Discover Why More Australians Are Skipping Travel Insurance: Is It Worth the Risk?

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The Australian government’s official travel advisory service says taking out travel insurance before a trip is as important as having a passport.

But a new study has found that one in seven Australian travellers (14 per cent) were not covered by travel insurance on their most recent international trip, up slightly from last year’s report (13 per cent).

The 2025 Travel Insurance Survey, conducted for the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Insurance Council of Australia, polled 1,001 Australians to understand their travel safety practices.

The findings revealed that among young travelers aged 18 to 25, 10% opted to travel without insurance due to financial constraints.

The report found younger people were more likely to travel without insurance — 23 per cent of those surveyed under 30 were not covered on their most recent overseas trip.

The study also highlighted that individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds were more prone to forgo insurance, with 23% of those born overseas traveling without coverage on their latest international journey.

Additionally, more than a quarter of participants (27%) felt that travel insurance did not offer good value, while nearly a quarter (24%) simply overlooked it or did not consider it necessary.

Further reasons included uncertainty about the necessity of insurance (22%), believing they could manage potential emergency costs independently (22%), and the brevity of their trips (20%).

The survey found that around two-thirds (65 per cent) who travelled without insurance gave it some thought before deciding to go without.

Among those who were not covered on their last trip outside of Australia, the main reason they chose not to buy insurance was that they were travelling somewhere they believed to be safe, at 31 per cent.

More than one in four (27 per cent) didn’t think it was good value for money, and nearly a quarter (24 per cent) simply didn’t think of it or it didn’t cross their mind.

Other reasons included not being sure if it was needed (22 per cent), being confident they could cover any emergency costs out-of-pocket (22 per cent), and going on a very short trip (20 per cent).

Do you need to buy travel insurance?

DFAT’s Smartraveller website strongly recommends travellers take out insurance before a trip and says it’s “as important as a passport”, and that “if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel”.

Smartraveller says on its website that the Australian government is limited in how and when it can help Australians overseas.

“You must take responsibility for your situation when you travel. This includes your finances. Consular services are not a ‘backup plan’ if things go wrong and you need money. We expect all Australians travelling overseas to take out appropriate insurance for their trip.”

What else did the survey find?

This year’s survey found 45 per cent of travellers were willing to take risks in pursuit of unique or memorable experiences.

Forty-six per cent of travellers said they either had or would personally consider travelling overseas for a medical procedure, most commonly dental care (30 per cent). Nearly seven in 10 of those who said they would consider it nominated lower cost of treatment as a motivation.

Many respondents also said the current global political environment had influenced their feelings towards travel.

More than half (56 per cent) of travellers said current tensions meant there were countries they had planned to visit but would now avoid, and 53 per cent said they feel less comfortable travelling overseas.

Two in five (41 per cent) said the current geopolitical situation had made them less likely to take international trips at all.