A student is hurt during free time
A class is given half an hour at a lookout and one student climbs a fence for a photo. The claim will turn on the supervision plan, the ratio of adults to students and what the briefing said about free time.
TOUR OPERATOR INSURANCE
Educational Tour Insurance
When the guests are students, the duty of care changes. Schools set supervision ratios, staff need Working with Children Checks, and some exclusions matter more than on any other tour. Here is how educational tour cover works.
$20MPublic liability limit available
PI + PLProfessional indemnity and public liability, together or placed separately
WWCCWorking with Children Checks for staff and drivers
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 educational tour operator need?
An educational tour operator generally needs public liability for injury to students and damage to property, and professional indemnity for errors in the program, bookings and advice. School and student groups change the duty of care. Education departments set what a school must see first: WA public schools need $20 million public liability from an outside provider, and Victorian government schools need at least $10 million from an APRA approved insurer, as at October 2026. Staff doing child-related work need a current check in their state. At least one specialist tour operator wording we place excludes sexual harassment, molestation and abuse allegations, so raise it with us before you quote a school. Educational tours are on the list of tour types the specialist markets we approach are set up to quote, subject to each insurer's assessment.
International student groups add another layer: medical information, consent from parents overseas, and language support for safety briefings. General information only. It doesn't take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it isn't legal advice.
- Core covers
- Public liability and PI, together or placed separately
- PL limit available
- Up to $20 million
- Children question
- Who supervises, and at what ratio?
- Watch for
- Abuse exclusion, camp activities, overnight stays
An allergy emergency at lunch
A student with a known allergy eats something at a lunch stop. If your tour supplied the food, it's treated as a product. Either way, the questions are whether you had the student's action plan, whether staff knew where the medication was, and how quickly they acted.
A student goes missing
A student leaves the group at a busy train station on the way back from a city program. A head count at every transition, a buddy system and a clear plan for separation are what the school and the underwriter want to see.
An overnight incident
On a three-day history program, two students leave their rooms after lights out and one is injured. Overnight supervision is part of the program you sold, and a claim can point at how rooms and night checks were organised.
The program falls apart
A museum session, a guided walk and the accommodation were never confirmed, and the school pays for a replacement day. The school's extra costs are a professional indemnity question.
A camp activity goes wrong
A school adds abseiling or a surf lesson to your program. Those activities are excluded on at least one tour operator endorsement we place, so if your policy carries that endorsement and one causes an injury, it won't respond, even if a provider runs it.
| Situation | Cover that may respond | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Student injured on an excursion you run | Public liability | Can respond to your legal liability, subject to the wording and schedule. Supervision plans and ratios are the evidence. See public liability for tour operators. |
| Program, booking or accommodation error costs the school money | Professional indemnity | Claims made basis. It doesn't refund the program fee. |
| School asks to be noted on your certificate or indemnified | Public liability extension | At least one wording we place can extend to a party you've agreed to indemnify, only as far as your own liability would go. |
| Allegation of sexual abuse, molestation or harassment involving a student | Not insured | Excluded under both public liability and PI on at least one wording we place. |
| Student injured abseiling, surfing, horse riding or mountain biking | Not insured | These activities are excluded. A specialist provider needs its own cover. See what's covered and what's excluded. |
| Student injured on the bus to the venue | CTP and the bus operator's cover | Tour operator policies we arrange generally exclude injury caused by a registered vehicle from public liability. CTP may respond, but schemes differ by state. See vehicles and passenger liability. |
A waiver won't carry the risk on school work. The WA and Victorian education departments tell schools not to sign waivers that excuse a provider's own negligence, and not to ask parents to sign them. See waivers and booking terms.
- Ages of participants, and whether groups are primary, secondary, tertiary or international students
- Who supervises: school staff, your staff or both, and the ratios you work to
- Whether your staff and drivers hold current Working with Children Checks, and how you verify them
- Whether programs include overnight stays, and how night supervision works
- Every activity in the program, including anything a school adds or a provider runs
- How you collect medical information, allergies and action plans, and brief staff on them
- Inbound, outbound or domestic programs, and which countries
- Annual revenue, students per year and any claims or incidents
Abuse allegations
Sexual harassment, molestation and abuse allegations are excluded under both public liability and PI on at least one specialist tour operator wording we place. If a school asks how you're covered for them and your policy carries that exclusion, the honest answer is that you're not, so raise it with us before you quote.
Outdoor education activities
Abseiling, rock climbing, caving, canyoning, surfing, horse riding, mountain biking and white water rafting are on the excluded list. A program that includes them needs a different market for that part. Victoria's education department also expects providers to follow the relevant adventure activity guidelines.
Buses and coaches
Injury caused by a registered vehicle, including a hired coach, is generally excluded from public liability on the tour operator policies we arrange. CTP may respond, but schemes differ by state. Check the bus operator's accreditation and certificate of currency. Queensland's school excursions procedure asks bus charter operators for a current operator accreditation number.
Illness spreading through a group
A gastro or flu outbreak on a residential program can be caught by the communicable and notifiable disease exclusions under both sections of at least one wording we place. Raise it with the underwriter.
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.
Working with children checks. Each state and territory runs its own scheme, and the test is whether the work is child-related under that scheme. In NSW, for example, the Act lists transport services especially for children, including school bus services, and overnight camps for children. Queensland's blue card page for tourism lists guided tours for children, school holiday programs and accommodation for school groups as work that may need a blue card. How long a clearance lasts differs: 5 years in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, 3 years in Western Australia and 2 years in the Northern Territory. Check Queensland's period with Blue Card Services. Short-visit exemptions for interstate workers are narrow, and in South Australia any child-related work with an overnight stay needs a check. Keep a register of who holds what, the number and the expiry date.
What the departments ask for. In WA, principals must confirm an outside provider holds $20 million public liability and, if appropriate, $5 million professional liability. In Victoria, a government school needs your current public liability certificate for at least $10 million from an APRA approved insurer, Working with Children Checks for your adults in direct contact with students, and your agreement to destroy students' personal and health information when the contract ends. The NSW and Queensland departments' excursion procedures state no dollar minimum. NSW asks for a risk assessment plan and current checks for child-related work, and Queensland relies on its activity risk assessment guidelines. A school can set its own figure, so ask. If a school wants $5 million professional liability, tell us before you quote so the PI limit can be put to the underwriter.
Ratios, approvals and waivers. The school's own excursion policy sets supervision ratios, consent requirements and what it needs from you before approving a trip. Be ready to provide a certificate of currency, a risk assessment for each activity and venue, and your emergency procedures. Agree in writing who supervises when: school staff, your guides or both. Where that line is blurred, a claim will find it. Don't count on a release. WA's procedures say staff must not sign waivers, indemnities or disclaimers that absolve a provider of its own negligence, and Victoria's guidance tells schools to refuse them. Your controls and your insurance carry the risk, as our guide to risk management for tour operators explains.
International students. Inbound student groups bring minors a long way from their parents. Get consent and medical information in writing before arrival, translate the safety briefing or use an interpreter, and agree with the sending school who can make decisions if a student is hurt. Immersion programs for students overlap with cultural tours. For outbound student tours, at least one wording we place requires you to take reasonable steps so every participant holds comprehensive travel insurance. Victorian government schools arrange travel insurance themselves, not through the provider, so confirm who is doing what.
| Who asks | What they ask for | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| WA public schools | $20 million public liability and, if appropriate, $5 million professional liability, confirmed by the principal before the excursion. | From the WA Department of Education's Excursions in Public Schools Procedures. Tell us if a school asks for the $5 million professional liability, because the PI limit has to match. |
| Victorian government schools | A current public liability certificate of at least $10 million from an APRA approved insurer, plus Working with Children Checks for provider adults in direct contact with students. | The Department's guidance also expects providers to follow its excursions policy and to destroy students' personal and health information at the end of the contract. |
| NSW public schools | No dollar minimum in the Department's excursions procedure. It asks for a risk assessment plan and current Working with Children Checks for child-related work. | An individual school can still ask for a set limit. The procedure tells schools to check that a private transport operator holds appropriate insurance. |
| Queensland state schools | No dollar amount in the school excursions procedure. Risk assessment follows the Department's CARA guidelines, and bus charter operators must show a current operator accreditation number. | Volunteers need blue cards. Ask the school what limit it expects to see on your certificate. |
Student death on a school expedition to Vietnam (Victoria, guilty pleas reported 2025)
On a September 2019 expedition to Vietnam run by a Victorian school with a specialist expedition company, a 16-year-old student with type 1 diabetes became ill about two weeks in and died. The three supervising adults were not trained to recognise diabetic ketoacidosis, and the student's diabetes management plan did not travel with the group. The school and the expedition company pleaded guilty to safety charges under Victoria's Occupational Health and Safety Act, as reported by AAP. A Victorian coroner had recommended in 2023 that the company adopt policies on managing disclosed medical conditions.
The insurance lesson. Both the school and the provider were prosecuted in Victoria under its workplace safety law. Whether a civil claim after an incident like this would be covered depends on the policy terms, including any activity exclusions on your schedule's endorsement, so put any expedition-style program to the underwriter before you sell it. The controls: medical plans that travel with the leader, training for the conditions disclosed, and an escalation call that always states pre-existing conditions.
Source: AAP, School pleads guilty after death of student on trip
A register of child-safety checks
List every guide, driver and volunteer with their check type, number and expiry. Clearances last 5 years in NSW, Victoria, SA, Tasmania and the ACT, 3 years in WA and 2 years in the NT. Verify each one with the state screening body before the person works, and re-check before you cross a border.
Medical plans travel with the group
Collect medical conditions, allergies and action plans before the trip. Put a copy in the leader's hands, not only in the office. Brief every supervising adult on the conditions in the group, where medication is kept and who to call.
Supervision handover in writing
Agree with the school, for each part of the day, whether its staff or yours are supervising: on the bus, at the venue, at lunch, during free time and overnight. Put it in the program and brief both teams. Count heads at every transition.
Child safe policies staff have read
The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, published by the Australian Human Rights Commission, set out ten principles and come with free tools, including a self-assessment and an example code of conduct. Adopt a code of conduct and a reporting process, and train staff on them. Abuse allegations are excluded on at least one wording we place, so prevention is the protection.
Allergens declared for every meal
Under the Food Standards Code, food that doesn't need a label still needs its allergens declared on request. Get the allergen information from each lunch venue or caterer in writing, match it against the students' action plans, and keep it with the leader.
First aid, records and notification
The model code of practice for first aid says to consider others at your workplace, such as students, when planning first aid, to refresh CPR every year and to renew first aid qualifications every three years. Record incidents and near misses. A death or serious injury arising from your business can be notifiable to the work health and safety regulator immediately.
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 educational 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
- WA Department of Education: Excursions in Public Schools Procedures
- Victorian Department of Education: excursions, external providers
- NSW Department of Education: excursions procedure
- Queensland Department of Education: school excursions procedure
- AAP: School pleads guilty after death of student on trip
- Coroners Court of Victoria: finding into a death on a school expedition, COR 2019 5395 (December 2023)
- Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW)
- NSW Office of the Children's Guardian: who needs a Check
- Victorian Government: the Working with Children Check explained
- Queensland Government: blue cards for the tourism industry
- WA Department of Communities: WWC Check application and renewal
- SA Government: who needs a Working with Children Check
- SA Government: expiring Working with Children Check
- Tasmanian Department of Justice: renew your RWVP
- Access Canberra: apply for or renew a WWVP registration
- NT Government: Working with Children Clearance
- Australian Human Rights Commission: Child Safe Organisations
- FSANZ: allergen labelling for food businesses
- Safe Work Australia: model code of practice, first aid in the workplace
- Safe Work Australia: incident notification handbook
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Educational Tour Insurance FAQs
Public liability for injury to students and damage to property, and professional indemnity for errors in the program and bookings. A school can ask for your certificate of currency before approving an excursion, and may ask to be noted on it. If you own a bus, you'll need motor cover as well, because tour operator policies we arrange generally exclude injury caused by a registered vehicle from public liability.
It depends on the state, as at October 2026. WA public schools must confirm an outside provider holds $20 million public liability and, if appropriate, $5 million professional liability. Victorian government schools need a certificate for at least $10 million from an APRA approved insurer. The NSW and Queensland departments' excursion procedures state no dollar minimum, though a school can set its own. Public liability of up to $20 million is available.
It depends on whether the work is child-related under each state's scheme, so check with the screening body where you run programs. Clearances last 5 years in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, 3 years in Western Australia and 2 years in the Northern Territory. Victorian government schools require checks for provider adults in direct contact with students. Keep a register of numbers and expiry dates.
In WA and Victorian government schools, expect a no. WA's excursions procedures say staff must not sign waivers, indemnities or disclaimers that absolve a provider of its own negligence, and must not ask parents to sign them. Victoria's guidance tells schools to refuse them as well. Plan on your risk assessment, supervision plan and insurance carrying the risk, and take any waiver wording out of your school booking terms.
At least one specialist tour operator wording we place excludes sexual harassment, molestation and abuse allegations under both public liability and PI. That makes screening, Working with Children Checks, supervision plans and a clear reporting process essential. If a school asks you about this cover, talk to us before you respond and we'll come back to you with the options available.
At least one tour operator endorsement we place excludes injury arising from abseiling, rock climbing, caving, canyoning, surfing, horse riding, mountain biking, white water rafting and other adventure activities. Because the exclusion follows the activity, a policy carrying it won't respond even if a provider runs it. Book a specialist provider with its own cover and collect its certificate.
Your cover works the same way, but the underwriter will ask more about the group: ages, supervision, overnight arrangements, medical information and language support. For outbound student tours, at least one wording we place requires you to take reasonable steps so every participant holds comprehensive travel insurance. For inbound groups, confirm with the sending school what medical cover the students hold.
We don't publish a separate price for educational tour insurance. As a general guide, combined professional indemnity and public liability for a small tour operator costs approximately $1,200 to $1,800 a year including fees, as at October 2026, and it can fall outside that range. Student ages, overnight programs, destinations, activities and the number of students a year all move the price. Have your supervision plans ready, because the underwriter will ask about them. It isn't a quote. It is not a quote.
RELATED GUIDES
More on Tour Operator Insurance
Tour Operator Insurance (main guide)
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Tour operator insurance cost
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What's covered and what's excluded
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What you need for a quote
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Museum Tour Insurance
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Cultural Tour Insurance
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History Tour Insurance
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Family Tour Insurance
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Day Tour Insurance
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Multi-Day Tour Insurance
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What is a certificate of currency?
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QUOTE REQUEST
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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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PI and Public Liability for Your Tours
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.