Family and Domestic Violence Policy

The safety of our customers and their family members affected by family and domestic violence comes first.

If you are in an emergency situation or not feeling safe, dial 000.

For confidential information, counselling and support, call 1800 RESPECT which is available 24/7.

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Family and domestic violence

Family and domestic  violence can happen to anyone. It generally involves violent, threatening or abusive behaviour enacted by a former or current family member, with the intention of coercion or control, causing fear or harm.

Family and domestic violence may include, but is not limited to:

• Physical violence
• Sexual abuse
• Emotional or psychological abuse
• Economic or financial abuse
• Threatening, intimidating or coercive behaviour
• Technological abuse
• Coercive control
• Stalking

Our Commitment

NobleOak and our partners recognise that the cycle of family and domestic violence is complex and acknowledge that everyone’s situation and needs are different. Survivors may struggle with acute issues at a point of crisis, or ongoing issues in the longer term.

We’re committed to supporting our customers and employees when they experience family and domestic violence.

This policy outlines our processes to help minimise the risk of harm in our interactions with you if you are experiencing family or domestic violence. It is designed to assist you in dealing with us and to give you comfort that we will prioritise your and your children’s safety and respond flexibly to your individual circumstance.

How we can support you

If you tell us, or we recognise that you are affected by family or domestic violence, we are here to help.

At NobleOak we have a specialist Client Care team dedicated to working with customers who need specific assistance such as support in relation to family and domestic violence.  You can contact us directly or ask to speak to a member of the team when you call or email us.

EMAIL            [email protected]

PHONE          Call the NobleOak Client Care team on 1300 396 455

MAIL               GPO Box 4793, Sydney NSW 2001

Protecting your privacy

We understand the risks of disclosing information in relation to customers experiencing family and domestic violence. In addition to our privacy policy, we will:

• discuss safe ways to communicate with you and record this information to ensure adherence across our business
• ensure that your contact information is secure and confidential and where possible, give you control over how your personal information is shared with third parties
• NobleOak takes family and domestic violence into consideration when designing our life insurance products. All NobleOak direct policies have a single policy holder only. There are no joint policies.  This ensures that policy holders and claimants can have confidential conversations with us without the risk of a family member or partner finding out those details.

There may be times when legislation requires us to disclose information. We will work with you wherever possible in the instances of disclosure. For further information on NobleOak’s Privacy policy please go to https://www.nobleoak.com.au/privacy-policy/

Sensitive claims handling

If you let us know you are experiencing family and domestic violence, we can better support you during the claims process. It will not have any adverse affect on or prejudice your claim.

Our Claims Assessors receive training to offer sensitive claims handling in the following ways:

• minimise the retelling of your situation
• not require you to make direct contact with an alleged perpetrator or notify the police about an alleged perpetrator
• be flexible in our approaches to accommodate your needs.
• fast-tracking your claim
• providing emergency payments
• reviewing decisions quickly if there is disagreement about cover

Financial Hardship support

If you have been impacted by family and domestic violence, you may be able to access financial hardship assistance such as:

• reviewing cover to make sure it is right
• deferred or reduced payments for premiums
• changing how often payments are made
• developing a payment plan
• reduced or waived claims excess payments

For further information about Financial Hardship support please visit our website at https://www.nobleoak.com.au/about-us/how-can-nobleoak-support-you/  or contact one of our Client Care team on [email protected] or 1300 396 455

Our Employees are trained to support you

We ensure all our employees and partners receive regular and updated training relevant to their roles so that we can:

• Identify the early signs that a customer may be experiencing family and domestic violence, including if a customer:
  • appears, or sounds, distressed or scared;
  • is heard to be taking instructions from their partner;
  • remains silent while another party does all the talking;
  • does not understand, or is not aware, that cover has been taken out in their name;
  • has concerns about protecting their personal privacy or safety, or the security of their policies;
  • changes their address frequently;
  • does not want their physical address recorded;
  • is consistently late with premium payments; or
  • discloses the existence of any past or present family and domestic violence, or an intervention order or its equivalent.
• Respond to disclosures of family and domestic violence with dignity, respect and compassion
• Provide you with access to a specialist Client Care manager who you can deal with directly
• Take into account your ongoing communication preferences where possible, including the option to communicate with your preferred gender where possible
• Minimise the number of times that you need to disclose information about your situation
• Prioritise your safety, by protecting sensitive, private and confidential information
• Refer you to community organisations to receive additional support.

If appropriate, we can also help you set up a new policy. If you request us to set up a new insurance cover on your life we will work with you directly to establish this cover with as minimum requirements as possible and to do so as quickly as possible whilst maintaining confidentiality of your new insurance arrangements.

Supporting our employees

We recognise our employees may be vicariously affected by supporting customers experiencing family and domestic violence and require support in the same way that others do. Employees may be adversely affected either by the impact of the customer’s issues or when their interactions with a customer cause them to relive their own experiences of family and domestic violence. We support employees who are impacted by interacting with customers experiencing family and domestic violence through training, additional leave and external referrals.

At NobleOak we also have an Employee Family and Domestic Violence policy that is designed to support our employees affected by family and domestic violence, ensuring they are supported in the workplace.

Other services that may be able to support you

Always call 000 if you or your family are in immediate danger.

1800 RESPECT National 24-hour family and domestic violence and sexual assault line. Phone: 1800 737 732 Website	MensLine 24/7 support, information and referral service for men with family and relationship issues. Phone: 1300 78 99 78 Website
Lifeline 24/7 counselling and referral service for people in a crisis situation. Phone: 13 11 14 Website	Mens Referral Service – No to Violence (NTV) This service from No to Violence offers assistance, information and counselling to help men who use family violence. Phone: 1300 766 491 Website
Kids Help Line Australia wide free 24/7, confidential and private counselling service specifically for children and young people aged 5 to 25 years. Phone: 1800 55 1800 Website	Elder Abuse Help Line Free information and support services for people who experience or witness the abuse of an older person. Operating hours vary. Phone: 1800 353 374 Website
Financial Counselling Australia Access free resources and advice from a private financial counsellor. Call 1800 007 007 to speak to someone in your state. Phone: 1800 007 007 Website	13 YARN The first national crisis support line for mob who are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty coping. They offer a confidential one-on-one yarning opportunity with a Lifeline-trained Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter. Phone: 13 92 76 Website
Beyond Blue 24/7 support to people experiencing anxiety or depression. Phone: 1300 224 636 Website	National Debt Hotline Financial counselling is a free, confidential service to assist people in financial difficulty. Phone: 1800 007 007 Website
National Association of Community Legal Centres An independent not-for-profit community organisation that provides legal and related services to the public, focusing on the disadvantaged and people with special needs. Website	Relationships Australia Relationship support services for individuals, families and communities. Phone: 1300 364 277 Website

Policy Review

This policy, its associated procedures and external support links are regularly monitored as part of NobleOak’s Compliance framework. During our regular review of the policy we commit to the following;

• Update the policy wording to ensure it remains factually correct and relevant
• Test and update as required all web links and contact details for external support providers
• Provide our employees with relevant policy updates and training as required
• Analyse the information available to us to ensure that this policy is working in practice and is applicable to real life experiences of customers experiencing family and domestic violence

This policy is reviewed every 3 years and was last reviewed in September 2024.

Making a complaint

If you would like to lodge a complaint with respect to NobleOak’s compliance with our family and domestic violence policy please contact the Client Care Manager.

EMAIL        [email protected]

PHONE      Call the NobleOak Client Care team on 1300 396 455 and ask to speak with the Client Care Manager.

MAIL           GPO Box 4793, Sydney NSW 2001

ONLINE     Lodge a complaint via our online complaint registration form and make it for the attention of the Client Care Manager