TOUR OPERATOR INSURANCE
Sydney, the Reef, the Red Centre and Melbourne in twelve days, with guests who may never have been here before. Here is how cover works when one itinerary crosses several states' rules.
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 a tour operator running national, multi-state tours of Australia need?
A business running tours across several Australian states generally needs public liability set to meet the highest requirement on the itinerary, plus professional indemnity. Park authorities don't agree: the NSW, WA and SA park licences ask for $10 million, while Parks Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, the NT and Parks Australia ask for $20 million, and the ACT publishes $20 million for commercial use of public land. PI can respond to errors in the domestic flights, transfers and hotels you string together. Injury caused by coaches and minibuses is excluded from public liability, and CTP schemes differ by state: Queensland, WA and SA are fault-based, so an injury can fall between CTP and public liability. For inbound visitors, the overseas travel insurance condition on at least one wording we place doesn't apply, but you can still require it as a booking condition.
Under at least one specialist wording we place, you must take reasonable steps to make sure Australian contractors, such as coach companies and local guides, hold at least $10 million liability, checked at the start and every year. General information only. It doesn't take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it isn't legal advice.
A delayed transfer means the group misses the flight from Cairns to Alice Springs, and the next three days of bookings fall over. If the connection was too tight when you built it, or the flight was booked for the wrong date, the guests' extra costs are a professional indemnity question.
Your policy meets the NSW park minimum, but the itinerary also enters a Victorian national park. Parks Victoria requires $20 million and seven named interested parties shown in full on the certificate, and it won't accept a certificate under that limit. A shortfall can stop the licence issuing before anyone gets hurt.
A visitor from overseas breaks an ankle on a rainforest boardwalk and has no travel insurance. The medical bills are theirs. Public liability can respond only if you are legally liable.
Several guests are sick the day after an included dinner. Where a restaurant cooked, its own cover may respond, but a guest can still bring a claim against you as the business they booked with. If your tour supplied the food, illness from a notifiable or communicable disease can be excluded, so check with the underwriter.
Your booking terms include a waiver drafted around one state's law, and a guest is hurt in Victoria, which sets its own prescribed wording for recreational services. A waiver that doesn't fit the state where the tour runs may not do what you expect.
A coach carrying international visitors between regional centres leaves the highway. The tour operator policies we arrange generally exclude injury caused by a registered vehicle from public liability, and whether that state's CTP scheme responds depends on its rules: in a fault-based state it may not. A guest can still bring a claim against you, so the checks you made on the coach operator and its accreditation matter.
| Situation | Cover that may respond | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Guest injured on a walk, at a lookout or at an attraction in any state | Public liability can respond | Your public liability can respond across every state. $20 million public liability is available, and that limit meets the public liability minimums listed in the table further down this page, as at October 2026. Insurer type, certificate wording and indemnities are separate checks. |
| Missed domestic flight or wrong hotel city costs guests money | Professional indemnity can respond | Claims made basis. PI can respond to the extra costs, not a refund of the tour price. |
| Guest injured on a coach between states | CTP, depending on the state's rules, and the coach operator's motor cover | Injury caused by a registered vehicle is excluded from public liability. CTP schemes differ by state, and Queensland, WA and SA are fault-based, so an injury can fall between the two. See vehicles and passenger liability. |
| You pour a drink at a lookout or with a picnic lunch | Public liability can respond, where you are legally liable | Tell the underwriter you supply alcohol. Liquor rules change at each border: Queensland, WA and the ACT have narrow tour exemptions, and the other states and the NT have none. See food and alcohol on tours. |
| Guest injured through a local guide or supplier you engage | Public liability can respond to your own liability | You must take reasonable steps to make sure Australian contractors hold at least $10 million liability. This is the minimum on the schedule we hold; yours may differ. |
| A charter or scenic flight added to the itinerary | Not insured | Aircraft used by or for you are excluded on at least one wording we place, including charters, helicopters and drones. |
| An airline or coach operator collapses before the tour | Not insured | Supplier insolvency is generally excluded from PI on the tour operator policies we arrange. |
Park agencies can require their interest noted on your certificate of currency, and some prescribe the exact words. Several park licences also contain a release and an indemnity in the agency's favour. On the tour operator policies we arrange, waiving your right to recover from someone without the insurer's consent can remove cover, so send the licence conditions to us before you sign so we can check how they sit with your insurance, and have your lawyer review the licence. Some authorities, including Parks Victoria and Kakadu, also require an APRA-authorised insurer or one they approve, so confirm with us how the certificate will satisfy each. The state-by-state detail is in our guide to national park and council permit insurance requirements.
Aircraft owned or used by or for you, including helicopters, charters and drones, are excluded on at least one wording we place. A scenic flight over the Bungle Bungles or the Whitsundays needs a different market.
On at least one wording we place, boats over 8 metres used by or for you are excluded unless someone else owns and operates the boat and it is used for business entertainment. Whether a paid reef cruise qualifies is an open question for the underwriter. Scuba diving is excluded outright, and snorkelling needs the underwriter's view.
The tour operator policies we arrange generally exclude injury caused by a registered vehicle from public liability. Whether a state's CTP scheme responds depends on its rules, and Queensland, WA and SA are fault-based. Vehicle damage needs commercial motor cover.
Cancellation is excluded. A cyclone that cancels a reef day, a bushfire that shuts a park or a flood that cuts the highway is a matter for your booking terms.
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.
Park permits. Each park authority sets its own public liability minimum for commercial tours, and the table below lists the published figures as at October 2026. A $20 million limit meets the public liability minimums listed there, and limits up to $20 million are available. A $10 million limit meets only the NSW, WA and SA park figures. Some authorities also require an APRA-authorised insurer, prescribed certificate wording or an indemnity, so confirm with us how the certificate will satisfy each. The certificate matters as much as the limit. NSW National Parks requires an exact interested party name, Parks Victoria requires seven named parties in full, and South Australia wants the certificate in your legal entity name with the Minister's interest endorsed. The full detail is in our guide to national park and council permit insurance requirements.
Vehicles across borders. Passenger transport rules change with the state and the size of the vehicle. In NSW, a vehicle with 12 seats or fewer including the driver comes under point to point transport law, and booked tourist transport in it needs booking service provider authorisation. A vehicle with 13 seats or more comes under bus operator accreditation. In Victoria, a bus is a vehicle with 10 or more seating positions including the driver, and tour and charter bus operators need accreditation. South Australia draws its line at 13 seats including the driver, and WA regulates by the type of service, not the seat count. CTP differs too: NSW pays benefits to injured passengers for up to 52 weeks whether or not anyone was at fault, while Queensland's scheme responds where another driver was fully or partly at fault. In WA a passenger can claim where the driver was at fault and the vehicle is WA-registered, and in SA a claim generally needs a South Australian vehicle and someone else at least partly responsible. An injury can fall between CTP and public liability on the tour operator policies we arrange. See vehicles and passenger liability.
Waivers. Civil liability laws differ between states, and so do the rules on waivers. In Victoria, a recreational business that wants to limit its liability for death or personal injury must tell the buyer before they agree to buy, and since 27 June 2022 a business doing so for the first time must use the exact prescribed wording. That wording doesn't protect against gross negligence. Get your booking terms checked by a lawyer for every state you operate in, and don't rely on one template. More in waivers and booking terms.
A drink at the lookout. Liquor law treats the same glass of sparkling differently in each state. Queensland's Liquor Act 1992 (section 14B) exempts a tour operator's sale of liquor to an adult on a tour booked with that operator, up to two standard drinks per person a day, outside restricted areas and restricted hours. In WA, regulation 8CA of the Liquor Control Regulations 1989 exempts complimentary supply by an accredited tourism business where the person serving holds approved responsible service training, away from roads and premises that hold a liquor licence. The ACT's Liquor Act 2010 (section 8A) exempts a tour business serving no more than 12 adults, up to two standard drinks each, at no charge. NSW has no tour exemption, and Liquor & Gaming NSW says a licence is required where drinks are offered as part of a package price. Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the NT list no tour exemption either. Our guide to food and alcohol on tours sets out each state.
Inbound visitors. At least one wording we place requires guests to hold comprehensive travel insurance only on tours outside Australia, so a visitor touring Australia isn't caught by that condition. You can still make travel insurance a booking condition, with guests choosing their own policy. Queensland adds a registration layer. Under the Tourism Services Act 2003, a business must register as an inbound tour operator if at least 20% of the travel packages it sold in the last 12 months were Queensland-based tours for overseas travellers, sold to overseas wholesalers, retailers or corporate buyers. A code of conduct is mandatory for inbound tour operators, and the Queensland Government lists a penalty of $34,540 for an individual operating unregistered, with corporations liable for up to five times that, as at October 2026. Tours are a real part of what visitors buy: holiday visitors put 13% of their Australian trip spend into tours in the year to March 2026, according to Tourism Research Australia.
| Who asks | What they ask for | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (Parks Eco Pass) | $10 million public liability. The interested party must read exactly: The Minister administering the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 on behalf of the State of NSW ABN 27 578 976 844. | The licence conditions also require the insurer to waive claims against the licensor, a month's notice before the policy lapses, and a release and indemnity from you. Those need checking against the wording, not just the certificate. |
| Parks Victoria (tour operator licence) | $20 million for any one claim, in the public and products liability class, from an APRA-authorised insurer, with your business entity as the insured. | Seven interested parties must appear in full: the Minister for Environment, the Secretary to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Parks Victoria, the Director of National Parks, the Minister for Ports, Melbourne Water Corporation, and the Yarra Bend Park Trust and any other body delegating its powers to Parks Victoria. A certificate under $20 million will not be accepted. |
| Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (commercial activity permit) | $20 million arising from any one event, plus workers compensation. | Permit conditions include a public liability insurance declaration and an indemnity, release and discharge. Queensland marine park permits use the same $20 million standard. |
| WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (commercial operations licence) | Not less than $10 million per event for the licence period. | A signed acknowledgement of indemnity (Deed Poll) goes in with the certificate, and it requires you to tell your insurer about the licence and its conditions. |
| SA National Parks and Wildlife Service (commercial tour operator licence) | $10 million for any one claim, confirmed for 2026-27, with the certificate in your legal entity name, not your trading name. | The licence terms require the policy to be endorsed with the Relevant Authority's and the Minister's interest, and include a release and an indemnity. |
| Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service (nature based tourism business licence) | $20 million, with evidence before the contract issues. | The standard contract runs five years, and you must gain accreditation with the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania or an equivalent industry body within 12 months. Wellington Park also asks for $20 million. |
| NT Parks and Wildlife (tour operator permit) | A certificate of currency for at least $20 million, plus workers compensation if you have staff. | Incidents must be reported within 24 hours. NT Parks does not issue permits for Kakadu or Uluru-Kata Tjuta, which are Parks Australia parks. |
| ACT parks and reserves (public land permit) | $20 million for a business or commercial entity. | The Parks ACT page asks only for public liability insurance details. The dollar figure is on the ACT City Services page for events on public land. |
| Parks Australia (Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Kakadu and Booderee) | $20 million at each park. Kakadu asks for not less than $20 million for any single event, with an APRA-authorised insurer or one the Director approves. | At Uluru-Kata Tjuta all guides must complete the Knowledge for Tour Guides course. Kakadu's application includes a release and indemnity of the Director of National Parks and the Commonwealth. |
On 15 June 2014 a 23-year-old on a three-day tour fell about 30 metres at Kestrel Falls on the Kings Canyon rim walk, after stepping down to a ledge below the cliff top for a staged photo at a stop on the walk. The coroner found that guides were trained to run the photo stop, that park signage said to stay away from the cliff edge, and that a 2010 warning letter from the parks agency had not changed the practice. The operator was convicted in June 2016 and fined $140,000 plus costs, the ABC reported.
The insurance lesson. The coroner found guides were trained to run the staged photo stop and that a 2010 parks warning had not changed the practice, so a civil claim would be a public liability matter for the operator, subject to the wording. The controls the findings point to are written no-go rules for cliff edges that guides can't vary, guide induction that is checked in the field, and acting on a land manager's warning when you get one.
About 11.30pm on 11 June 2023 a charter coach carrying 35 wedding guests crashed at a roundabout at Greta, NSW. Ten people died and 25 were injured. On 26 August 2026 the coach operator was fined $650,000 and two directors $12,000 each, after guilty pleas to heavy vehicle safety breaches covering speeding, fatigue management and employing a drug-impaired driver, in a prosecution brought by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, the ABC reported.
The insurance lesson. The tour operator policies we arrange generally exclude injury caused by a registered vehicle from public liability, and whether the state's motor accident scheme responds depends on its rules. A tour business that charters coaches carries its own exposure in how it chose the carrier. At least one wording we place expects Australian contractors to hold at least $10 million liability, and the sentence shows what else to ask a coach operator: how it checks drivers' references and fitness for duty, and how it manages fatigue.
Source: ABC News, 26 August 2026: coach operator and directors sentenced
On 28 October 2014 a Japanese organised tour group ate food from a Gold Coast restaurant and then flew to Sydney. Twelve of the 27 passengers were vomiting within minutes of each other and four were hospitalised overnight, according to a report published in the WHO's Western Pacific Surveillance and Response journal. Investigators linked the illness to a toxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus and to food handling at the restaurant. No litigation was reported.
The insurance lesson. A guest can bring a claim against the business they booked with, even where a restaurant prepared the food. On the tour operator policies we arrange, food you supply can be treated as a product, but illness from a notifiable or communicable disease can be excluded on at least one wording we place, so check with the underwriter how an included meal is treated. Keep each food supplier's certificate, and a record of what was served and where.
Source: WHO Western Pacific Surveillance and Response (2015): tour group food illness, Queensland and NSW
List each park authority, its public liability minimum, the interested party wording it prescribes and your permit expiry. Ask us for certificates that carry the exact wording before you apply, because NSW and Victoria both prescribe the text that must appear on it.
Ask each coach or minibus company for its accreditation in the state where it operates, such as bus operator accreditation in NSW for vehicles with 13 seats or more, or accreditation for a tour and charter bus service in Victoria. File it with the carrier's certificate of currency showing at least $10 million liability.
Know the park's heat rules before you schedule a walk. At Kings Canyon, when the forecast is 36°C or higher, walkers must begin the Rim Walk before 9am, according to Tourism NT, and NT Parks runs a heat management strategy in the hottest months. Set start times and water carries in the itinerary, not on the day.
Write down the places and practices that are off limits on each route, such as cliff edges, ledges and swimming spots, and make clear that no guide can change them. Check them in the field, and watch your own guides' and guests' social media for staged photos that show the rules being broken.
Safe Work Australia's model first aid code says that where travel time, poor roads or weather make access difficult, arrangements should include aerial evacuation, and that where timely access to emergency services can't be assured, more advanced first aid training should be considered. For remote legs, that points to a current first aid qualification from a registered training organisation, and remote first aid training where you operate away from help.
Under the model work health and safety laws, a business must notify the regulator immediately after it becomes aware of a death, serious injury or dangerous incident arising out of its work, and that can include incidents involving guests. NT Parks permits also require incidents to be reported within 24 hours. Victoria has its own Act, so check with the regulator in the state where it happened.
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 australia 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
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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.
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Last updated: 01/10/2026
