AIA Australia has committed a further five years of funding to SuperFriend, a national mental health initiative supporting superannuation fund members, employers and workplaces.
SuperFriend’s mission is to reduce the incidence of suicide and the impact of mental illness on individuals, employers, workplaces, friends and families. Mental illness is one of the top three claims in the life insurance industry, estimated to cost around $160 million dollars a year in income protection and disability claims.
AIA Australia first signed on with SuperFriend in 2006 as part of its push to provide targeted intervention, support and assistance for members suffering from mental health issues. As one of the largest group life insurers, AIA Australia covers over a quarter of all superannuation fund members across the country.
As part of its current work with SuperFriend, AIA Australia has had representation on SuperFriend’s Sub-Committee to assist with its project to develop Best Practice Guidelines for the Management of Psychological Claims. The Sub-Committee has been involved in working with SuperFriend and their research team reviewing literature and developing best practice for the Life Insurance Industry.
Mental illness is one of the top three claims in the life insurance industry
AIA Australia’s CEO, Damien Mu, said the insurer’s partnership with SuperFriend was integral to achieving best practice in early intervention and rehabilitation of workplace mental health claims.
“Occupational rehabilitation has been a huge focus for us as a business, and we’ve conducted significant trials in this space to establish the key principles essential for successful intervention and management of workplace illness and injury, particularly mental health,” said Mr Mu.
“By ensuring employers and workers are properly educated in how to identify, understand and manage mental health issues, we are better able to ensure early intervention before these issues start to seriously affect a worker’s everyday life and ability to do their job.”
