• Redion Australia and New Zealand has grown by 177 per cent since 2023.
• The company has gone from a handful of employees to 200 in just four years.
• Following APRA licence approval in April 2026, the company plans to shake up the industry and provide a differentiated service for the Australian and New Zealand market.
Since it entered the Australia and New Zealand market in 2022, Redion – formerly known as Europ Assistance – has been busy working to become the leading travel insurance and assistance provider in the Australian and New Zealand market.
The company strengthened its position in the travel insurance market by acquiring successful local insurance brands Tick and Insure & Go Australia. Building on this momentum, it became the global white-label provider of travel insurance products for Flight Centre since 2024.
These deals saw the Australian and New Zealand arm of the company, headquartered in Sydney with its operations centre in Brisbane, grow by more than 177 per cent in under three years. Expansion in Australia and New Zealand has been credited as one of the primary drivers of Redion’s growth globally. Redion (then as Europ Assistance) reported a global operating result of €277 million last year.
Locally, Redion has gone from a handful of employees to more than 200 staff, including a team in South Brisbane where nurses, triage experts, and assistance coordinators work tirelessly to support travellers as they make their way around the world.
“It’s been fantastic to leverage the trust travellers have in a brand as big as Flight Centre to support our growth,” CEO of Redion in Australia and New Zealand Justin Sebire said.
“We’re now looking to consolidate our own brand so when people buy our insurance products, they recognise there is a trusted global business supporting them with care as its core mission.”
As part of its global rebrand, Europ Assistance Australia Pty Ltd has become Redion Insurance Pty Ltd. From, 13 October 2026 Flight Centre Travel Insurance, Cruiseabout Travel Insurance, and Travel Associates Travel Insurance customers will all see the Redion name used across their travel insurance policies, documentation and services.
The company is tackling the Australian insurance market on its own terms and went through the process of receiving APRA approval for its own insurance licence, which was granted on April 1, 2026.
“This signals we’re very serious about selling insurance in Australia and gives us full control of the travel insurance value chain,” Mr Sebire said.
“Instead of having to work with two or three different parties, our customers and B2B partners deal with one end-to-end travel insurer, from sales and distribution to underwriting and claims management, all the way through to assistance services.”
A history of helping travellers
It is assistance services that Justin Sebire is most passionate about. “Europ Assistance, as we were formerly known, basically created the assistance category more than 60 years ago and it will always remain a key point of difference between us and other insurance providers,” Mr Sebire said.
The company was founded in 1963 by Pierre Desnos, a visionary French entrepreneur. After some friends had an accident in Spain, he realised there was a gap in the market for provision of assistance services to French people travelling abroad. That first year, travel assistance was born, and the newly founded company saved three lives, including a baby saved thanks to the rapid delivery of vital medicine.
Today, Redion has become a truly global business and world leader in Assistance and Travel Insurance, with operations in more than 190 countries and is part of the Italian insurance group, Generali.
Global assistance 24/7
From the Operations Centre in South Brisbane, teams of experts, including experienced medical personal, are on call as part of a network offering 24/7 global assistance to travellers.
“Destinations like Bali have become some of our most frequent locations for air ambulance retrievals, with illnesses like Bali belly or injuries from unexpected accidents common among the range of challenges our travellers face,” Mr Sebire said.
“In countries like Japan, ski and snowboard injuries continue to remain common and unfortunately many cases require urgent surgery.
“In these situations, our medical team assesses each case carefully to determine the best way to support a safe journey home. This can be anywhere from a nurse escort or an upgraded travel seat to ensure a comfortable journey home.” Mr Sebire said an accident while travelling often puts people in extremely vulnerable position.
“You might be in a place where you don’t know the language, you don’t know the local health system, and you’re not sure about local cultural norms but you need someone who can direct you to get out of trouble or help you get better and bring you back home,” he said.
Rebranding after more than 60 years from Europ Assistance to Redion is a serious undertaking, but Mr Sebire said it was essential for continued growth.
“As a company called ‘Europ Assistance’ we always faced the false assumption that we only provided services in Europe,” he said.
“However, we service our clients in more than 190 countries and more than 40 per cent of the company’s growth has been outside of Europe.
“Australia and New Zealand are an important part of that growth story, so the new name is more representative of us too.”
Read the full article from Travel Weekly here .