Do I really need insurance?

Yes. Smartraveller's view is blunt: if you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel. An overseas hospital stay can cost AUD 10,000 a day. An air ambulance from South-East Asia to Australia can cost AUD 60,000.

Does my parent's credit-card insurance cover me?

Usually only when you are travelling with them, or when they paid for your fares on the card before you departed. Read the PDS before assuming you are covered. Many policies exclude under-21 travellers travelling alone.

Will my insurance cover a scooter accident in Bali?

Only if you have a valid Australian or international motorcycle licence for the size of bike you are riding, you are wearing a helmet, and the policy specifically includes "ride-as-pillion" or scooter-rider cover (often an add-on). Most claims from Bali scooter accidents are refused because riders had a car-only Australian licence.

Travel insurance for under-25s

Most school leavers leave Australia underinsured. Premiums sound expensive at AUD 80-200 for a 3-week trip; they are tiny against a single hospital admission overseas. This page covers what you actually need and what the common gotchas are.

What travel insurance covers

A standard policy covers:

Medical costs overseas (hospital stays, doctor visits, ambulance, dental emergencies).
Medical evacuation to Australia if local hospitals can't treat you.
Cancellation and curtailment if you have to cut your trip short for documented reasons.
Luggage and personal items lost, stolen or damaged.
Personal liability if you injure someone or damage property.
Travel delay compensation after a threshold (usually 6-12 hours).

What it usually does not cover, even on the comprehensive tier:

Drug- or alcohol-related incidents.
High-altitude trekking above 3,000m (specific add-on needed).
Snow sports off-piste (add-on needed).
Scuba diving below 30m (add-on needed).
Pre-existing medical conditions you did not declare.
War, civil unrest in countries where Smartraveller advises "Do Not Travel".

The credit-card insurance trap

Premium credit cards include "complimentary international travel insurance" as a feature. The standard pre-conditions are:

You paid for your return ticket on that card before leaving Australia.
The trip is no longer than 3 to 6 months (varies by card).
The cardholder is travelling on the trip (parents' card cover often does not extend to children travelling alone, regardless of age).
You are under 70 (sometimes under 65 for the higher cover tiers).

Read the PDS, search for "age" and "dependent". Most parental credit-card policies define a "dependent child" as under 21 or full-time student under 25, but only when they travel with the cardholder. If you are flying solo, you usually need your own policy.

Why under-25s pay more attention than others

Three categories drive the majority of under-25 claims:

Scooter and motorcycle accidents (especially Bali, Vietnam, Thailand). To be insured you need an Australian or international motorcycle licence for the engine size, a helmet, and a policy with rider cover. The car-licence-with-condition-R in Australia does not authorise larger Indonesian scooters. Riding without correct licensing voids the policy.
Snow-sports injuries (especially Japan, Canada, New Zealand). The standard "winter sports" add-on covers on-piste only. Off-piste, freeride and backcountry need specific cover; some policies exclude them entirely.
Adventure activities (bungee, skydive, white-water rafting, scuba). The PDS lists the activities included by tier. If your activity is not listed and you do not buy an add-on, you are uninsured.

Smartraveller advisory and your cover

Travel insurance generally voids if you travel to a country or region where Smartraveller advises "Do Not Travel" at the time you leave Australia. Some insurers void cover when the advice changes during your trip, even if you booked before the change.

Check the Smartraveller page for your destination before you book and again before you fly. The four levels are "Exercise normal safety precautions", "Exercise a high degree of caution", "Reconsider your need to travel", and "Do not travel".

What an under-25 traveller should actually buy

A reasonable starting point for most school leavers:

Single-trip comprehensive policy for the duration of the trip.
Add-ons: scooter rider cover if visiting South-East Asia, snow-sports cover if travelling December-April to a ski country, adventure-sports cover if planning bungee / skydive / canyoning.
Medical excess of AUD 100-250 (lower excess costs more in premium; the trade-off is yours).
Higher cancellation cover if the trip cost over AUD 5,000.

Get quotes from at least three providers (Cover-More, World Nomads, Allianz, Fast Cover, InsureandGo) and compare PDS exclusions, not just price.

Working holiday visa cover is different

Most short-trip policies cap at 3 to 6 months and exclude paid work. If you are on a WHV, you need a long-term WHV-specific policy. Cover-More, Insure for Less and World Nomads sell 12-month policies; some are renewable annually. WHV cover usually includes incidental work (hospitality, retail) but excludes high-risk work (construction at height, commercial fishing, mining without disclosure).

What to do at the airport before flying

Confirm your policy number and the 24-hour emergency assistance phone number are saved on your phone (and printed on paper as backup).
Email the PDS to yourself or save offline.
Note the local emergency number (000 is Australia only; see the per-country page on this site).
Take a photo of your passport, visa, and insurance certificate.

Currency converter and FX fees
Working holiday visa tax basics
Gap year pros and cons
Per-country travel pages on this site list each destination's emergency number and Smartraveller URL.

The information here is general only. ExamExplained does not provide insurance advice; read the Product Disclosure Statement of any policy before buying it, and call the insurer if you are unsure whether your planned activities are covered.