Best Life Insurance Companies in Australia

What are the best life insurance companies in Australia?

Looking for top-rated life insurance? You might start with the winners of Canstar’s annual Direct Life Insurance Awards. The awards recognise providers offering outstanding value to customers in Australia across both price and features.

Three providers topped the list nationally in 2026:

NobleOak

NobleOak has once again received an Outstanding Value Award in 2026. NobleOak offers low-cost premiums, especially for younger customers, and its policies come with a number of stand-out features. One of these is the terminal illness benefit, which pays out 100% of your lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness likely to cause death within 24 months. NobleOak also provides a comprehensive family and carer support benefit as standard to help your family provide care if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness. In addition to these features NobleOak also offers $250,000 for Guaranteed Future Insurability events. If you have a specific life event, like getting married or divorced, or bringing a new child into the family, you can increase your sum insured without further medical tests and questionnaires.

Budget Direct

Budget Direct offers a white label (or rebranded) version of NobleOak’s direct life insurance policy, which stands out due to its low-priced premiums and the generous features on offer. The only difference between Budget Direct and NobleOak is in some support features, most notably the fact that Budget Direct doesn’t offer access to online self-service, whereas NobleOak does.

TAL

TAL has earned an Outstanding Value Award for the third year in a row. Performing best for consumers over the age of 40, TAL provides a standout array of features. Among these are an increased funeral benefit if you pass away overseas, and Guaranteed Future Insurability for business events (for example, if your financial interest in a business partnership grows or your business loan liability increases). TAL also provides a child’s critical illness benefit as standard, which is a lump sum payment if your child suffers a specified condition, including certain heart and neurological conditions and cancers.

What does life insurance cost in Australia?

If you’re looking for the best life insurance policy, price is likely a determining factor. We crunched the numbers using a range of policies in our database, finding the average monthly cost of direct life insurance premiums:

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How to compare life insurance policies

Price vs value

While the cheapest policy may provide you with low premiums, you may miss out on adequate coverage. It’s important to weigh up both the cost of a policy alongside the cover and features it provides you.

Benefit amount

This is the amount you or your beneficiaries will be paid out in the event of a successful claim. To work out how much you might need, it’s worth thinking about the current and future financial needs of you and your beneficiaries, like mortgage repayments or rent costs, school fees, and your retirement plans.

Waiting periods and eligibility

Term life insurance policies generally don’t require you to serve a waiting period before being able to claim, unlike income protection and TPD policies. As for eligibility, this will be determined by your age, residency status, and how you take out cover (e.g., as a direct policy or through your super). You can usually take out a policy from the age of 18 until you reach the age of 65, and you’ll need to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Exclusions and policy features

Exclusions refer to situations in which you won’t be covered by your policy. Some common life insurance exclusions are:

• When you’re employed in a potentially dangerous occupation, such as being a truck driver, an arborist, or a construction worker
• If you’re partaking in high-risk hobbies such as skydiving, hang-gliding, or motor racing
• Claims resulting from certain pre-existing medical conditions, especially those not disclosed to your insurer
• Claims arising from reckless or negligent behaviour, such as dangerous driving or ignoring warnings

As for policy features, you may be offered things like premium waivers during injury or illness, automatic terminal illness benefits, and funeral advancement benefits to help your family with immediate expenses.

Insider tip: Look beyond price and check for built‑in protections. Two terms to look out for:

• Guaranteed Future Insurability (GFI): Lets you increase your cover after key life events—like marriage, having a child, or taking out a mortgage—without new medical checks.

• Guaranteed Renewable (GR): Keeps your policy active as long as you pay premiums, even if your health, job, or hobbies change.

How do you find the best life insurance?

When it comes to life insurance in Australia, no one policy is the ‘best’—the answer will come down to you and your family’s needs as well as your budget. If you’re one of a couple, for instance, you’re likely to have very different life insurance needs than a family with several children. Likewise, the best life insurance for someone with a young family will be quite different from a policy that’s well-suited to an older couple.

A good place to start when comparing life insurance is to ask yourself: 

What type of cover do you need? Do you need Term Life insurance (can provide a lump sum payout if you pass away), or do you also need Total and Permanent Disability (TPD), or trauma cover? If you’re the primary earner for your family, you might also consider income protection, which can help keep the bills paid if you’re temporarily unable to work due to injury or illness.

Do you need any optional extras? Life insurance can come with add-on forms of cover, sometimes referred to as ‘riders’. These can include:

• Cover if you pass away due to an accident 
• Cover if your child passes away or is diagnosed with a terminal or critical illness
• Premium waivers, which means you don’t pay premiums if you become totally disabled and unable to work
• The ability to reset your benefit amount after you’ve made a claim on a linked form of cover, like if you were to make a TPD claim but also have active term life insurance cover as part of the policy.

What are your long-term financial obligations? Think about your current and future debts and expenses. Do you have a mortgage? Do you want to guarantee your children’s private school or university fees are covered? Your medical history and age will also play a role, as your medical bills generally rise as you age, along with your life insurance premiums.

What’s your budget? Canstar Research found that the average life insurance policy in Australia for a person in their 30s currently costs $29.03 per month for non-smoking women and $38.72 for non-smoking men. It’s important to weigh up your budget and consider the best value for money you can get.

How does life insurance work in Australia?

You can usually take out life insurance in three different ways:

• As a direct policy, purchased through an insurance provider. You can compare direct life insurance policies with Canstar.
• Through an intermediary, such as a financial adviser. This is often referred to as advised life insurance.
• Through your super fund, usually paying premiums directly from your super balance. Many super funds offer default life insurance to eligible members.

Different forms of cover are grouped into life insurance more broadly, these are:

• Income protection insurance: Can pay you a percentage of your pre-tax income if you’re unable to work for a period of time due to illness or injury. You can compare direct income protection insurance policies with Canstar.

• Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) insurance: Can pay a lump sum if you become permanently disabled and unable to work, either in your current job or in any occupation, depending on the insurer. You can compare direct TPD insurance policies with Canstar.

• Trauma insurance: Also known as critical illness or recovery insurance, trauma insurance can pay out a lump sum if you suffer a significant injury or illness such as cancer, a stroke, or a head or spinal injury. You can usually take out trauma insurance directly through an insurance provider or via an intermediary like a financial adviser. 

What are the pros and cons of life insurance?

Pros

• May provide peace of mind that your dependants will be more financially secure if you pass away or can no longer work.
• Can help cover unexpected costs resulting from terminal illness.
• Can be flexible, with a range of policies available that are suitable for most occupations and life stages and generally offer a wide selection of benefit options.

Cons

• Premiums may increase over time as you get older (known as variable age-stepped premiums) or if you have a pre-existing medical condition. Your lifestyle choices, like your smoking status and occupation may also have an impact on your premiums.
• Exclusions may apply to you. If you have a pre-existing medical condition, you may find you’re restricted or even excluded from some life insurance options.
• You may already have some form of life insurance provided through your superannuation. If your super provides life cover, you may want to check what it covers, if it’s enough to meet your needs, and whether extra cover would benefit you.