Cancer is now one of the two biggest drivers of life insurance claims in Australia. Two of the country's largest life insurers have the data to prove it, and it is influencing where they direct their community investment.
At Zurich Financial Services Australia, cancer accounted for more than one in five claims in 2025, producing close to $470 million in payments. Breast cancer represented approximately one in seven of those cancer claims.
At TAL, Australia's largest life insurer by inforce premium, cancer was the second most common cause of claims in the year to March 2026. It accounted for 17% of accepted claims behind mental health at 22% and ahead of injuries and fractures at 14%. Together, those three conditions accounted for more than half of all claims TAL paid that year.
Together, those two books represent more than half of the individual advised life insurance market by annual premium, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). When both are pointing to cancer as a material and growing claims driver, it tells brokers something concrete about where client risk is concentrated.
That claims picture is now feeding directly into how insurers allocate community investment – and the logic is straightforward. Conditions generating the highest claims volumes are also the ones attracting the most health program funding.
Zurich has announced a $20,000 donation to Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA). For the third consecutive year, Zurich will replace its AFL logo on Melbourne Football Club warm-up shirts with the names of 45 individuals affected by breast cancer. The names will feature during the AFL Round 22 Pink Lady Match on 8 August, part of BCNA's 'Play 4 BCNA' campaign.
"We know from our own claims data just how many Australians are impacted by breast cancer," said Shaneen Marshall, head of consumer channel and capability at Zurich. "This initiative allows us to meaningfully recognise those whose lives have been changed and raise important funds to support essential resources and services."
The scale of the condition justifies the attention. Cancer Australia estimates around 20,336 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2025. This makes it the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women aged 20 to 59.
Five-year survival has improved from 75% in 1987–1991 to 93% in 2017–2021, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. But the number of new diagnoses continues to rise each year.
This year, a select number of MFC players nominated individuals themselves. Tom McDonald will wear the name of Amber Whalan, a BCNA Community Champion and Pink Lady Match ambassador in both 2019 and 2025. She died in October 2025.
BCNA chief executive Kirsten Pilatti said Zurich's decision to forfeit its logo placement made the gesture tangible. "This powerful gesture provides vital funding for BCNA's essential support services while serving as a meaningful tribute to all who have faced a diagnosis," she said.
Zurich is not alone in building community investment around its claims data. TAL and SANE expanded their partnership in late 2025 through a 20-week peer support pilot for eligible Income Protection and Total and Permanent Disability claimants. This targeted Australians with complex mental health conditions, the single largest claims category on TAL's book.
Mental health conditions have now been TAL's leading cause of claims for five consecutive years. That sustained pattern signals an entrenched structural trend, and it helps explain the scale of investment directed at mental health support across the industry.
TAL has also formalised a three-year partnership with the Heart Foundation through its Health for Life program, focused on cardiovascular risk. Conditions affecting the circulatory system accounted for 9% of all TAL claims and 55% of life insurance death claims in the most recent financial year.
The TAL Community Foundation marked its 10th year in November 2025, distributing $100,000 in grants to partner organisations. It has channelled more than $8 million to community programs since 2015.
IAG, through its NRMA Insurance brand, operates a community resilience program with the Australian Red Cross. This includes the co-creation of the Get Prepared app and the scaling of emergency readiness workshops.
The broader pattern of how Australian insurance firms are backing sports and community events reflects just how embedded this approach has become across the industry.
The commercial logic here is not purely philanthropic. Insurers investing in health awareness and early diagnosis programs are, in effect, investing in the same population they insure. Early detection of breast cancer, better mental health support, and cardiovascular prevention all point toward shorter claims durations and improved return-to-health outcomes.
For brokers advising clients on life, trauma and income protection cover, this trend is worth understanding. Insurers are using their claims data not just to price risk, but to signal where they believe the greatest health exposure lies.
