How to be a Smartraveller when travelling overseas

Eight percent of Australian adults travelled without travel insurance on their lastoverseas trip according to a survey commissioned by the Australian Governmentand the Insurance Council of Australia – that is 850,000 visits by Australiansoverseas without insurance.

The AustralianTravel Insurance Behaviour survey also found many travellers wrongly believed the Australian Government would paytheir medical bills or medical evacuation costs if required.

Australiansshould be fully prepared for overseas travel and take responsibility forindividual travel decisions. This includes obtaining comprehensive insurance,being aware of insurance policy conditions and visiting Smartraveller to understand advice for destinations, including the laws of those countries.

In 2014 theAustralian Government released the first ever Consular Strategy which guidedthe allocation of consular resources to where they are most needed. We are nowseeking public contributions to the second Consular Strategy for the period of 2017 to 2019.

TheAustralian Government will also release the ConsularState of Play 2015-16whichprovides a statistical snapshot ofthe numbers and types of cases our consular staff are managing.

State ofPlay outlines thatin 2015-16, DFAT provided assistance to over 1,500 Australians who had beenarrested overseas (up from 1,256 in the previous year) and to nearly 1,700Australians hospitalised overseas (up from 1,453 in the previous year).

Designedfor use by travel agents, the insurance industry, the media and the generalpublic, the State of Play lays out the data we need to optimise ourconsular operations.