Australians with more financial risk are also the ones more likely to have higher levels of life insurance, according to research from TAL.
The life insurer's Australian Financial Protection Index is calculated on a score from 0 to 100, where 100 indicates people have each form of life insurance and adequate coverage.
TAL's results showed that financial risk takers achieve an index of 35 compared to those with lower levels of risk, who recorded an index of 27, and risk avoiders, who scored just 20.
"It seems there is a greater appreciation of the value of life insurance among those with the most to lose, particularly people with mortgaged assets," TAL managing director Jim Minto said.
"But even among these groups, penetration is still low and they are only relatively better off compared to the average score."
Overall, the report found that 30 per cent of Australians recorded a score of zero, indicating they do not have any personal insurance.
One quarter of Australians recorded an index score of between 30 and 70 and only 8 per cent recorded a score of 70.
According to TAL, the report shows Australians are still chronically underinsured despite an increased take-up of life insurance through superannuation.
"While most Australians have some form of life insurance through super, some people are simply not aware of it, while many do not know if the types and level of life insurance cover they have are adequate," Mr Minto said.
"Awareness of the well-documented underinsurance problem in Australia is increasing but our new index demonstrates that further work is needed."
