Insurables — Australian business risk, sourced and dated

Childcare providers: public liability requirements in Australia

Cover for legal liability to third parties for personal injury or property damage arising from business activities.

Data as at

Verified requirements, by state

  • Licence liability condition: Yes, with a stated minimum — one of the few occupations where the National Regulations name a figure. Education and care services must have a current policy of insurance providing adequate cover against public liability with a minimum cover of $10,000,000. For family day care there is a further layer: service approval is granted subject to the condition that the approved provider ensures EACH family day care educator engaged by or registered with the service holds public liability insurance with a minimum cover of $10,000,000. So the provider is responsible for cover held by people it does not directly employ. NSW · effective 2012-01-01 NSW Department of Education · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: A current policy must be held as a condition of service approval, so the obligation is continuous rather than tied to an application date. For family day care, the provider must be able to show that each engaged educator holds their own cover. NSW · effective 2012-01-01 NSW Department of Education · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The NSW Department of Education, as the state regulatory authority under the Education and Care Services National Law. Two approvals are needed and they are separate: a PROVIDER approval for the operator, and a SERVICE approval for each service it runs. NSW · effective 2012-01-01 NSW Department of Education · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, with a figure written into the National Regulations: a current policy of insurance providing adequate cover for the education and care service against public liability, with a minimum cover of $10,000,000. For family day care there is a second layer — the approved provider must ensure that EACH family day care educator engaged by or registered with the service holds public liability cover to the same minimum. A provider is therefore responsible for cover held by people it does not employ. VIC · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: The policy must be current and held as a condition of approval, so the obligation runs continuously rather than being satisfied once at application. Evidence must be kept at the service's principal office and made available for inspection by the regulator on request. VIC · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The Victorian education department, as the state regulatory authority, under the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. This is a NATIONAL scheme applied through Victoria's own application Act: the operating rules are the same across participating jurisdictions, and the regulator differs rather than the standard. Two approvals are needed and they are separate — a PROVIDER approval for the operator and a SERVICE approval for each service. VIC · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, with a figure written into the National Regulations: a current policy of insurance providing adequate cover for the education and care service against public liability, with a minimum cover of $10,000,000. For family day care there is a second layer — the approved provider must ensure that EACH family day care educator engaged by or registered with the service holds public liability cover to the same minimum. A provider is therefore responsible for cover held by people it does not employ. QLD · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: The policy must be current and held as a condition of approval, so the obligation runs continuously rather than being satisfied once at application. Evidence must be kept at the service's principal office and made available for inspection by the regulator on request. QLD · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The Queensland education department, as the state regulatory authority, under the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. This is a NATIONAL scheme applied through Queensland's own application Act: the operating rules are the same across participating jurisdictions, and the regulator differs rather than the standard. Two approvals are needed and they are separate — a PROVIDER approval for the operator and a SERVICE approval for each service. QLD · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, with a figure written into the National Regulations: a current policy of insurance providing adequate cover for the education and care service against public liability, with a minimum cover of $10,000,000. For family day care there is a second layer — the approved provider must ensure that EACH family day care educator engaged by or registered with the service holds public liability cover to the same minimum. A provider is therefore responsible for cover held by people it does not employ. WA · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: The policy must be current and held as a condition of approval, so the obligation runs continuously rather than being satisfied once at application. Evidence must be kept at the service's principal office and made available for inspection by the regulator on request. WA · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The WA Department of Communities, as the state regulatory authority, under the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. This is a NATIONAL scheme applied through Western Australia's own application Act: the operating rules are the same across participating jurisdictions, and the regulator differs rather than the standard. Two approvals are needed and they are separate — a PROVIDER approval for the operator and a SERVICE approval for each service. WA · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, and the figure is set nationally. The National Law provides that a service approval is granted subject to a condition that the approved provider must hold the prescribed insurance in respect of the education and care service. Regulation 29 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations sets what prescribed means: a current policy of insurance providing adequate cover against public liability with a minimum cover of $10,000,000, or a policy or indemnity against public liability provided by a State or Territory government. Regulation 30 requires each family day care educator to hold that cover individually. South Australia mirrors the same figure in its own Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Regulations 2025 for residual early childhood services. SA · effective 2026-08-24 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: The cover must be held at all times as a condition of the service approval, and the approved provider must keep evidence of current prescribed insurance at the service premises. This is one of the few schemes where the certificate has to be physically available at the site rather than filed with the regulator. SA · effective 2026-08-24 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The Department for Education is the regulatory authority for South Australia under the Education and Care Services National Law (South Australia), applied by the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011. Services outside the National Law are regulated as residual early childhood services under Part 3 of the same Act. SA · effective 2026-08-24 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, with a figure written into the National Regulations: a current policy of insurance providing adequate cover for the education and care service against public liability, with a minimum cover of $10,000,000. For family day care there is a second layer — the approved provider must ensure that EACH family day care educator engaged by or registered with the service holds public liability cover to the same minimum. A provider is therefore responsible for cover held by people it does not employ. TAS · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: The policy must be current and held as a condition of approval, so the obligation runs continuously rather than being satisfied once at application. Evidence must be kept at the service's principal office and made available for inspection by the regulator on request. TAS · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The Tasmanian education and care regulator, under the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. This is a NATIONAL scheme applied through Tasmania's own application Act: the operating rules are the same across participating jurisdictions, and the regulator differs rather than the standard. Two approvals are needed and they are separate — a PROVIDER approval for the operator and a SERVICE approval for each service. TAS · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, with a figure written into the National Regulations: a current policy of insurance providing adequate cover for the education and care service against public liability, with a minimum cover of $10,000,000. For family day care there is a second layer — the approved provider must ensure that EACH family day care educator engaged by or registered with the service holds public liability cover to the same minimum. A provider is therefore responsible for cover held by people it does not employ. ACT · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: The policy must be current and held as a condition of approval, so the obligation runs continuously rather than being satisfied once at application. Evidence must be kept at the service's principal office and made available for inspection by the regulator on request. ACT · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The ACT Education Directorate, as the territory regulatory authority, under the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. This is a NATIONAL scheme applied through the Australian Capital Territory's own application Act: the operating rules are the same across participating jurisdictions, and the regulator differs rather than the standard. Two approvals are needed and they are separate — a PROVIDER approval for the operator and a SERVICE approval for each service. ACT · effective 2012-01-01 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes. Regulation 29 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations makes a service approval subject to a condition that the approved provider hold either a current policy providing adequate cover against public liability with a minimum cover of $10,000,000, or a policy or indemnity against public liability provided by a State or Territory government. Regulation 30 extends the same minimum to each family day care educator engaged by or registered with a family day care service — meaning the provider is responsible for cover held by people it does not employ. NT · effective 2026-08-25 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Regulation 180 requires the approved provider to keep evidence of the current prescribed insurance at the service premises, or at the principal office for a family day care service, and to make it available for inspection by the Regulatory Authority or an authorised officer. A family day care educator carries the same duty at the residence or venue. This is one of the few schemes where the certificate must be on site rather than filed with the regulator. NT · effective 2026-08-25 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The Chief Executive Officer is the Regulatory Authority for the Northern Territory. Section 4(1) of the Education and Care Services (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 applies the Education and Care Services National Law as a law of the Territory, and sections 6 and 20 carry the National Regulations across with it — so this is the national scheme operating as Territory law, not a separate Territory scheme. NT · effective 2026-08-25 ACECQA / Education and Care Services National Regulations · 2026-08-24

By state and territory

Licensing is a state matter, so the requirement behind this cover changes at the border. These pages track the licence question in each jurisdiction.

What contracts commonly ask for

Principals and head contractors set their own insurance requirements, and those are frequently higher than a licence condition. The requirement that binds is the higher of the two, and both have to be read from the actual document.

What this cover costs

This site publishes no cost benchmark for this cover. A benchmark needs a real sample of documents, and none is published until the sample is large enough to compute a median honestly. A benchmark from a handful of policies is a guess with a decimal point.

Sources