Insurables — Australian business risk, sourced and dated

Lawyers: insurance and scheme requirements

Legal advice and representation delivered by an admitted practitioner.

Data as at

Required by law or licence

  • Licence liability condition: Yes. The Uniform Law provides that the regulatory authority may grant or renew a practising certificate only if satisfied the applicant "has, or will have on or before the grant or renewal" the required professional indemnity insurance. New South Wales runs a single approved-insurer scheme rather than an open market: the approved policy is available from Lawcover. So a solicitor in private practice does not shop this cover the way other professions do. NSW · effective 2015-07-01 Law Society of New South Wales · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: At grant and at each annual renewal of the practising certificate. The regulatory authority must be satisfied the cover is in place on or before the grant or renewal takes effect, so it is a precondition rather than something produced afterwards on request. NSW · effective 2015-07-01 Law Society of New South Wales · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The Law Society of New South Wales, as the designated local regulatory authority under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW). The credential is an Australian practising certificate, granted and renewed annually. NSW · effective 2015-07-01 Law Society of New South Wales · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes. Under the Uniform Law an Australian legal practitioner must not engage in legal practice unless the practitioner holds or is covered by an approved insurance policy. Victoria runs a single approved-scheme insurer rather than an open market, as New South Wales does. VIC · effective 2015-07-01 Victoria Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: At grant and at renewal of the practising certificate. The certificate cannot issue without the cover in place. VIC · effective 2015-07-01 Victoria Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The legal profession regulator for the jurisdiction, under the Legal Profession Uniform Law, applied in Victoria by the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (Vic). Victoria and New South Wales share the Uniform Law, so the framework is the same in both. The credential is a local practising certificate, granted and renewed annually. VIC · effective 2015-07-01 Victoria Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, and the Act makes the consequence explicit rather than implied: section 60 lists as a ground for amending, suspending or cancelling a local practising certificate that "the certificate holder does not have, or no longer has, professional indemnity insurance that complies with this Act". Losing cover is losing the certificate. QLD · effective 2007-07-01 Queensland Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Compliance is required for grant and renewal, and the obligation is continuing — the cancellation ground bites at any point during the certificate, not only at renewal. QLD · effective 2007-07-01 Queensland Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The legal profession regulator for the jurisdiction, under the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld). The credential is a local practising certificate, granted and renewed annually. QLD · effective 2007-07-01 Queensland Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes. The Uniform Law provides that "An Australian legal practitioner must not engage in legal practice in a jurisdiction unless the practitioner holds or is covered by an approved insurance policy". Barristers may be covered by an approved Bar Association policy rather than the solicitors' scheme. WA · effective 2022-07-01 Western Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: A certificate of insurance. The prohibition is on practising rather than on applying, so the cover must be live throughout. WA · effective 2022-07-01 Western Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The legal profession regulator for the jurisdiction, under the Legal Profession Uniform Law, applied in Western Australia by the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2022 (WA). WA joined the Uniform Law scheme considerably later than NSW and Victoria. The credential is a local practising certificate, granted and renewed annually. WA · effective 2022-07-01 Western Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes — professional indemnity insurance operates under an approved scheme framework in the Act. The detailed current requirements sit in regulations that could not be retrieved, so the existence of the requirement is established here and its precise terms are not. SA · effective 1981-12-01 South Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: At grant and renewal of the practising certificate. SA · effective 1981-12-01 South Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The legal profession regulator for the jurisdiction, under the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 (SA). The credential is a local practising certificate, granted and renewed annually. SA · effective 1981-12-01 South Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, and Tasmania spells out the mechanism. Section 45 requires that the prescribed authority "must not grant or renew a local practising certificate unless... the lawyer will... be covered by professional indemnity insurance that complies with this Act", and must impose a condition on the certificate to that effect. Section 46 makes failing to comply with that condition an offence. TAS · effective 2007-12-01 Tasmania Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence evidence required: At grant and at renewal, with a seven-day notification duty if cover is going to lapse. The offence provision means a gap is not merely an administrative problem. TAS · effective 2007-12-01 Tasmania Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licensing body: The legal profession regulator for the jurisdiction, under the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Tas). The credential is a local practising certificate, granted and renewed annually. TAS · effective 2007-12-01 Tasmania Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, with a stated figure — one of the few jurisdictions to put the minimum in the Act itself. Section 312 requires an approved policy of professional indemnity insurance with minimum cover of $1.5 million for the duration of the practising certificate. ACT · effective 2006-07-01 Australian Capital Territory Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Maintained for the duration of the practising certificate, and required at grant and renewal. ACT · effective 2006-07-01 Australian Capital Territory Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: The legal profession regulator for the jurisdiction, under the Legal Profession Act 2006 (ACT). The credential is a local practising certificate, granted and renewed annually. ACT · effective 2006-07-01 Australian Capital Territory Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, as part of the Act's framework. The minimum amount sits in the Legal Profession Regulations rather than the Act and was not retrieved, so the requirement is established here and the figure is not. Australian-registered foreign lawyers face a separate duty: disclosure of what professional indemnity insurance they hold, before providing legal services. NT · effective 2006-07-01 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence evidence required: At grant and renewal; for foreign lawyers, by disclosure before services are provided. NT · effective 2006-07-01 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licensing body: The legal profession regulator for the jurisdiction, under the Legal Profession Act 2006 (NT). The credential is a local practising certificate, granted and renewed annually. NT · effective 2006-07-01 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25

Cover commonly held

Ordered by how central each cover is to this occupation. This is what businesses in the trade commonly hold and what contracts commonly ask for — it is not a statement that any of it is legally required, and it is not a recommendation.

  • Professional indemnity insurance — Cover for legal liability arising from professional advice or services, written on a claims-made basis.
  • Public liability insurance — Cover for legal liability to third parties for personal injury or property damage arising from business activities.
  • Workers compensation insurance — Statutory cover for injury to workers, arranged through each state or territory scheme rather than on the open market.
  • Cyber liability insurance — Cover for the costs of a data breach or cyber incident, including response, restoration and third-party liability.
  • Management liability insurance — Cover for company and director exposures such as employment practices, statutory liability and defence costs.
  • Business pack insurance — A packaged policy combining property, liability and interruption sections for small business.
  • Employment practices liability — Cover for claims by employees over matters such as unfair dismissal, discrimination and bullying allegations.
  • Tax audit insurance — Cover for the professional fees of responding to an audit or review by a revenue authority.

Statutory schemes that can apply

Checking what you hold

The document a principal, a landlord or a licensing team will ask for is a certificate of currency. The checker reads one and lists what it does and does not show.

Sources