Family and Domestic Violence Policy

ALI GROUP IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING SAFE AND CONFIDENTIAL SUPPORT TO CUSTOMERS AFFECTED BY FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. THIS POLICY DETAILS HOW WE WILL GO ABOUT THIS. FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY, A ‘CUSTOMER ’MEANS A POLICY OWNER, INSURED PERSON, BENEFICIARIES OR A POTENTIAL CUSTOMER.

Life events happen and we understand that anyone can experience vulnerability at any time.  We are committed to recognising and supporting our customers who are vulnerable when they need it most.

What is family and domestic violence?

Under the Family Law Act, ‘family violence’ is defined as: “violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person’s family or causes the family member to be fearful”. Some examples of family and domestic violence include (but are not limited to):

• physical violence
• emotional abuse
• psychological abuse
• sexual abuse
• financial or economic abuse
• stalking
• intentional damage to property 

Supporting someone affected by family and domestic violence

•  take additional care when dealing with affected customers
• offer communication via different methods and allow the customer to choose the method that best suits
  them and maintain this on ALI Group’s records
• treat customers’ disclosures with sensitivity and respect and take appropriate measures to ensure the
  information is kept confidential
• minimise the number of times a customer affected by family and domestic violence needs to disclose
  information about their abuse
• where possible, provide consistency for the customer to speak with one staff member
• advise the customer that their family and domestic violence situation will have no adverse effect on their
  claim, if applicable
• encourage customers to tell us if they are experiencing financial difficulty so we may provide them with
  access to options for how we may assist
• refer customers affected by family and domestic violence to specialist support services

Where to get help

• In an emergency, or if a customer is not feeling safe, they should always be advised to call 000.

Customers can also access support and services such as:

• 1800RESPECT for family and domestic violence – 1800 737 732 or chat online
• Beyond Blue for mental health support - 1300 224 636 or chat online
• Lifeline for crisis support - 13 11 14 or chat online

Protecting your private information

We understand the risks of disclosing information in relation to customers experiencing family and domestic violence. In
addition to our privacy policy, we will:

• discuss safe ways to communicate with our customers and record this information
• where possible, accommodate our customer preferences, including the option to communicate with an ALI staff member
  of their preferred gender where possible
• ensure that our customer contact information is secure and confidential
• where possible, give our customer control how their personal information is shared with third parties

There may be times when legislation requires us to disclose information. We will work with our customer wherever possible
in the instances of disclosure. For further information on ALI Group Privacy policy please go to https://www.aligroup.com.
au/home/privacy-policy. 

Employee support

Following contact with a customer affected by family and domestic violence, ALI Group recognises that staff members
may themselves need support.

Impacted staff members (staff who have been directly dealing with customers affected by family and domestic violence or assisting another staff member who has been dealing with a customer affected by family and domestic violence) are encouraged to access ALI Group’s Employee Assistance Provider.

Training and awareness

All ALI Group staff members receive training relevant to their roles. This training includes how to:

• identify the early signs that a customer may be experiencing family and domestic violence
• respond to disclosures of family and domestic violence with dignity, respect and care
• refer customers to our internal escalation points for further support if required
• share details of external community services available for additional support