HESTA default insurance cover by age

HESTA gives eligible members default cover automatically: 2 units of death (life) cover, on the General scale, paid from the member's super balance. The figures below are from the fund's current PDS (dated 1 July 2026), insured through AIA Australia Ltd.

HESTA includes no default TPD cover. There is no lump sum by default if a member can never work again; TPD units are available to add, and retail policies are another way to hold TPD.

Default death cover here peaks at $185,600 at age 35 and is $34,200 by age 60, a fall of 75%.

Default cover by age on the General scale. Death and TPD are separate benefits and are never added together.
Age	Death cover	TPD cover	One death unit is worth	Weekly cost per death unit
15	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.10
16	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.09
17	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.09
18	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.09
19	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.09
20	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.10
21	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.10
22	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.11
23	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.12
24	$50,000	none by default	$25,000	$0.13
25	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.15
26	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.18
27	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.21
28	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.24
29	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.29
30	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.34
31	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.40
32	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.46
33	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.50
34	$134,900	none by default	$67,450	$0.52
35	$185,600	none by default	$92,800	$0.59
36	$185,600	none by default	$92,800	$0.67
37	$185,600	none by default	$92,800	$0.78
38	$185,600	none by default	$92,800	$0.90
39	$185,600	none by default	$92,800	$1.02
40	$170,000	none by default	$85,000	$1.13
41	$168,000	none by default	$84,000	$1.19
42	$153,000	none by default	$76,500	$1.23
43	$138,000	none by default	$69,000	$1.26
44	$124,800	none by default	$62,400	$1.29
45	$114,000	none by default	$57,000	$1.30
46	$103,800	none by default	$51,900	$1.31
47	$97,200	none by default	$48,600	$1.31
48	$90,300	none by default	$45,150	$1.32
49	$84,000	none by default	$42,000	$1.32
50	$76,800	none by default	$38,400	$1.31
51	$70,200	none by default	$35,100	$1.30
52	$64,200	none by default	$32,100	$1.30
53	$59,100	none by default	$29,550	$1.29
54	$54,600	none by default	$27,300	$1.26
55	$50,400	none by default	$25,200	$1.24
56	$46,500	none by default	$23,250	$1.21
57	$43,200	none by default	$21,600	$1.20
58	$39,900	none by default	$19,950	$1.17
59	$36,900	none by default	$18,450	$1.15
60	$34,200	none by default	$17,100	$1.11
61	$31,500	none by default	$15,750	$1.08
62	$28,800	none by default	$14,400	$1.03
63	$26,100	none by default	$13,050	$0.96
64	$23,700	none by default	$11,850	$0.85
65	$17,400	none by default	$8,700	$0.75
66	$15,300	none by default	$7,650	$0.68
67	$13,200	none by default	$6,600	$0.65
68	$11,400	none by default	$5,700	$0.61
69	$10,200	none by default	$5,100	$0.58
70	$8,400	none by default	$4,200	$0.53

Weekly costs are the fund's published rates. HESTA passes the super contributions tax benefit back to members, so the effective cost is about 15% less than the published rate.

Check this fund against your own age Compare retail cover across 9 insurers

General Advice Warning

This information is general advice only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your own objectives, financial situation, and needs.