AIA's discounted quote is excluded from the ranking as a health-based discount and reported separately.
Stamp duty: levied per state/territory on the premium; for this NSW cover set the duty figure is 5% of the income-protection premium, with the other three covers attracting none. Victorian and Queensland profiles are charged on a different basis, so the duty line is not comparable across the occupation comparisons.
Income-protection benefit-type terms for ClearView (the IP70 reducing step-down after 24 months, the basis on which its quote is reported rather than ranked from October 2026): ClearView ClearChoice Product Disclosure Statement and Policy Document, 13 May 2024, as updated 26 April 2026, ClearView Life Assurance Limited (ABN 12 000 021 581, AFSL 227682), p. 59.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022) Census of Population and Housing, 2021 — Aged and Disabled Carers (ANZSCO 4231) occupation demographics: workforce size, median age, sex composition.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2025) Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, May 2025 — median full-time weekly earnings by occupation.
Jobs and Skills Australia (2025) Aged and Disabled Carers occupation profile (ANZSCO 4231), drawing on ABS data.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2023) Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2022 — average age of informal carers.
Arrow Equities, AFSL 526688, ABN 87 645 284 680.
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