A Dependant is the child of the policy holder and/or partner on the membership. A dependant is not married or in a de-facto relationship and will fit into one of the following categories…
Child Dependant
A Child Dependant is someone who is under the age of 21. Child Dependants are covered under a Family membership at no extra cost.
Student Dependant
A Student Dependant is someone over the age of 21 (and under 25) and who is enrolled as a full-time student at an educational facility or who has a full-time apprenticeship.
Student Dependants can be covered on a Family policy until their 25th birthday at no extra cost by registering their student/apprentice status with Phoenix Health. If a dependant is no longer studying or undertaking their apprenticeship full-time, you must advise Phoenix Health immediately.
Adult Dependant
An Adult Dependant is someone over the age of 21 (and under 25) who is not undertaking full-time study or an apprenticeship.
Adult Dependants can remain covered until their 25th birthday on a family Phoenix Health membership with Extended Dependant Cover.
A Child Dependant is someone who is under the age of 21. Child Dependants are covered under a Family membership at no extra cost.
Adding a Newborn to your Family membership
As long as you add your baby to your Phoenix Health membership within 60 days of their birth, they won’t have any waiting periods – you don’t need to worry about doing this before baby arrives! If you add your baby after this 60 day period, waiting periods will apply for them, effective from the date we received your application to add them.
Once you’ve added your baby to your membership, we’ll be in touch with you to confirm the details – including if there is a change in the cost of your policy; plus, we’ll send you out a new membership card.
You can learn more about having a baby and your Phoenix Health membership here.
Adding your baby is easy! Give us a call on 1800 028 817 or send an email to [email protected], to add the newest member of your family to your policy!
Adding a Child to your Family membership
To add a dependant child to your membership, simply get in touch with the Phoenix Health team. We’ll guide you through the process, explain any changes to your cover, provide a quote if your membership level needs to be updated, and can even add your child to your membership over the phone.
If the dependant child you’re adding is more than 60 days old (ie not a newborn), then they will need to serve waiting periods before they are able to claim benefits. Click here for more information on waiting periods.
To add your child to your membership, phone the Phoenix Health team on 1800 028 817 or email [email protected] with your member number, date of birth and address as well as your child’s full name and date of birth.
Adding a Adopted or Foster child to your family membership
Adopted and foster children can be added to a Family or Single Parent Family membership by providing supporting documentation confirming your parental responsibility for the child and the date this took effect.
If the child is added to your membership within 60 days of their legal guardianship date, we may waive certain waiting periods depending on your level of cover.
Hospital Only Cover
We’ll waive the standard 2-month hospital waiting period, meaning your child can receive immediate cover for in-hospital treatment for conditions that are not considered pre-existing. The standard 12-month waiting period will still apply to any pre-existing conditions.
Combined Hospital and Extras Cover
We’ll waive the standard 2-month waiting periods for both hospital and extras cover. This means your child can access benefits straight away for services such as general dental, physiotherapy and chiropractic, as well as eligible in-hospital treatment for non pre-existing conditions.
Please note: 6 and 12-month extras waiting periods may still apply for some services and the standard 12-month waiting period will continue to apply for pre-existing conditions.
Extras Only Cover
Standard waiting periods will apply when adding an adopted or foster child to an Extras Only policy.
Supporting Documentation
Supporting documentation can include one of the following:
- a letter from the Department of Family and Community Services
- a Children’s Court or Family Court order
- Centrelink documentation confirming support payments for the child are being received by the member
For more information about adding an adopted, foster or newborn child to your membership, please contact the Phoenix Health team.
A Student Dependant is someone over the age of 21 (and under 25) and who is enrolled as a full-time student at an educational facility or who has a full-time apprenticeship.
Student Dependants can be covered on a Family policy until their 25th birthday at no extra cost by registering their student/ apprentice status with Phoenix Health.
The student year begins annually on the 1st of March, which means Student Dependants need to be registered before the 28th of February each year to remain on your Family membership.
Registering a Student Dependant on your membership is quick and easy! Here’s a few ways:
1. Register Online via your Phoenix Health Online Member Services (OMS) portal
Update their status online via your OMS portal by visiting members.phoenixhealthfund.com.au. If you haven’t used OMS before, you can register and login using your Phoenix Health membership number.
>2. Over the phone with a Phoenix Health team member
Give us a call on 1800 028 817 and register your dependant over the phone with a team member. Just make sure you have your Phoenix Health membership number, the name of where your dependant will be studying or undertaking their apprenticeship full-time and the year that they are due to complete their study/apprenticeship handy.
3. By email
Send us an email to [email protected] and make sure you include your Phoenix Health membership number, your full name, your dependant’s full name, the name of where they will be studying or undertaking their apprenticeship full-time, as well and the year that they are due to complete their study/apprenticeship.
4. Complete a Student Dependant form
Click here to download a Student Declaration Form. Complete and then return via email or post to Phoenix Health, PO Box 156, Newcastle NSW 2300.
Note: If a dependant is no longer studying or undertaking their apprenticeship full-time, you must advise Phoenix Health immediately.
An Adult Dependant is someone over the age of 21(and under 25) who is not undertaking full-time study or an apprenticeship.
Adult Dependants can remain covered until their 25th birthday on a family Phoenix Health membership with Extended Dependant Cover.
If your dependant is over 21 and not a full-time student or apprentice, there are a couple of ways you can ensure they stay covered with Phoenix Health:
1. Upgrade your Family membership to Extended Family cover
You can keep your dependant covered on your policy until their 25th birthday by upgrading to Extended Dependant cover for less than the cost of a single policy – so cheaper than them having to take out their own membership!
Give the Phoenix Health Team a call on 1800 028 817 and we can check if Extended Dependant is available on your level of cover, give you a quote and even upgrade your membership.
2. Take out their own policy and get a month free*
If your dependant chooses to take out their own policy with Phoenix Health, we’ll help get them started with their second month of membership FREE, plus they can save up to 10% on selected Phoenix Health hospital covers with the Age-Based Discount. To learn more about how the Age-Based Discount and how it is applied, click here
* One month (or 2 fortnights) free will be applied after one-month (or 2 fortnights) payment has been received.