Personal or family injury

Article last updated: 20/05/09

Injury causes a range of physical, cognitive and psychological disabilities that seriously affect the quality of life of individuals, people and their families.

In Australia, injury is a leading cause of long term health problems and is a common source of permanent disability.
Physical injuries can seriously inhibit your ability to earn an income and can be a serious impediment to your financial future.
While workers’ compensation can protect you financially for injuries suffered at work, those that occur outside of work are not covered.

Statistics¹
• In 2001 over two million Australians had a long-term health condition due to an injury.
• Males of all ages are more likely than females to experience injury.
• Injury accounted for approximately 440,997 hospital visits in 2002-03.
• The most common injuries in 1999-2000 were falls (29 per cent), followed by other unintentional injuries (26.7 per cent).51 Sports activity is a commonly reported source of injury-related hospitalisations.52

Manage the impact
Financial hardship can be caused when your injuries inhibit your ability to earn an income. Some people think that income insurance is expensive. However, over your entire working life you could earn around $2.2 million. Your income earning capacity is probably your largest asset – isn’t it worth insuring?

¹General record of Incidence of Mortality books, AIHW