How do you choose the best family travel insurance?
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for finding the best family travel insurance in Australia. When comparing travel insurance policies for your family, consider:
- Medical cover: Check the limits for overseas medical expenses and emergency medical evacuation, particularly if you're travelling internationally.
- Cancellation cover: Understand what events are covered if you need to cancel or cut your trip short before or during your holiday.
- Included activities: If you're planning a cruise, skiing holiday or adventure activities, check whether these are included or require additional cover.
- Luggage and personal belongings: Compare a policy’s cover limits for luggage and valuables, including items such as phones, tablets, cameras, prams or strollers.
- Excess payable: A lower premium may come with a higher excess, so consider how much you'd need to pay if you end up needing to make a claim.
- Pre-existing medical conditions: If anyone in your family has a pre-existing medical condition, check whether it can be covered and whether any assessment or additional premium is required.
- Who is covered: Review how the insurer defines a family and eligible dependants, including any age limits or other eligibility requirements for children travelling on the policy.
Take the time to read the fine print of any terms and conditions before you agree to a policy, and be aware of any special eligibility criteria that might apply before your holiday starts.
You could get better value by purchasing your cover during the early planning stages, as this might also cover bookings you make in the lead-up to travel. Ultimately, the best travel insurance for your family is one that covers everything you need at a price that’s within your budget.
What is family travel insurance?
Family travel insurance allows you to cover multiple members of the same family on one policy, rather than taking out separate policies for each person.
Travel insurance for families usually provides protection for you, your partner, and any dependent children (often up to age 25, if they're financially reliant on you), as long as you're all travelling together as a group. It's more convenient than individual policies, and most insurers will provide a higher cover limit more suitable for families.
What determines the cost of family travel insurance?
- The level of cover: Comprehensive policies for your family with more inclusions may come with higher premiums than more basic policies.
- Your destination: Some countries are considered more dangerous than others, so you may need to pay a higher premium if you are planning a trip to a risky location with safety warnings. Before you travel, visit the Australian Government’s Smartraveller website for destination-based travel warnings and general tips about visiting other countries.
- Additional cover: Activities such as skiing or water sports, or spending time on a cruise ship may be seen as risky, and therefore contribute to a higher insurance premium. Alternatively, some providers may not cover these activities and may require you to take out a more comprehensive or specialised policy.
- Annual multi-trip or once-off single trip policy: Multi-trip travel insurance policies can cover you for multiple trips in a 12-month period, often making them more expensive than a policy taken out for a single trip.
- The size of your family: The number of family members you bring may influence premiums, but some providers allow eligible dependants to be added to a policy for no additional cost.
- Trip duration: The length of your trip can impact premiums.
- Provider: Your choice of provider can impact premiums – some providers may charge you more for the same trip than others.
- Pre-existing conditions: Disclose any pre-existing conditions to ensure they're covered, even though it may increase the price of premiums.
What exclusions can apply with family travel insurance?
- Participating in an unapproved, high-risk sport or activity that you don’t have specialist or additional travel insurance cover for (e.g. snowboarding, visiting a volcano, bungee jumping).
- Having a pre-existing medical condition and not disclosing it to your travel insurance provider. This can often result in not being covered for any claims related to the condition. Keep in mind that some providers may cover certain pre-existing conditions, so check if you are unsure.
- Leaving belongings unattended, resulting in loss, damage or theft.
- Participating in an illegal activity, engaging in reckless behaviour, using drugs or being intoxicated.
- Travelling to a destination when there are travel warnings in place from the Australian Government.
- Being impacted by an act of war, terrorism or civil unrest.
Before you take out a travel insurance policy, it’s a good idea to check the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD). If there is anything you are unsure about or if you have any general questions, speak to your insurance provider for details.
What do insurers consider a family?
Insurance providers commonly define a ‘family’ as the policyholder, their spouse or de facto partner, and any dependants, provided all of these people are listed on the policy. Some policies set limits on the number of kids you can list on your policy, while others have no limits, making them potentially more suitable for larger families.
If you’re travelling with multiple families or your family is particularly large, you might also want to consider group travel insurance, which typically offers cover for up to 25 people under a single policy. If you are a single parent, any dependent children you’re travelling with may be covered under your singles policy, rather than requiring a family policy.
If you're travelling as a couple without dependent children, a couples policy may be more appropriate than family travel insurance. Likewise, if your adult children are travelling independently, they'll generally need their own policy.
How much does family travel insurance cost?
The cost of family travel insurance in Australia will vary between insurers and whether you choose a basic or more comprehensive policy. Choosing optional extras such as cover for winter sports can also increase the cost of travel insurance for families. To provide a guide, Canstar Research compared the average premiums for a 14-day domestic holiday, international holiday and cruise for an average family of two adults and two dependants.
Average cost of travel insurance for families in Australia
Domestic | $245 |
International | $355 |
Cruise | $382 |
Source: Canstar. Based on a selection of policies rated in the Canstar 2025 Travel Insurance Star Ratings & Awards (November 2025). Premiums include quotes with a target excess of $200. International category based on quotes for multiple destinations, and cruise category based on quotes for an Australian, Fijian or Mediterranean Cruise (see Travel Insurance Star Ratings methodology doc for details).
When should you buy family travel insurance?
Many travellers choose to purchase travel insurance as soon as a trip is booked, especially if deposits have been put down and non-refundable expenses have been paid. Depending on the policy, this allows for cancellation benefits to potentially begin before you travel if you're forced to cancel your holiday due to a covered event.
Before booking a trip, it’s worth doing your research or checking the PDS of a policy you’re considering to understand when cover starts, and any conditions or waiting periods that may apply.
