
Your work and the rosters around it, any cover through your service, workers compensation and super all shape the personal cover you choose. We help you compare cover, read any cover you hold and lodge a claim with you.





What we advise on
What would cover the household’s running costs if illness or injury kept you away from the station for a while?
Monthly payments from income protection can replace part of your income after a waiting period, while you focus on recovery.
We’ll compare income protection with you against how rostered firefighting work is paid and done.
Income protection can pay a monthly benefit, usually a percentage of your pre-tax income, if illness or injury stops you working. The benefit is generally based on your earnings in the 12 months before the illness or injury, and each policy has its own definition of disability. Waiting periods can run from 14 days to 2 years, and benefits can be paid for 2 or 5 years or to an age.
What we work through with you on income protection:
Would the people you love be looked after financially if you were no longer here?
Your beneficiaries can receive a lump sum from life cover, towards debts, living costs and the plans you’ve made.
We’ll work out a cover amount with you from your debts, who relies on you and any cover already held.
Life insurance pays a lump sum if you pass away, and some policies also include terminal illness cover. An application usually asks about your age and your job. If you haven’t named a beneficiary, your estate or the super trustee may decide where the money goes.
What we work through for life cover:
Could your plans for the years ahead still be funded if you could never work again?
A TPD lump sum can help with debts and plans if you can’t work again, as the policy defines it.
Together, we’ll read the TPD wording a policy offers against operational firefighting work.
An own occupation definition looks at whether you could return to your usual job. An any occupation definition looks at any job suited to your education, training or experience. Own occupation TPD is usually only available outside super, and whether it’s offered can depend on the insurer and your occupation. TPD cover in super usually ends at age 65.
What we compare with you for TPD:
How could treatment and time spent recovering be paid for if you were diagnosed with a serious illness?
Trauma cover can pay a lump sum towards those costs if a listed condition meets the policy’s definition and isn’t excluded.
We can read a trauma policy’s list of conditions with you, and plan a lump sum alongside income protection.
Trauma insurance pays a lump sum for a listed critical illness or serious injury, which includes cancer, a heart condition, major head injury or stroke. It doesn’t cover mental health conditions, and medical definitions can differ between insurers. New trauma cover can’t be held inside super, which has been the rule for policies written since 1 July 2014.
What we read with you in a trauma policy:
Is any cover in your super still the right fit for the work you do today?
Going through each fund with you can show any cover you hold, and help you keep what suits you.
We’ll check any cover in each fund with you and set out any changes in a financial plan, or Statement of Advice.
Default cover inside super can usually be issued without medical checks, though it may carry pre-existing condition rules set out in the fund’s PDS, and increasing it is usually underwritten like any other application. Under 25 or on a low balance, cover usually starts only if you ask, or if your fund gives automatic cover for a dangerous job.
What we look at in your super with you:
How could cover of your own sit alongside what workers compensation and your service may provide?
Knowing what each layer is for can help you choose cover of your own with a clear view of any gaps.
We can map what each layer is for with you, then plan personal cover around any gaps you choose to fill.
Workers compensation is separate, through a state, territory or Commonwealth scheme. Presumptive rules can treat certain cancers in eligible firefighters as work-related after a qualifying period of service, unless shown otherwise, and the scheme decides each claim. Some services provide death and disability cover in addition to super and workers compensation, and some agreements fund income protection. Cover you own can pay under its own terms.
What we map with you:
As shifts, overtime and any retained role change, how could your cover keep pace with them?
Cover that’s reviewed as your work changes can stay in step with how you’re paid and the hours you work.
We can look at how any roster, overtime and second role read in a policy’s terms, with you.
Income protection is usually based on your earnings in the 12 months before the illness or injury, and each policy defines income and disability its own way. Some policies only cover you if you work a minimum number of hours each week. On-call and relieving allowances count as income for tax, which your accountant can confirm.
What we look at with you on rosters and pay:
When it’s time to claim, who could walk through each step beside you?
Having us lodge the claim with you and follow it up can free up your time while the insurer assesses it.
Together, we’ll prepare and lodge a personal claim, then follow it up with the insurer while it assesses the claim.
Moneysmart suggests speaking first to whoever arranged the cover, whether that’s your fund, your employer, the insurer or a financial adviser. An insurer may ask for medical reports, details of your work duties, including physical requirements, and the hours you work each week, along with payslips or tax returns. The insurer assesses the claim, and a complaint goes first to the insurer or, for cover in super, the fund, then to AFCA.
How we help with a claim:
Your work and your cover
Nothing on this list decides anything by itself, and it isn’t a complete list. We start by understanding your situation, and the insurer makes any decision on cover.
Your options
| A Ryker financial adviser | Directly from an insurer | An online broker or comparison site | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type of advice | Personal advice Personal adviceAdvice tailored to you. Like most financial advice, it’s given under an Australian financial services licence.Personal, not general. General advice is a recommendation or opinion that doesn’t consider your circumstances. Personal advice is tailored to your objectives, financial situation and needs.In your best interests. When we give you personal advice, the law requires us to act in your best interests.In writing. You’ll usually receive a Statement of Advice that explains the strategies and cover recommended to you, and why.On the public register. Financial advisers who give personal advice on life insurance, super and investments must be on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register. See our financial advisers on the register:Ray RegmiRicky (Rajiv) RegmiJack OinezaDean DesoukeyRyker’s financial advisers are authorised representatives of Synchron Advice Pty Ltd, AFSL 243313. | Usually general advice | Usually general advice |
| Advice that considers your health, family, work and goals | Yes, as part of your advice | Not with general advice | Not with general advice |
| Choice of insurers | A wide range | That insurer’s policies only | A panel of insurers, side by side |
| Help preparing your application | Yes, alongside you | The insurer’s own process | Varies |
| Advice on holding cover inside or outside super | Part of your advice | Not with general advice | Not with general advice |
| Support if you need to claim | Yes, we’re in your corner | The insurer’s claims team | Varies |
| Cost of advice | No cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first. Choose: | No separate advice fee | No separate advice fee |














Your Duties and Hours Set Out
Any operational duties, rostered hours and retained role described in full for an application.
Each Layer of Cover Mapped
Any service cover, workers compensation and cover in super listed with what each one is for.
Overtime Read Against the Policy
Overtime, recalls and allowances checked against how a policy defines the income it insures.
TPD Wording Read for Operational Work
The physical side of the job read against each TPD test, including whether own occupation is offered to firefighters.
Cover in Each Fund Checked
Any cover in each super fund looked at, including whether it has started for a recruit.
Trauma Wording Read for What It Lists
The conditions a trauma policy lists, and how each one is defined, read through with you.
Cover Revisited After a Move Off the Trucks
Your occupation on record and any cover you hold looked at again when your role changes.
A Claim Lodged With You
A personal claim lodged with you, while any workers compensation claim is handled by the scheme.

Choosing cover is simpler when someone takes the time to understand how your work runs. We start by listening to your working week, how you’re paid and what you want your cover to do for you and for anyone who relies on you. We talk it through in plain terms, around the hours you work and at a pace that suits you, and every decision along the way is yours.
We also take on the paperwork. With your consent, we can request insurance details from any super fund that holds cover for you, read any summary of cover through your service and work through the policy documents, then follow up with insurers on your behalf. A partner or family member is welcome at any conversation. If you ever need to claim, we’ll lodge the claim with you and keep in touch until the insurer has made its decision.
Every financial decision impacts the next
Great advice starts with understanding the bigger picture. Every stage of life presents new opportunities and challenges, from buying property and changing careers to growing your family, planning for retirement and protecting what matters most. At Ryker, we help connect every piece of your financial world into one clear strategy.
Your
Wealth

Ryker’s financial advisers are licensed to give personal advice under Synchron Advice’s Australian financial services licence (AFSL 243313). We start with you: your firefighting work, your family, work, income, assets and goals. Then we recommend the types and amounts of cover that suit your life.
Firefighting can mean operational duties with a physical side, a roster of days and nights, overtime and recalls, a retained role beside another job or a move off the trucks. Each can come into an application and how a policy pays, so these are part of what we look at.
With a financial adviser, you also have:
Going directly to an insurer can mean no separate advice fee, but you’ll only see that insurer’s policies, and you’ll generally receive general advice only, which doesn’t consider your personal circumstances.
Going through an online comparison site or broker, you may see more options side by side, but they also generally provide general advice only, which doesn’t consider your whole financial picture.
When we give you personal advice, the law requires us to act in your best interests, which we take personally. The insurer still decides whether to offer cover and on what terms.
We’re invested in your long-term success. What we do is personal, and we take it personally.
Your financial decisions connect, so we consider the parts of your financial life that are relevant to the advice you need:
This is how we help you make decisions today with your longer-term goals in view.
Everybody’s situation is different, so we listen first, understand what matters to you and explain your options clearly before we make a recommendation.
The two are separate, so it comes down to what you want your cover to do. Presumptive rules are about how a workers compensation claim is proved: for an eligible firefighter, a claim for certain cancers can be treated as arising from the work unless the contrary is shown. The scheme still decides the claim.
Personal cover is assessed by an insurer on its own definitions, and on your health and duties when you apply, and it can pay under its own terms. The amount you might want comes from your debts, who relies on you and any cover you already hold, rather than from how a scheme works. We can map each layer with you and compare cover for any gap you choose to fill.
Accurately and in plain terms, starting with what a normal week involves. Insurers usually ask about your job, duties and hours. For operational work that can include the physical side, such as lifting, climbing, breathing apparatus and heat, along with rostered hours across days and nights and any retained role or other paid work.
Since 5 October 2021, the duty when applying for consumer life cover is to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation, which means answering the questions asked with reasonable care. The insurer then decides whether to offer cover and on what terms. We can help you prepare the application and set your duties out clearly.
Each works under its own rules. Workers compensation is separate, through a state, territory or Commonwealth scheme, and the scheme decides any claim, including one where a presumption applies.
Trauma cover is usually a personal policy. It can pay a lump sum for a listed condition that meets the policy’s definition and isn’t excluded. The conditions listed include cancer, a heart condition, major head injury and stroke, though medical definitions can differ between insurers, and trauma doesn’t cover mental health conditions. New trauma cover can’t be held inside super, which has been the rule for policies written since 1 July 2014. We can read a policy’s list with you and plan any trauma cover beside income protection.
It depends on how your work is set up, and the insurer decides. Income protection can pay part of your income after a waiting period if illness or injury stops you working, subject to the policy’s terms. The benefit is usually based on your earnings in the 12 months before the illness or injury.
With retained work beside a main job, an application usually asks about the duties and hours of both roles. Some policies only cover you if you work a minimum number of hours each week, and each policy defines income its own way, including whether retainer or call-out pay is counted. We can set out both roles with you and compare policies.
A few things are worth checking early. For a member under 25 or with a low balance, insurance in super usually starts only if you ask the fund, or if you work in a dangerous job and your fund gives you automatic cover. If you’ve joined from another career, a fund from that job may still hold cover worth reading before you combine accounts.
When you start a new job, your employer generally pays into your existing super fund unless you choose another; a default fund applies only if you have no fund. Beneficiary nominations are worth setting for each fund too. We can go through each fund with you in your first year.
Volunteering is one part of the picture, alongside any paid work. Compensation arrangements for volunteers vary with where you volunteer and the rules that apply, so the organisation you volunteer with can explain any cover that applies while you volunteer.
For personal cover, the starting point is any paid work, its super and any cover you hold. If an application asks about other activities, your volunteering is part of answering those questions with reasonable care. We can bring it into the conversation alongside everything else.
An online quote can be a useful first look at what cover might cost, based on the answers you give. It’s an estimate, and the insurer decides on cover and terms once it assesses an application.
A quote tool works from the details it asks for. Personal advice starts from your duties, roster, how you’re paid and any cover through your service, workers compensation and super, then compares policies from a wide range of insurers on their definitions as well as their cost. We can bring any quote you’ve run into that conversation.
Your accountant and financial adviser bring different expertise to the same decisions. Your accountant can advise on tax reporting, structures and consequences; we help you plan how cashflow, debt, super, investments and protection work towards your goals. We can coordinate before important decisions.
What an accountant does
What a financial adviser does
Professional roles and authorisations matter. We provide financial advice within our authorisations and work with your accountant for specialist tax advice and lodgements.
Where they work together
Yes. At any stage of your time in the service, from starting out to a role away from the trucks, we start with how your work runs and what you’d like protected.
There’s no cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first. A payslip showing any overtime and allowances, your fund statements, any summary of service cover or agreement documents, and any policy you hold are useful to have on hand. We can meet in person or online, around the hours you work.
Who We Help
From first job to retirement, we help you build wealth, protect it, and live well.

First jobs, first home, first super, HECS debt, budgeting and more.

First home buyers, new parents, school fees, single incomes, young families and more.

Doctors, dentists, pharmacists, allied health, nurses and more.

Lawyers, accountants, brokers, engineers, consultants and more.

Electricians, plumbers, builders, sole traders, franchisees and more.

Executives, senior managers, directors, board members and more.

Police, firefighters, paramedics, ADF personnel, teachers and more.

Pre-retirees, transition to retirement, Age Pension, aged care, estate planning and more.

Any income, any stage, career changers, separation, second opinions and more.
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Whatever’s on your mind, we’re here to help. You’ll speak with an authorised financial adviser who’ll listen first and get to know what matters to you.
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