Cheap Travel Insurance for Trips to Australia
No single travel insurance company or policy is the best for everyone. With this in mind, we've researched and analyzed dozens of travel insurance plans for trips to Australia to arrive at a selection of travel insurance plans that stand out for their combination of features and price. Read our research to decide if any are right for you.
The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.
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Cheaper Travel Insurance to Australia
Key features to look for -
Best Premium Travel Insurance to Australia
What premium policies provide -
Learning
Do I Need Travel Insurance to Australia?
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Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
Travel Insurance to Australia with Medical Conditions -
Backpacker Insurance for Australia
Long-stay and working holiday cover
Choosing the best travel insurance for you will depend on factors like price points and features that you might find valuable. For a discussion of major differences between buying direct and buying from a comparison site, please see the individual reviews. Please use the information in this review to help you understand what to look for in travel insurance to Australia.
Best Cheap Travel Insurance to Australia
A budget-friendly travel insurance policy for Australia should still meet a meaningful minimum standard of cover. Australia is over 9,000 miles from the UK, which means the cost of medical repatriation alone can run to tens of thousands of pounds—so skimping on medical cover to save a few pounds is rarely a good trade-off.
Single trip policies for a healthy adult travelling to Australia for two weeks start from around £16 to £18 for basic, entry-level cover, rising to around £40 to £65 for a solid Defaqto 5-star policy. Prices are higher for older travellers and those with pre-existing conditions, and roughly double for a family of four (though many insurers include children at no extra charge).
When looking for cheap travel insurance to Australia, we'd suggest using a comparison site to filter by Defaqto star rating as well as price. A 3-star policy can work for a simple, low-cost trip, but a 4- or 5-star policy will typically offer higher cover limits for things like Cancellation and Baggage, lower or zero excesses, and features like Travel Delay that a basic plan might omit. Given how far Australia is and how expensive flights can be to replace, we'd generally recommend aiming for at least 4-star cover.
The key things to look for in any Australia travel insurance policy, even a budget one, are:
- Emergency Medical Expenses of at least £5 million, ideally £10 million or more. Australia has good hospitals but private treatment is expensive, and air ambulance repatriation from Australia to the UK can cost £50,000 or more.
- Cancellation/Curtailment cover high enough to cover the full non-refundable cost of your trip. Return flights from the UK to Australia alone can cost £800 to £1,500 or more per person.
- Repatriation back to the UK if you suffer a serious illness or injury while away.
- Baggage/Personal Belongings in case your bags or belongings are lost, stolen or damaged.
- Baggage Delay to cover the cost of necessary personal items if your luggage is delayed.
- Travel Delay in case adverse weather, strikes or other disruptions affect your outbound or inbound journey.
When considering plans you may also want to check features like personal liability, loss or theft of your passport, and Gadget cover if you're travelling with expensive devices. Note that mobile phones are often excluded from standard Baggage cover—check the policy wording carefully if this matters to you.
Premium Travel Insurance to Australia
Those insuring more expensive Australia trips—think business class flights, multi-week itineraries, luxury accommodation or higher-value luggage—will benefit from the higher cover limits found in premium plans. For those planning an extended trip with lots of pre-booked excursions and activities, premium cover can also offer a broader safety net.
Premium single trip policies for Australia from a healthy adult typically cost in the range of £50 to £100, with families paying somewhat more. At this price point you can expect Cancellation cover of £7,500 or more, Baggage limits of £3,000+, lower or zero excesses, and often a wider range of features included as standard rather than as paid add-ons.
Premium policies also tend to include or offer the following add-ons that cheaper plans may not:
- Gadget cover protects mobile phones, tablets, laptops and cameras for loss, theft or accidental damage. Standard Baggage cover usually excludes mobile phones entirely or caps single-item limits too low to replace a modern smartphone. Dedicated Gadget add-ons typically offer £1,000 to £3,000 of total cover, with a single-item limit of £500 to £1,000.
- Scheduled Airline Failure (SAFI) and End Supplier Failure (ESF) cover protects you if your airline or a pre-booked travel supplier (hotel, car hire company, tour operator) goes bust before or during your trip. SAFI is available on a wider range of policies; ESF is rarer but more comprehensive. Limits typically range from £1,000 to £5,000.
- Travel Disruption / Catastrophe cover extends the standard Travel Delay benefit to cover events like volcanic ash clouds, hurricanes or other natural disasters that disrupt your journey. Particularly worth considering given the distance to Australia and the number of connections typically involved.
- Cruise cover adds protection specific to cruise holidays, including Cabin Confinement (if you're confined to your cabin due to illness), Missed Port Departure, and Itinerary Change. If you're planning a coastal cruise as part of your Australia trip, check whether this is included as standard or needs to be added.
- Adventure sports / activities cover is worth checking if you plan to scuba dive (including Great Barrier Reef diving), surf, go skydiving, bungee jump, or do any other higher-risk activities. Many standard policies cover a wide range of activities already, but it's worth verifying before you travel—an injury during an uncovered activity would likely invalidate your medical claim.
- £0 excess on Cancellation or medical claims is available on some premium plans, meaning you won't need to contribute anything out of pocket towards a successful claim.
When comparing premium policies, it's also worth looking at the insurer's customer service and claims record. Independent reviews on Trustpilot and ratings from bodies like Defaqto's Insurer of the Year awards can give a useful guide to which providers are best at handling claims when things go wrong.
Do I Need Travel Insurance to Australia? Why it's Important
Travel insurance is not a legal requirement for UK visitors to Australia, but it is strongly recommended by both the Australian Government and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The distance alone makes Australia one of the highest-risk destinations for UK travellers in terms of cost if something goes wrong. A medical evacuation back to the UK by air ambulance can cost £50,000 to £150,000 or more. The cost of a serious injury requiring hospitalisation in Australia can run to tens of thousands of pounds even without repatriation. And with return flights typically costing £800 to £1,500 or more per person, the Cancellation section of your policy can pay for itself many times over if you have to cancel before you depart.
The UK does have a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) with Australia, which allows UK visitors to access necessary treatment through Medicare—Australia's public healthcare system—during their stay. However, the RHCA has important limitations that mean you should not rely on it in place of travel insurance:
- The RHCA covers emergency and medically necessary treatment only—it does not cover elective treatment, dental care, or treatment for pre-existing conditions.
- It does not cover repatriation back to the UK if you need to be flown home for treatment.
- It does not cover ambulance costs, which in Australia can run to several hundred pounds even for a short journey.
- It does not cover any non-medical elements of your trip, such as Cancellation, Baggage, Travel Delay or personal liability.
- To use the RHCA, you will need to enrol with Medicare at a Medicare service centre once in Australia, presenting your UK passport as proof of eligibility. If you don't have an NHS card (they're no longer issued), carry your NHS number as an alternative.
In short, the RHCA provides a limited safety net for emergency medical treatment, but travel insurance fills the gaps that matter most—especially repatriation, ambulance costs, and the full range of trip protection.
If you'd like more detailed information on the ins and outs of travel insurance plans, you can read more in our Travel Insurance Guide.
How To Pick a Good Travel Insurance Plan for You
Here are the key features to look for when choosing a travel insurance plan for Australia:
- Cancellation/Curtailment cover at least equal to the total non-refundable cost of your trip, including flights, accommodation and pre-booked excursions. For many Australia trips this will be £2,000 to £5,000 or more per person.
- Emergency Medical Expenses of at least £5 million. Australia has excellent hospitals, but private medical care and specialist treatment can be extremely expensive, and the cost of complex cases can escalate quickly.
- Repatriation cover to bring you back to the UK if you suffer a serious illness or injury. Make sure this is explicitly included—not all policies include it as standard.
- Baggage/Personal Belongings cover for loss, theft or damage to your luggage. Check the single-item limit, as this is often set at £200 to £400 on budget policies, which may not cover a smartphone or camera.
- Baggage Delay to reimburse the cost of essential items if your bags are delayed on arrival.
- Travel Delay/Missed Departure for disruption to your journey caused by adverse weather, strikes or mechanical breakdown.
- 24-hour emergency assistance so you can reach your insurer at any time of day or night from Australia, where the time difference from the UK is 8 to 11 hours.
Use the Defaqto star rating when comparing policies—it gives a quick, independent measure of how comprehensive a policy is. For a trip to Australia, we'd suggest not going below 4 stars.
Single Trip or Multi Trip Cover
You'll need to decide whether to buy a Single Trip or Annual, Multi-Trip plan. If Australia is your only overseas trip in the next 12 months, a single-trip policy is almost certainly the right choice. If you travel at least twice a year, an annual policy may be better value overall—but there's an important catch for Australia.
Maximum Trip Length is the key thing to check on annual policies. Most annual plans cap individual trips at 30 to 45 days, with some going as low as 17 or 21 days. If your Australia trip is three or four weeks, this matters. Check the maximum trip duration before buying, as exceeding it means you won't be covered from the day you go over. If you need longer cover, a single-trip policy is usually the safer option, as these can often cover trips of up to 90 days or more—some up to 365 days.
As a general rule: if you're taking one trip to Australia per year and it's longer than three to four weeks, buy a single-trip policy. If Australia is one of two or more holidays you're taking and your trip is under 31 days, compare annual policy prices too as they can work out cheaper overall.
Travel Insurance with Pre-Existing Conditions to Australia
Travel insurance is even more important for those travelling to Australia with a pre-existing medical condition. The RHCA does not cover treatment related to pre-existing conditions, which means any medical expenses arising from a known condition would fall entirely to you without cover—and from Australia, those costs could be substantial.
The cost of medical repatriation by air ambulance from Australia is among the highest of any destination in the world, given the distance. For travellers with conditions that carry any risk of a medical episode abroad—whether cardiac, respiratory, oncological or otherwise—the case for comprehensive travel insurance is particularly strong.
When buying travel insurance with a pre-existing condition, always declare your condition fully and accurately. Failing to disclose a condition that later gives rise to a claim will typically result in the claim being rejected in full, regardless of whether the condition directly caused the incident. It's also worth checking:
- Whether your condition is covered, or whether it's excluded. Some policies will cover conditions automatically, while others will charge an additional premium or decline cover entirely. Specialist providers tend to have more appetite for complex medical histories.
- The overall medical expenses limit—for travellers with conditions that could escalate, a higher limit of £10 million or more is worth paying for.
- The repatriation cover, and whether it explicitly includes medically supervised repatriation, which is often required for serious conditions.
Travel insurance companies that specialise in medical conditions include goodtogoinsurance.com, JustTravelcover.com, OK To Travel, Saga, AllClear and Virgin Money. In particular, Fit2Travel and Free Spirit are known to offer cover when other providers may not due to more serious conditions. You are also likely to pay more for travel insurance if you have a medical condition, particularly for long-haul destinations like Australia.
Travel Insurance to Australia for Families
A family trip to Australia is often a once-in-a-lifetime holiday, and the cost of flights, accommodation and excursions means that the total at-risk spend is typically higher than a European break. That makes Cancellation cover particularly valuable—for a family of four, a booked Australia trip can easily represent £6,000 to £10,000 or more of non-refundable expenditure.
Beyond finances, children bring their own set of travel insurance considerations:
- Children are more prone to minor injuries and illnesses, making solid Emergency Medical Expenses cover especially important.
- Bags, toys and gadgets have a habit of being lost or damaged when travelling with kids—check the Baggage limits and single-item limits.
- Travel Delay cover can be particularly welcome for families, reimbursing costs like meals and refreshments if you're stuck at an airport for many hours.
- Baggage Delay cover means you can buy essentials if the bags don't arrive when you do.
The good news is that most travel insurance policies for families are priced at roughly 2x the cost of a solo adult policy—many providers include dependent children (typically under 18) at no extra charge, so a family of four doesn't cost four times the individual price. A single-trip family policy covering two adults and two children typically starts from around £30 to £40 for basic cover.
When buying a family policy, check that all family members are listed and that any children's activities are covered under the policy. For active holidays involving water sports, reef diving or adventure activities, make sure those activities are covered for all travellers on the policy, not just the adults.
Backpacker Insurance for Australia
Australia is one of the most popular destinations in the world for UK backpackers, gap year travellers and those on working holidays. For extended stays, a standard single-trip or annual policy is unlikely to be adequate—you'll typically need specialist backpacker or long-stay insurance.
Backpacker policies differ from standard travel insurance in several important ways:
- Longer trip durations: backpacker policies can cover single trips of up to 12 or even 18 months, whereas standard single-trip policies are often capped at 31 to 90 days and annual policies cap individual trips at 30 to 45 days.
- Multi-destination cover: if your Australia trip is part of a wider journey taking in South East Asia, New Zealand or elsewhere, backpacker policies typically accommodate this, whereas a standard policy may only cover a single destination.
- Return home during your trip: most backpacker policies (around 91% according to Defaqto) allow you to return to the UK for a short period during your trip without invalidating your cover—useful if a family event arises mid-trip.
- Activities coverage: given that backpackers tend to take part in more activities—scuba diving, surfing, farm work, bar work—many backpacker policies include a broader range of sports and work activities as standard. Check whether your planned activities are covered, and whether any paid work you might do is included.
- Working holiday cover: if you're travelling on an Australian Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417 or 462), check whether your policy covers you while working. Not all backpacker policies cover paid employment, and some restrict the types of work covered (farm work, for example, may require a specific add-on).
In terms of cost, backpacker insurance for Australia is more expensive than standard single-trip cover owing to the longer duration and broader scope. Expect to pay from around £80 to £150 for three months of cover, rising to £150 to £250 or more for six months, depending on the level of cover and the provider. As with standard policies, those with pre-existing conditions will pay more, and you may need a specialist provider.
If you're interested in comparing the cost of travel insurance to other countries, see our other country-specific travel insurance studies:
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