Bushfire crisis – ADF reservists insurance update

At GESB, we’d like to acknowledge the trauma faced by everyone affected by the national bushfire crisis. We also recognise all the efforts made by the emergency services and volunteers working around the clock to keep people safe, and the help and support given to the impacted communities.

On 4 January 2020, the Commonwealth Government issued a compulsory call out of up to 3,000 Australian Defence Force (ADF) reservists into ‘Active Service’ to assist with the bushfire crisis - working with communities in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

How this may affect your insurance, if you’re called to Active Service

Many insurance policies have an exclusion in circumstances where an insured member has suffered an injury or illness that leads to death or disability while they’re in Active Service. This exclusion is generally intended to cover circumstances where an insured member is deployed into war service.

We’d like to reassure all our members who are in the ADF reserves and have been called into Active Service to aid in bushfire recovery, that if you have insurance with us, the Active Service exclusion will not apply to this compulsory call up under the insurance arrangements we have with our Insurer, AIA Australia.

If you have any questions about your account with us, or your insurance, please contact your Member Services Centre on 13 43 72.

Find out more

• Read information on Insurance and your super
• Support for reservists and their families can be found on the Australian Government Department of Defence’s website
• Read information on Military leave and your super