Dependants aged 0 - 20

We all want the best for kids in our care – adding them to your health insurance can help by giving you more choice about their healthcare.

How do I add a dependant?

If you already have a Family, Couple or Single Parent membership, call us on 1300 727 538. You’ll need to tell us their name, date of birth and sex.

If you do this within 12 months of the birth, they won’t have any waiting periods for hospital treatment (if needed). And adding them won’t affect the cost of your cover!

If you’re currently on a Single membership it needs to be done within two months of the birth. Call us on 1300 727 538 to switch to whichever type of cover is relevant to you.

Will my premium change?

It depends which type of membership you have:

Couple, Family or Single Parent

Adding one (or more) kids under 21 won’t increase your premium – a rare case of them not costing you money! While there’s no associated cost, adding a dependant changes a Couple membership into a Family one.

Single

You will pay a bit more, as your membership will change to Single Parent (or Family if you add a partner too). 

Will my dependant have waiting periods?

Here’s how it works if you add a dependant to your existing level of cover:

0 – 12 months

Add a baby to your Family, Couple or Single Parent membership within 12 months of their birth and they won’t have waiting periods. That’s because their membership will be backdated to their date of birth.

If you are currently on a Single membership you must add your baby within two months of birth. Your cover will also need to change to Family, Couple or Single Parent membership.

For more on coverage for newborns, check out the New baby section of our Pregnancy & birth guide.

12 months – 20 years

The standard rules apply here – if your dependant is new to health insurance, or it’s been more than 60 days since their previous cover ended, they’ll have to serve the relevant waiting periods.

If you upgrade your cover

If you upgrade to a higher level of cover when adding your dependant, existing members will have waiting periods too. They apply to services that:

• you weren’t covered for before
• were previously covered at a lower level
• involve a reduced hospital excess (e.g. lower or no excess)

I want to change my cover before adding a dependant. How can I do this?

To change your level of cover (upgrade or downgrade) visit Online Member Services and go to:

• Membership
• Cover details
• Select the edit icon
• And take it from there.

What happens when my dependant turns 21?

We’ll contact you beforehand to ask if they’re a full-time student, trainee, apprentice, intern or cadet. If they are – and they’re not married or in a de-facto relationship – they can stay on your membership as a student dependant.

See more on student dependants

Not studying?

If your dependant isn’t married or in a de-facto relationship, you can keep them on your membership via Extended Family Cover^.

See more on Extended Family Cover

Note: If they’re a higher earner, they may want to seek tax advice. If their income is over the Medicare Levy Surcharge threshold they’ll pay extra tax if they don’t have their own Hospital cover.

Married or de-facto?

If they want to stay covered, they’ll need their own membership.

Help your dependant choose their own cover

^Extended Family Cover isn't an option on StarterPak (Basic Plus) or Emergency Ambulance cover.