When life takes an unexpected turn, you need to know and trust that your loved ones are protected. It’s about securing your future - so you move forward with confidence, clarity and care.
Being diagnosed with a serious medical condition impacts both you and your family. Critical Illness insurance pays a lump sum if you're diagnosed with a covered condition or undergo qualifying surgery - helping ease the financial pressure of having to cover your day-to-day expenses while you focus on treatment and recovery.
What is Critical Illness insurance?
Critical Illness insurance (also known as trauma cover) is a form of financial protection that pays a lump sum amount if you experience a specified Critical Condition covered under your policy. This one-off benefit can be used however you need it, whether it’s replacing lost income, paying for out-of-pocket medical expenses, or helping you to reduce the impact of the condition on you into the future.
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Critical Illness cover that fits your life
Whether you're looking for essential protection or comprehensive support, Acenda offers two levels of Critical Illness insurance depending on your needs:
- Critical Illness Standard – provides cover for five key Critical Conditions, with a few additional optional extras.
- Critical Illness Plus – provides cover for over 42 Critical Conditions with more optional extras.
For more details on the Critical Conditions covered and optional extras available, please refer to the table below and the PDS.
You can choose Critical Illness insurance as an extension to Life Cover insurance, or as separate standalone cover.
When linked to Life Cover, a Critical Illness benefit payment will reduce your Life Cover by the amount paid. Standalone Critical Illness cover means any benefit paid will not affect your Life Cover or other insurance. Some options allow you to restore your Life Cover after a claim, depending on how your cover is set up.
Access to health support
With Critical Illness insurance, you also have access to Vivo, Acenda’s wellness and recovery support program. Whether you’re looking to feel better every day, managing a health condition, or recovering from sickness or injury, Vivo offers access to:
- Daily wellbeing support services like Nutrition Consults, Fitness Coaching, and Mental Health Navigator.
- Recovery care programs including KickStart, Rehab Guidance, and Return to Work Coaching.
Key features of Critical Illness insurance
Additional options
You can tailor your cover to help meet your personal, family, or business needs. The following optional extras are available for both Critical Illness Standard and Critical Illness Plus at an additional cost:
- Premium Waiver: You can have your premiums waived if you’re retrenched or if illness or injury leave you totally disabled from working. The exact definition for each term is in the Product Disclosure Statement for your product. Having this option means that cover will continue as if you were still paying premiums, so that your protection remains intact.
- 12-month Life Cover Buy Back: available when Critical Illness is an extension to Life Cover. This option lets you restore your Life Cover to what it was before we paid a Critical Illness benefit that reduced it. You simply need to request this 12 months after you met the Critical Condition definition for the claim we paid or 12 months after you gave us your completed Critical Illness insurance claim form (whichever happens last).
The following optional extras are available at additional cost with Critical Illness Plus only:
- Extra Benefits Option – partial benefits: cover can be extended by adding another 18 additional Critical Conditions, for which we will pay 20% of your insured amount (up to a specified limit) for each that occurs.
- Critical Illness Buy Back: this option lets you restore your Critical Illness insurance cover to what it was before we paid a Critical Illness benefit that reduced it. You simply need to request this 12 months after you met the Critical Condition definition for the claim we paid or 12 months after you gave us your completed Critical Illness insurance claim form (whichever happens last).
- Business Safeguard: under this option you can apply to increase your Critical Illness insurance for certain business purposes without further medical evidence in specified situations.
- Double Critical Illness: available when Critical Illness is an extension to Life Cover. This option restores your Life Cover if you are still alive 14 days after we paid you a Critical Illness benefit that reduced it. Life Cover returns to what it was before the claim was paid and we also waive all future premiums on the restored part until the policy anniversary at age 65.
Critical Conditions covered
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Critical conditions covered
Critical Conditions
Critical Illness Standard Critical Illness Plus Exclusion Period^^ Aorta Repair - excluding less invasive surgeries^ 
3 months Aplastic Anaemia - of specified severity
Bacterial Meningitis - of specified severity
Benign Brain or Spinal Cord Tumour - of specified severity
Blindness - of specified severity
Cancer - excluding specified early-stage cancer Standard: 6 months
Plus: 3 months
Cardiomyopathy - of specified severity Chronic Kidney Failure - requiring permanent dialysis or transplantation Chronic Liver Failure - of specified severity Chronic Lung Failure - of specified severity Coma - with specified criteria
Coronary Artery Angioplasty*^ 3 months Coronary Artery Angioplasty – Three or More Different Coronary Arteries^ 3 months Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery - excluding less invasive procedures^ 3 months Deafness - permanent Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease - permanent and of specified severity Encephalitis - of specified severity Heart Attack - with evidence of heart muscle damage 3 months Heart Valve Surgery - of specified severity^ 3 months HIV Contracted Through Medical Procedures HIV Contracted Through Your Work Intensive Care - requiring continuous mechanical ventilation for 7 days Loss of Independence - of specified severity Loss of Speech - total and permanent Major Brain Injury - of specified severity
Major Burns - of specified severity
Major Organ or Bone Marrow Transplant^
Meningococcal Septicaemia - of specified severity
Motor Neurone Disease - unequivocal diagnosis
Multiple Sclerosis - of specified severity
Muscular Dystrophy - unequivocal diagnosis
Open Heart Surgery^
Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Paralysis - permanent and of specified severity
Parkinson's Disease - of specified severity
Parkinson-Plus Syndrome - unequivocal diagnosis
Pneumonectomy - complete removal of entire lung^
Primary Pulmonary Hypertension - of specified severity
Severe Diabetes - of specified severity
Severe Osteoporosis - before age 50 and of specified severity
Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis - of specified severity
Stroke - in the brain and of specified severity
3 months *Coronary Artery Angioplasty - This benefit will only apply if your Critical Illness benefit is $100,000 or more. The benefit payable for Coronary Artery Angioplasty is 10% of your Critical Illness benefit up to $20,000 per event.
^These are surgical conditions.
^^Some Critical Conditions have an initial Exclusion Period. This means that you won’t be insured for Critical Conditions that first appear, first happen or are first diagnosed in the Exclusion Period stated.
Jack’s story: protection when it matters most
Life may not always be a smooth ride – so when things take an unexpected turn, it helps to have financial worries taken off your mind. Acenda’s Critical Illness insurance is designed for that, giving you the confidence and assurance you need, whatever life brings.
How to pay your Acenda Critical Illness insurance premium
Critical Illness insurance can only be purchased outside super, so you can’t use your super to pay the premiums. To see your available payment options, click here.
More ways we support you
For flexible options to help manage your premiums, click here.
How can I purchase Acenda’s Critical Illness insurance?
To purchase Acenda’s Critical Illness insurance, you’ll need to speak with a licensed financial adviser. They can give you advice tailored to your personal financial situation, and help you understand things like:
- What types of cover you need
- How much cover you need, and
- Which optional extras might be right for you.
If you don’t already have a financial adviser, visit moneysmart.gov.au [link]. It’s a government-run resource where you can search for licensed professionals, including those who specialise in life insurance, superannuation, and investments.
Do you need Critical Illness insurance?
You may want to consider Critical Illness insurance if you:
- Have a partner, family or dependants. For instance, if you have children, the Child Support Benefit provided by Critical Illness Plus may be important.
- Have a mortgage or any other personal debt.
- Have a business or are self-employed, e.g. If you’re self-employed, consider the Business Safeguard Option provided by Critical Illness Plus.
- Would need money to live on if you couldn’t work and don’t have adequate savings or income protection insurance to help meet these day-to-day living costs, or
- Don’t have adequate savings to cover unexpected expenses.
By understanding the benefits Critical Illness insurance can provide, you can make informed choices about any role this type of insurance could play in protecting your financial future. Whether you’re considering Critical Illness insurance for personal security or seeking coverage for a specified Critical Illness event, a policy catered to your needs ensures you and your loved ones are supported when it matters most.
Critical Illness insurance FAQs
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