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Support worker assisting a participant, insurance for NDIS providers and disability support workers

NDIS Provider and Support Worker Insurance

Cover for the people delivering the supports. Public liability, professional indemnity and accident insurance arranged around the supports you actually provide, the activities you do with participants, and what your service agreements ask you to hold.

3

Covers Named in the Standards

No

Minimum Limit Set

Fast

Turnaround

Recognition

Industry Awards

THE SHORT ANSWER

What insurance do NDIS providers and disability support workers need in Australia?

Registered NDIS providers are expected to hold professional indemnity, public liability and accident insurance. The requirement comes from the risk management quality indicator under the NDIS Practice Standards, which reads: appropriate insurance is in place, including professional indemnity, public liability and accident insurance. It names those three covers and sets no minimum dollar limit, so the limit is judged on whether it is appropriate for the supports you deliver. Unregistered providers are not audited against the Practice Standards, but a plan manager, host agency or participant can still set insurance conditions in the service agreement.

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The limit almost always comes from your own paperwork rather than the Commission. Read the insurance clause in your service agreements and host agency contracts first, then match the policy to it. If you also transport participants or do physical community access, those are separate conversations with the insurer.

Source
NDIS Practice Standards, risk management
Covers named
PI, public liability, accident
Minimum limit
None specified
Checked at
Registration audit

WHY TANK INSURANCE

How we approach NDIS operator cover

Disability support is an occupation insurers rate carefully, and the same business can be quoted or declined depending on how the activities are described. We put the submission together so the market sees what you actually do.

Care worker supporting a client, public liability cover for NDIS providers

01

The Occupation Is the Whole Game

Personal care, community access, plan management and allied health are priced differently, and some insurers decline the occupation before they price anything. We describe the mix accurately and go to the markets that write it.

02

Activities, Not Just Services

Bike riding, bushwalking, swimming and gym sessions with participants change the rating and can change the answer entirely. We disclose them up front rather than discovering them at claim time.

03

The Certificate Has to Satisfy an Auditor

Your auditor wants current certificates of currency showing the right insured name and limits. We issue them on placement and check the name matches your registration.

04

The Accident Cover Nobody Mentions

Accident insurance is named alongside PI and public liability in the same quality indicator. Sole traders have no workers compensation entitlement covering themselves, so it is the gap we raise every time.

COVERAGE DETAILS

What NDIS Provider Insurance Covers

A support provider package usually combines public liability and professional indemnity, with personal accident, motor and cyber arranged alongside where they apply.

Supervision in a care setting, professional indemnity and public liability for NDIS providers
Supervision in a care setting, professional indemnity and public liability for NDIS providers

Usually Covered

✓ Injury to a participant or a member of the public arising from your supports
✓ Damage to a participant's home or property while you are working there
✓ Allegations that a support plan was followed negligently or duty of care was breached
✓ Legal defence costs for professional negligence claims
✓ Abuse and molestation cover, where the insurer offers it and it is written onto the policy
✓ Personal accident and illness cover for a sole trader's own income, arranged as a separate section or policy

Not Typically Covered

✕ Your own injury under a public liability policy (that is accident or personal accident cover)
✕ Participant transport in a vehicle insured for private use only (commercial motor)
✕ The building itself if you own SDA property (NDIS property insurance)
✕ Deliberate acts, and conduct excluded by the policy wording
✕ Activities not disclosed to the insurer at inception
✕ Employee injury where workers compensation applies

Abuse and molestation is the term to raise directly. It is not always included, the sub-limit is often lower than the main limit, and the trigger wording varies between insurers.

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This is a general guide only. What is and isn't covered depends on the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions of your specific policy.

REAL PLACEMENTS

NDIS Providers We Have Placed

Anonymised, with premiums rounded up. Placed premiums are from policies we bound; ranges are the terms returned on that submission. Indicative only, not a quote.

Premiums and outcomes described are specific to each client and indicative only. Your own terms will depend on your circumstances and the insurer.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

NDIS Provider Insurance FAQs

If you are a registered NDIS provider, yes. The quality indicator for risk management under the NDIS Practice Standards says appropriate insurance is in place, including professional indemnity, public liability and accident insurance. Your auditor checks it at registration and at each audit. If you are unregistered, the Practice Standards do not apply to you, but the plan manager, host agency or participant paying you can set their own insurance conditions in the service agreement.
The NDIS Commission does not set a dollar figure. The requirement is that the insurance is appropriate for what you do. In practice the limit comes from what your service agreements and host agencies ask for, and both $10 million and $20 million turn up in those documents. We check the limits named in your agreements before quoting so the certificate matches what you have signed up to.
It is the third cover named in the same quality indicator, and it is the one most often missing. For a sole trader it usually means personal accident and illness cover, which pays you an income if an injury stops you working. You have no workers compensation entitlement covering yourself as a sole trader, so if you are hurt lifting a participant or in a car on the way to a shift, nothing replaces your income unless you have arranged it.
Professional indemnity is named in the same quality indicator as public liability, so registered providers are expected to hold it regardless of support type. It responds to the advice and service-delivery side rather than physical injury: a support plan followed incorrectly, a duty of care allegation, a referral or assessment challenged after the fact. It is often written as a combined professional indemnity and public liability package for support providers.
Yes, and it is usually the other way round. Auditors ask to see current certificates of currency as part of the registration audit, so cover normally has to be arranged before registration completes. We have quoted providers who needed the certificates specifically to give to their auditor, and providers whose company was set up but not yet trading.
Yes, and it changes the answer. Community access that involves bike riding, bushwalking, swimming or gym sessions is rated differently to in-home personal care, and some insurers decline it at the occupation stage before pricing anything. Disclose the activity mix up front. It is better to be declined on a proposal than to have an activity argued over at claim time.
Usually as a split. Where a provider does both, the better markets rate the risk across the two occupations rather than forcing it into one, for example half occupational therapy and half disability support. Tell us the actual split of your revenue, because a policy issued for the wrong occupation is what gives an insurer room to argue a claim.
Your personal car policy may not respond if you are carrying participants as part of a paid service. If transport is part of your supports, the vehicle usually needs to be insured for business use, and the insurer told what the vehicle is used for. This is separate to your public liability policy.

RELATED GUIDES

More on NDIS Cover

Disability Support Worker Insurance (sole traders) →
NDIS Registration Insurance Requirements →
How Much Does NDIS Provider Insurance Cost? →
NDIS Property Insurance (SDA landlords) →
Public Liability Insurance →
Professional Indemnity Insurance →

Cover Built Around the Supports You Deliver

Tell us your support mix, the activities you do with participants and the limits your service agreements ask for. We will go to the markets that write disability support and come back with the terms, not just one quote.

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