There are a number of different types of dependents that can be covered by a health insurance policy with Emergency Services Health.

Our Fund Rules refer to the Contributor and dependents. Dependents are any spouse/partner and any child of the Contributor eligible to be covered under your policy.  

From the 1 April 2022, the Fund Rules collectively refer to children eligible to be covered under a policy as “dependent persons” and are made up of the following types:

  • Dependent child;
  • Non-classified dependent person;
  • Dependent student;
  • Dependent non-student; and
  • Dependent person with a disability.

Dependent Child is the term used when your child is aged under 18, and a Non-Classified Dependent Person is when your child is aged 18 and over but under 21.  Together, we refer to these two types of dependent persons as Younger Dependent Children (that is, where the child is aged less than 21 years).

Dependent Student is a child of the Contributor who is 21 years and over,  but under 32 years of age, who is considered to be a full time student of a school, college or university recognised by Police Health.

Dependent Non-Student is a child of the Contributor who is 21 years and over but under 25 years of age, and not eligible to be a student dependent.

Dependent Person with a Disability is a child of the Contributor and the child is participating in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and hence holds an active NDIS plan.  The child may be any age 18 years and over, but would only be registered as a dependent person with a disability if they do not meet any of the other dependent person types.

In all cases a child is taken to include a natural child, adopted child, foster child or a child who is a legal ward of the Contributor or their spouse/partner.

Other than for a dependent person with a disability, a child ceases to be eligible as a dependent on a policy if they are married or in a defacto relationship.