Claims Corner: Supporting women through recovery

International Women’s Day is a time to recognise the challenges women face and the support that helps them move forward. For women navigating an Income Protection (IP) claim, those challenges often look different than for men. While the main barrier to workforce participation for men is typically their health condition, for women it’s more likely to be caring for children or others.¹ For many women, recovery doesn’t happen in isolation from these responsibilities – it happens alongside them. 

In 2025, TAL supported 640 women through rehabilitation as they navigated recovery.² And because more than 4 in 5 of Australia’s carers are women, many of these women were likely having to continue caring for others.³ Behind each IP claim is a support structure tailored to what each woman needs to achieve a sustainable recovery. 

What women access

The range of services TAL provides reflects the specific challenges each woman is facing during their claim: overlapping physical, psychological and vocational needs. In 2025, women accessed 39 different service types spanning vocational and career support, physical rehabilitation, cancer care, mental health, pain management, cognitive rehabilitation and women’s health programs. With 739 referrals made for 640 women⁴, some accessed more than one service as their recovery required it. A woman rebuilding physical strength might also need support with confidence, or help thinking through her next career step. 

Vocational counselling, which addresses career planning and job search support, was the most common service accessed by women claimants in 2025. Thinking through career options, flexibility and timing becomes part of recovery, not separate from it, with caring responsibilities also potentially influencing their path back to work. Beyond vocational support, women also accessed social support for work readiness, which focuses on rebuilding confidence and managing workplace anxiety, alongside exercise and work conditioning programs and cancer care assessments. They also accessed fatigue management, pain programs, mental health support through Teladoc, ADHD coaching and cognitive rehabilitation. 

Some services respond to needs that are specific to women. The PAUSE Women’s Health Program supports women through hormonal changes, including menopause, that can affect their wellbeing and ability to work. It’s one example of how rehabilitation support needs to reflect the realities of women’s lives – not just their diagnosis. 

A coordinated, adaptive approach

Being able to offer this breadth of support, and coordinate across services as needs change, is what allows every recovery strategy to stay focused on the member. 

TAL has a dedicated Health Services team, which includes doctors, allied health professionals, and mental health specialists who work in-house across claims, underwriting and product. The team monitors the programs delivered by our third-party providers and determines which program or programs will best suit the member’s needs. 

This approach enables us to start support earlier and maintain the focus on what the member needs to recover. Rehabilitation isn’t a single service or a fixed pathway; it’s a response that evolves with each member. 

Not every woman is ready to return to work after their rehabilitation program. While recovery for some means rejoining the workforce, for others it means rebuilding the capacity to manage daily life – whether that’s preparing meals or stepping back into caregiving roles they had to scale back during recovery. 

For many, recovery extends beyond their health condition alone. Of the women we supported in 2025, 37% accessed programs to help them return to employment, while 63% accessed programs focused on improving their function and wellbeing.⁵

Alicia’s return to work was possible because support adapted as her circumstances changed, from managing caregiving demands, through grief, to rebuilding the routines needed to re-enter the workforce. For other women, a similar approach may support a different outcome. 

Of the 225 programs completed in 2025, 35% of women returned to work. Another 40% achieved meaningful gains in function and independence, and were job seeking, volunteering, studying or managing daily life again at the end of their program.⁶ 

For many women facing a serious illness or injury, the outcome isn’t always returning to work. It’s regaining a sense of themselves – whatever shape that takes.

To discuss how TAL’s rehabilitation services could support your members, reach out to your Partnership Manager. 

¹  Australian Bureau of Statistics, Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation, March 2025.

²  TAL rehabilitation services data, calendar year 2025. Figures reflect TAL’s full Income Protection portfolio. 

³  Carers Australia, National Carer Survey 2024.

⁴  TAL rehabilitation services data, calendar year 2025. Figures reflect TAL’s full Income Protection portfolio.

⁵  Ibid.

⁶  Ibid.