TOUR OPERATOR INSURANCE
Children change the tour. Supervision is shared between parents and guides, activities need to suit different ages, and a farm visit or a snow day brings its own questions. Here is how cover fits together for family tours.
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 family tour operator need in Australia?
A family tour operator generally needs public liability for injury to guests, children included, and damage to other people's property, plus professional indemnity for errors in bookings and itinerary advice. Any vehicle you own needs CTP and commercial motor cover. With children on tour, the underwriter looks at supervision: what parents are responsible for, what your guides are responsible for, and how you pitch activities to different ages. Depending on your state's scheme and the work involved, guides may need a Working with Children Check. At least one specialist wording we place excludes sexual abuse and molestation claims, and some activities families enjoy, such as horse riding, surfing and sledging. Family tours are a type the specialist markets we approach are set up to quote, subject to each insurer's assessment.
Public liability can respond only where you're legally liable. A child who trips while holding a parent's hand, with no failing on your part, is a matter for the family's own health cover. General information only. It doesn't take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it isn't legal advice.
At a market or a crowded lookout, a child slips away while the parents assume the guide is watching and the guide assumes the parents are. If the child is hurt, the question is who had agreed to supervise. Write it into the booking terms and repeat it in the briefing.
Your minibus carries a family and a booster seat isn't fitted properly. Injury in a registered vehicle is generally a CTP and motor matter, not public liability, but who supplies and fits child restraints is a question your motor insurer and the underwriter will both ask.
A walk marked family-friendly includes an unfenced cliff-top section, or a hands-on workshop uses tools unsuitable for a six-year-old. Choosing and describing activities for the ages you take can be examined if something goes wrong.
A goat kicks, a child falls from a fence rail, or a child becomes unwell after touching animals. Injury claims can point at you and the host property together. Illness from a communicable or notifiable disease is excluded on at least one specialist wording we place, so hand-washing and the host's own cover both matter.
A child knocks over a display in a gallery shop or scratches a venue's furniture. If you're legally liable, damage to someone else's property during your tour is a public liability matter, subject to the excess on your schedule. If you're not, it's between the family and the venue.
A parent alleges inappropriate conduct by a guide towards their child. Sexual abuse and molestation claims are excluded under both public liability and PI on at least one specialist wording we place, so screening, supervision rules and a reporting procedure are the protection.
| Situation | Cover that may respond | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Child or parent injured on a walk, at a venue or during an activity you run | Public liability | Can respond to your legal liability, subject to the wording. Where a venue is at fault, its own policy may respond instead. |
| Child injured in your minibus or car | CTP and commercial motor | Public liability excludes injury caused by a registered vehicle. Raise child restraints with your motor insurer too. |
| Family booked onto an activity unsuitable for the ages you were given | Professional indemnity | Can respond to civil liability from your professional services, subject to the wording. The refund of the tour price itself is excluded. |
| Child unwell after contact with farm animals | Possibly not insured | Communicable and notifiable diseases are excluded from both covers on at least one specialist wording we place. Check the host farm's own cover. |
| Allegation of abuse or inappropriate conduct | Not insured | Excluded under both public liability and PI on at least one specialist wording we place, with no carve-back. Wordings differ between insurers. |
| Family wants a refund after a cancelled tour | Not insured | Cancellation is excluded. Refunds are governed by your terms and the Australian Consumer Law. |
A claim for a child's injury can be made long after the tour. Public liability on the tour operator policies we arrange is typically triggered by when the injury happened, not when the claim arrives, so a claim would be made under the policy in force on the day of the tour. Keep incident records safe and easy to find.
Horse riding and other equine tours, surfing, skiing, snowboarding and sledging are excluded by the tour operator endorsement on at least one specialist wording we place. If a family itinerary includes them, the provider's own cover needs to carry the activity, and you should raise it before you bind.
E-bikes, Segways and scooters are excluded on at least one specialist wording we place. A family ride along a bike path on e-bikes needs a different market.
Communicable and notifiable diseases are excluded from both covers on at least one specialist wording we place. Petting farms and animal encounters need the host's own cover, hand-washing before food and a clear briefing.
Sexual abuse and molestation claims are excluded on at least one specialist wording we place, with no carve-back. Screening, supervision rules and a reporting procedure are the controls.
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.
Put the split in writing. Your booking terms and pre-tour briefing should say who supervises children and when. One workable approach: parents supervise their own children at all times, and your guides manage the route, the pace and hazard warnings. If you run a kids' activity where parents step away, supervision is yours for that time, and the underwriter will want to know.
Working with Children Checks. Every state and territory runs its own screening scheme, and each is built around listed kinds of child-related work, such as transport services for children and overnight camps for children. A clearance lasts five years in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, three years in Western Australia and two years in the Northern Territory. Queensland's Blue Card Services lists tours or trips for children and guided tours for children among the tourism roles that may need a blue card, so check its current validity period with that agency. Whether your guides need a check depends on the scheme and on whether contact with children is a usual part of the work, so confirm with the screening agency in each state you operate in, and ask any school you work with what it requires. Separately, sexual abuse and molestation claims are excluded under both covers on at least one specialist wording we place.
Farm and animal stops. In August 2013, at least 12 people, mostly children, fell ill after visiting the farm-animal petting area at Brisbane's Ekka, and four tested positive for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), according to Food Safety News. That was a public show, not a tour. STEC is on Australia's national notifiable disease list. Illness from animal contact can therefore fall within the communicable and notifiable disease exclusions on at least one specialist wording we place. Confirm the host farm holds its own public liability, build hand-washing into the itinerary, and keep food away from animal areas. See what's covered and what's excluded.
School groups and child-safe practice. If family tours lead to school bookings, the education department's rules arrive with them. Victorian government schools need an outside provider's public liability certificate of at least $10 million from an APRA-authorised insurer, and Working with Children Checks for provider adults in direct contact with students. WA public schools must confirm a provider holds $20 million public liability and, if appropriate, $5 million professional liability. Both departments tell schools to refuse waivers that release a provider from its own negligence, so don't rely on your standard release for school work. For your own procedures, the Australian Human Rights Commission's National Principles for Child Safe Organisations come with a free self-assessment, a policy template and an example code of conduct. More in waivers and booking terms and risk management for tour operators.
| Who asks | What they ask for | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Victorian Department of Education (schools engaging an outside provider) | A current public liability certificate of at least $10 million from an APRA-authorised insurer, and Working with Children Checks for adults in direct contact with students | Schools are told to refuse waivers that release the provider from its own negligence. |
| WA Department of Education (excursions in public schools) | $20 million public liability and, if appropriate, $5 million professional liability | Staff must not sign waivers, indemnities or disclaimers that absolve a provider from its own negligence, and must not ask parents to sign them. |
| NSW Department of Education (excursions procedure) | No dollar minimum is set in the department's procedure. It asks for a risk assessment plan and current Working with Children Checks for child-related work | An individual school can set its own figure, so ask before you quote. |
| Queensland Department of Education (school excursions procedure) | No dollar public liability amount for providers. Bus charter operators must show a current operator accreditation number | Risk assessment runs through the department's CARA guidelines, and volunteers need blue cards. |
| Brisbane City Council (commercial activity in a Council park) | A certificate of currency for $20 million public liability | Permission is needed for any commercial activity in a Council park, which matters for picnic and playground stops. |
In August 2013, Food Safety News reported that at least 12 people, mostly children, fell ill after visiting the farm-animal petting area at the Ekka in Brisbane. Four tested positive for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. Health authorities investigated, and no litigation was reported. This was a public show, not a tour, but the mechanism is the same at any farm or petting stop on a family itinerary.
The insurance lesson. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli is a nationally notifiable disease, and illness from a notifiable or communicable disease is excluded from both covers on at least one specialist wording we place, so an illness claim after animal contact may not be insured. Insurers treat this differently, so raise it with us before you bind. The controls are the host's own public liability, hand-washing before anyone eats, and keeping food out of animal areas.
Source: Food Safety News: E. coli outbreak at Australian petting zoo sickens 12 (August 2013)
In September 2019 a 16-year-old student with type 1 diabetes became ill about two weeks into an expedition to Vietnam run by a Victorian school with a specialist expedition company, and died. The 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 company later pleaded guilty to safety charges under Victoria's Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, and the coroner recommended the company adopt policies on managing disclosed medical conditions. It was a school expedition, not a family tour, but it shows what can follow when a child's disclosed medical needs don't reach the leaders in the field.
The insurance lesson. A civil claim over an incident like this would sit with public liability, and possibly PI for planning failures, subject to the wording, the territory and the jurisdiction clause. The control: where a parent discloses a medical condition, it must reach the guide on the tour, with the management plan and training for the conditions disclosed.
Source: AAP: school pleads guilty after death of student on trip
State in the booking terms and the briefing who supervises children and when. If a guide-run activity lets parents step away, name the guide in charge, set a headcount at the start and the end, and tell the underwriter the activity exists.
Check each state's scheme before a guide works with children, record every clearance number and expiry, and diarise renewals. Clearances last five years in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, three years in Western Australia and two years in the Northern Territory.
Write down what guides do and don't do around children, such as never being alone with a child out of sight, and give families a way to raise a concern. The Australian Human Rights Commission's National Principles for Child Safe Organisations include a free policy template and an example code of conduct.
Invite parents to tell you about any allergies, medication or conditions they want the guide to know, and make sure the guide on the day holds what they share and any management plan. The Vietnam expedition case above turned on a plan that didn't travel with the group.
At farm and wildlife stops, wash hands before anyone eats, keep food and drink out of animal areas, and supervise the youngest children hand to hand. Ask the host for its certificate of currency before the season, not on the day.
Agree in writing who supplies and fits child restraints, and check your state's road rules for the vehicle you use. Record every incident involving a child, however small, and keep the records safely, because a claim for a child's injury can arrive years later.
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 family 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
