TOUR OPERATOR INSURANCE
Accessible tours depend on detail: the right vehicle, a safe transfer, a mobility aid that arrives undamaged, and access information guests can trust. Here is how cover fits together, and where it needs checking.
Premiums and outcomes described are specific to this client and indicative only. Your own terms will depend on your circumstances and the insurer.
THE SHORT ANSWER
What insurance does an accessible tour operator need?
An accessible tour operator generally needs public liability for injury to guests and damage to other people's property, professional indemnity for the access information and planning you provide, and motor cover for any accessible vehicle you own. Accessible tours raise questions to settle with the underwriter: damage to a guest's wheelchair or mobility aid while your team handles it, injury during a hoist or ramp transfer, and who is responsible for carers on tour. At least one specialist wording we place writes back property temporarily in your control, subject to a sub-limit, and the vehicle exclusion needs checking for hoist transfers. Accessible tours are a type the specialist markets we approach are set up to quote, subject to each insurer's assessment.
Public liability does not cover injury caused by a registered vehicle. That is generally a CTP question, and damage to your accessible vehicle and its hoist needs commercial motor cover. General information only. It doesn't take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it isn't legal advice.
Your guide folds a guest's power chair for storage and the controller cracks. Property temporarily in your control can be written back on at least one specialist wording we place, subject to a sub-limit, but damage connected with a vehicle can meet the vehicle exclusion. Tell the underwriter how you load and carry mobility aids.
A rear-lift hoist jolts, or a portable ramp slips at a kerb. Injury connected with a registered vehicle is excluded from public liability and may be a CTP matter, depending on the facts and the state scheme. A ramp set up on the footpath at a venue is more likely to be a public liability question.
Your itinerary says a gallery has step-free access, but the lift is out of service or the entrance has three steps. A guest misses the visit or has to leave the tour. Loss from inaccurate access information is a professional indemnity question, and PI doesn't refund the tour price itself.
A guide helps a guest from a chair to a vehicle seat without transfer training and the guest is injured. Whether your staff are trained in transfers, and when they call on a carer instead, will be central to any claim.
A guest's own carer, travelling as a guest, trips on a venue path: that's a public liability question like any other guest. If the carer works for you, injury to them is a workers compensation matter. If they're a contractor, a much higher excess can apply on at least one specialist wording we place.
Your route plans a stop at a roadhouse with an accessible toilet that turns out to be closed, and the next one is an hour away. The planning gap sits with your professional service. A checked backup on every route is the practical fix.
| Situation | Cover that may respond | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Guest injured at a venue, on a path or on a ramp set up on the footpath | Public liability | Can respond to your legal liability, subject to the wording. Where the venue's access was at fault, its own policy may respond instead. |
| Guest injured during a hoist transfer or while the vehicle is moving | CTP and commercial motor, possibly public liability | Public liability excludes injury caused by a registered vehicle. The line for a transfer on a stationary vehicle depends on the facts and the state scheme, so check it with the underwriter and your motor insurer. |
| Guest's wheelchair or mobility aid damaged while your team handles it | Public liability (property in care, custody or control extension) | Property temporarily in your control can be written back subject to a sub-limit. Damage in or by a vehicle may be excluded. |
| Access information is wrong and a guest loses the day | Professional indemnity | Can respond to civil liability from your professional services, subject to the wording. The refund of the tour price itself is excluded. |
| Your own staff or support worker injured helping a guest | Workers compensation | Injury to employees is excluded from public liability. Injury to contractors carries a higher excess on at least one specialist wording we place. |
| Complaint of disability discrimination | Possibly management liability, depending on the wording; some management liability policies don't respond to customer claims | Section 24 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 makes it unlawful to discriminate in providing services. A complaint under it isn't an ordinary injury or property claim, so don't assume public liability responds. |
The care, custody or control sub-limit on the schedule we hold applies per occurrence and in the aggregate, and yours may differ. Power chairs and specialised mobility aids can be expensive, so ask guests whether their equipment is insured under their own policy, and tell the underwriter the kind of equipment you handle.
The tour operator endorsement on at least one specialist wording we place excludes e-bikes, Segways and scooters. It doesn't say whether that catches a guest's own mobility scooter, so if guests use scooters on your tours, get the underwriter's answer in writing before you bind.
Damage to your accessible vehicle or its hoist is a commercial motor matter, and injury caused by the vehicle is generally a question for the state motor accident scheme, which differs by state. Neither sits in the tour operator liability policies we arrange.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate on the ground of disability, whether by refusing the service or in the terms or manner of providing it. A complaint isn't an ordinary injury or property claim, so ask us about management liability if that exposure concerns you.
At least one specialist wording we place excludes aircraft of any kind used by or for you, and boats over 8 metres used by or for you, with a narrow exception where someone else owns and runs the vessel and it's used for business entertainment. Whether a paid cruise counts is an open question, so check with the underwriter. Accessible cruises and flights need the operator's own cover.
At least one specialist tour operator wording we place excludes injury from a list of adventure activities, including horse riding, e-bikes and Segways, surfing and scuba diving, and white water rafting. See the adventure activities excluded on one wording we place, grouped, and check the endorsement on your own schedule.
Mobility aids in your care. Public liability on at least one specialist wording we place excludes property in your care, custody or control, then writes back visitors' personal effects and other property temporarily in your control, with a sub-limit. A wheelchair your guide folds and stores, or a walker held at a venue, may fall into that write-back. Damage while it's loaded in or carried by a registered vehicle can meet the vehicle exclusion instead. Ask guests whether their equipment is insured, and describe your handling process to the underwriter.
Hoists, ramps and transfers. Injury caused by the use of a registered vehicle is excluded from public liability and is generally a CTP question, and state schemes differ. A transfer on a stationary hoist sits near that line, so get the underwriter's and your motor insurer's view before a claim tests it. Training guides in transfers, securing chairs the way the manufacturer specifies, and logging hoist maintenance are the controls that matter in any claim.
Access information. Step-free entrances, accessible toilets, lifts and path surfaces are facts guests plan around. If they're wrong, the loss flows from your professional service, which is where professional indemnity sits. Check each venue before the season, date your access notes, and tell guests when something changes. See professional indemnity for tour operators.
The Disability Discrimination Act. Section 24 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) makes it unlawful for a person who provides services, whether for payment or not, to discriminate on the ground of disability by refusing to provide them, or in the terms or the manner in which they're provided. The Act's definition of services includes services relating to entertainment, recreation or refreshment, and services relating to transport or travel. There is a defence where avoiding the discrimination would impose an unjustifiable hardship, and the burden of proving that sits with the person claiming it. A complaint isn't an injury or property damage claim, so public liability isn't built for it. Ask us about management liability, and get legal advice before you decline a booking on access grounds.
Coaches and the accessible public transport standards. The Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 list buses and coaches among the conveyances they cover, to the extent they're used to provide a public transport service, which the Standards define as an enterprise that conveys members of the public by land, water or air. The only conveyances the Standards exclude by name are charter boats (including water taxis), limousines (including chauffeured hire cars) and self-drive rental cars. Services providing adventure travel are carved out of the definition of a public transport service. Whether your own tour vehicle is a public transport service under that definition is a legal question, so get advice, and don't assume a charter or tour coach is exempt. The Disability Discrimination Act applies to your services either way. See vehicles and passenger liability.
The size of the accessible travel market. Tourism Research Australia counted 70.5 million trips by travellers with accessible needs in calendar 2024, which was 22% of all trips and $29.2 billion in spend. Its definition covers travellers with a disability or long-term health condition, and people travelling with them. Tourism Australia's 2022 research found about 24% of international travellers considering Australia have an accessibility need. Austrade's WELCOME Framework sets out steps to reduce barriers, and the Quality Tourism Framework's Accessible Tourism program produces an accessibility information guide for visitors. If guests book through funded disability supports, ask the provider or plan manager what insurance evidence they need before you take the booking.
| Who asks | What they ask for | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (commercial operations licence) | Not less than $10 million public liability per event, with a signed acknowledgement of indemnity lodged with the certificate | You must tell your insurer about the licence and its conditions. The department's licensing guide lists the Accessible Tourism program, or an equivalent, against every licence term of a year or more. |
| Quality Tourism Accreditation (Australian Tourism Industry Council) | $10 million public liability with a certificate of currency | The same framework runs the Accessible Tourism program, which produces an accessibility guide for visitors and an improvement report for the business. |
| City of Melbourne (permits for activity in municipal public space) | At least $20 million public liability for a single claim, in the applicant's name, from an APRA-authorised insurer | The City of Melbourne must be named as an interested party on the certificate. |
| ACT Government (public land permit for commercial activities in parks and reserves) | $20 million public liability for a business or commercial entity | The parks page asks for insurance details, and the dollar figure is published on the City Services events page. |
In August 2009 a wheelchair user tried to book a seat on a Sydney to Canberra coach service and was refused because none of the operator's vehicles was wheelchair accessible. In March 2013 the Federal Court found the operator had breached the Disability Standards, as reported by The Canberra Times on 15 March 2013. This was a scheduled route service, not a tour, and this summary relies on that newspaper report, not the judgment itself.
The insurance lesson. The case doesn't decide how the Standards apply to tour or charter coaches. It does show that a refusal to carry a passenger can end in court as a discrimination matter. That isn't an injury or property damage claim, so public liability on the tour operator policies we arrange isn't built for it, and compliance orders are a business cost. The control: answer access questions accurately before you take a booking, record what adjustments you considered, and get legal advice before you refuse.
Source: The Canberra Times: Disabled woman wins bus battle (15 March 2013)
For each stop, record the entrance, path surface, lift, accessible toilet and parking, with a date and a photo. Re-check before each season and after any venue works. Austrade's WELCOME Framework and the Quality Tourism Framework's Accessible Tourism program both give you a structure to follow.
Train guides in manual handling and transfers, and write down when a guide assists and when the guest's carer does it. If nobody trained is available, the transfer doesn't happen.
Service hoists and ramps on the manufacturer's schedule, check them before each tour, and keep the log. Secure wheelchairs the way the restraint manufacturer specifies, and carry a plan for a hoist that fails mid-tour.
Photograph each chair or scooter before loading, follow the guest's own instructions for folding and batteries, and ask whether the equipment is insured under the guest's policy. The care, custody or control write-back on at least one specialist wording we place has a sub-limit.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act, you may require an assistance animal to remain under the control of its handler, and you may ask for evidence that it is an assistance animal or is trained to meet standards of hygiene and behaviour for a public place. Train guides on what they can and can't ask.
Hold a second accessible toilet, entrance or lunch venue for each leg, and confirm on the morning that lifts and facilities are open. Tell guests as soon as something changes.
We've found tour operator public liability hard to place on its own in the past, and PI and public liability often had to be split across insurers. We approach several specialist insurers and underwriting agencies. Some write PI and public liability together, others write one or the other, and we put the cover together to suit the tours you run, for tour operators and for travel agents that run their own tours, subject to each insurer's assessment.
We don't publish a separate price for accessible tours. As a general guide, across the tour types the markets we approach are set up to quote, subject to each insurer's assessment, combined PI and public liability for a small tour operator costs approximately $1,200 to $1,800 a year including fees. As at October 2026. Your price depends on the activities, destinations, revenue, limits and claims history, and it can fall outside that range. It is not a quote. See what drives the premium.
A placement from September 2026. A new NSW-based cultural tour operator designs immersive programs for groups visiting Australia and for Australian groups visiting Asia, with local tour companies running the coaches and accommodation. It needed a certificate of currency urgently. Result: $20 million public liability and $1 million professional indemnity on one combined policy, worldwide territory excluding US jurisdiction, placed the same week on that occasion at approximately $1,850 including fees. This is one past placement, not a quote. Your price and terms depend on your risk. Read the case study.
Sources referred to on this page
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
RELATED GUIDES
QUOTE REQUEST
Tell us the tours you run, where they go, group sizes, who supplies transport and venues, your annual revenue, and the limit you need on your certificate.
Send us your tour descriptions and itinerary, and we will take them to the specialist markets that write tour operators and come back to you with the options available.
Last updated: 01/10/2026
