Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Thank you for coming to Sydney Airport. Upstairs there would be many young Australians who are about to jump on flights, all excited on their trips overseas. Australians are adventurous. They like to travel and see the world, and our government wants to encourage that, but we also want to make sure that when they return, they come downstairs here safely into the arms of their families, and to ensure that we facilitate that. Each year, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Insurance Council of Australia survey young Australians regarding their travel habits and the risk that they're taking whilst they're traveling overseas. And I'm pleased to be joined by Andrew Hall, the CEO of the Insurance Council, to launch the findings of the latest survey. The survey indicates, once again, that young Australians between the ages of 18 and 29 are adventurous and love traveling overseas, and that's something that we want to encourage, but we want them to return home safely. The survey results indicate that unfortunately, about a quarter of all young Australians travel overseas with absolutely no travel insurance whatsoever, and they are risking themselves and potentially catastrophic financial situations if they get themselves into trouble.
A GoFundMe page is no substitute for comprehensive travel insurance. When it comes to traveling overseas, for young Australians, they're also taking risky behaviours. Unfortunately, about 30% of them will consume alcohol from unfamiliar labels. Many of them don't understand that their insurance policy may be voided if they consume alcohol in risky circumstances. Many of them are traveling to risky destinations. About 40% of young Australians will travel to what is deemed a risky destination overseas. And alarmingly, 36% of young Australians will travel to a risky destination because they've seen that destination promoted on social media or in the media. And our message to those young Australians is, don't perish for a post, take your advice from the Smartraveller website, not your Insta influencer, to ensure that you return home safely. Pleasingly, about 80% of young Australians visit the Smartraveller website and are aware of it. About 60% of them will visit the Smartraveller website prior to traveling overseas, and these survey results are a good indicator of what the government and the Insurance Council and insurers need to do to boost those numbers, we want to make sure that more Australians visit the Smartraveller website, are aware of the risk before they travel overseas and importantly, take out the appropriate travel insurance to ensure that they can return home here safely to their families. Now, I’m going to ask Andrew to say a few words.
Andrew Hall, CEO Insurance Council of Australia: Thank you, Minister. It's great to be here today at Sydney Airport again. As the Minister points out, it's wonderful seeing people both leave on their holidays and return, but sadly, over a number of years now that we've been doing these surveys consistently, we're still battling to get the message through to young people that when you travel offshore, when you leave Australia, the protections you have in this country may not and quite often do not, apply wherever you go overseas. Your Medicare card does not work overseas. You need to take care of your own medical costs when you're overseas, even in countries with reciprocity with Australia, it will not cover the full costs of those medical incidences. So when you travel, think about what you're going to be doing. If you're going to Bali, if you go into Thailand and you may need to take a motorcycle taxi, make sure you tick that box on your travel insurance if you're going to go skiing, if you're going to take a cruise, make sure that that box is also ticked on your travel insurance policy. I see so many cases of people who incur financial devastating impacts when things go wrong overseas, eight nights in a hospital in Guam from a coral scratch from surfing is around about 80,000 US dollars. It's very expensive. Travel Insurance is relatively cheap to be able to protect yourself for what you're doing. And as the Minister said, check Smartraveller, go to safe countries and cover yourself with the risks and have a great time travel is about discovering the world, bringing home some cultures, not bringing home a bill that you can never get over. So take care. Think about what you're doing if you're preparing to go on school these in a couple of weeks’ time. Now's the time to log on and shop around. Travel insurance is very easy to afford these days. It's easy to compare online. The Insurance Council encourages you to shop around. Don't just accept the first offer that's given to you, but just make sure you're covered for what you're going to do when you go overseas, so that you can come back in one piece. Thank you.