Family and domestic violence policy

Who to call when you need help

Your safety comes first. If you’re in danger or feel unsafe, call 000 right away.

For confidential information and support any time, call 1800 RESPECT.

1. Why we have this policy

We have this policy because we care about your safety and wellbeing. It explains how we support our members affected by domestic and family violence.

We understand everyone’s situation is different. Our goal is to make sure you can access our services easily and safely.

That means we:

take steps to reduce putting you at risk when we talk to you
make sure you’re not left out or unable to use our services
offer support if you’re in a difficult situation
avoid making things worse through our actions.

What you’ll find in this policy

Ways, we can help you
How we train our staff to support you
How we protect your private information
Support with financial hardship
Other organisations that can help.

Keeping our policy up to date

We regularly check and update this policy to make sure it's helpful and accurate.

That includes:

reviewing the wording
checking links and contact details for support services
training our staff on any changes
making sure the policy works well in real-life situations.

If you need help or have questions, please reach out to us. We're here to support you.

2. What is domestic and family violence?

Australian law defines family violence as behaviour that coerces, controls, threatens, or scares a person or their family member/s. This can include:

physical or sexual assault
psychological, emotional or verbal abuse
stalking
damaging or destroying property
hurting pets
threats or intimidation
financial control

Who is considered family?

Family can mean:

a partner or spouse
someone you’ve had a close relationship with
relatives (parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins)
for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, this can include cultural kinship connection or family-like relationship.

We're here to help everyone, no matter your situation.

Understanding financial abuse

Financial abuse is a type of domestic violence that's often hard to spot.

In can include:

controlling access to money or bank accounts
not allowing a partner to work
taking a partner's pay
giving a small allowance and watching how it's spent
stopping a partner from getting to work
using a partner's credit card without permission.

If you're experiencing any of these issues, we're here to support you.

3. How we can help you

If you are worried about yourself or someone you know, we are here to support you. We will keep everything confidential and treat you with care and respect. If you need extra support, we can refer you to external services that can assist you.

Please let us know if you are affected by domestic or family violence so we can support you better.
Responsive and caring staff	Our team is trained to help with sensitivity and respect. We might not always know if you're affected, so please tell us if you need support.
Privacy	We'll keep your information private. If you want someone to act for you, we'll check with you before we speak with them. You can find our Privacy Policy here.
Communication	We’ll get in touch however you prefer. Let us know the best times to contact you, and we'll stick to those. We'll try to get all the info we need in one go to avoid repeating questions.
Direct contact	We will give you your claims manager or complaints handler’s direct contact details.
Quick claims	If you make a claim, we will try to process it quickly and request the minimum information required to assess your claim.
External support	We can refer you to other external support services such as Lifeline and DV Connect. Refer to section 7 for more options.
New insurance cover	If you need new cover, we'll set it up quickly and privately with minimal fuss.
Financial hardship	We can offer help with financial hardship assistance, refer to section 6 of this policy for more details.
Complaints	If you're not happy with how we've followed this policy, you can make a complaint. See section 8 for more info.
Emergency	If you identify an immediate threat, call emergency services on 000.

4. How we train our employees to help you

Our team, especially those who talk to members directly, are trained to:

spot signs of domestic and family violence
help you without making you repeat what’s happened
put your safety first by keeping your information private and safe
handle your claims process with the highest level of care
connect you with specialist services
treat you with respect, care and compassion.

We also support our own staff who might be affected by family and domestic violence or who help customers in these situations. We do that through our employee assistance program, training, giving additional leave and connecting them with external support.

5. Keeping your information safe and private

We know how important your privacy is, and our priority is keeping you safe. You can read about how we protect your information in our Privacy Policy.

We also take extra care when talking with you by:

finding a safe time to talk on the phone
checking if it’s safe to leave messages on your phone or send text messages
asking your permission before talking to anyone else about your situation (even if you’ve asked them to get in touch with us).

6. Financial hardship support

If you’re struggling with your finances because of domestic or family violence, we can help by checking your insurance cover is right for you and putting you in touch with support services.

Reach out to our team on if you need more information about financial hardship help.