Insurables — Australian business risk, sourced and dated

Property managers: 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, and in the strongest possible terms. Section 22 of the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (NSW) provides that "it is a condition of every licence that the holder be insured under a policy of professional indemnity insurance". Every licence, not some. The minimum cover levels and policy terms are set by regulation and an information sheet published by NSW Fair Trading; those figures are not reproduced here because they were not verified against the primary document, and a wrong minimum is worse than no figure. NSW · effective 2003-09-01 NSW Fair Trading · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: At licence application and at renewal, as a certificate of currency in the licence holder's name or in their employer's name. Because the cover is a condition of the licence rather than a one-off application document, a lapse during the licence period is a compliance problem and not merely an administrative one. NSW · effective 2003-09-01 NSW Fair Trading · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: NSW Fair Trading, under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (NSW) — but NOT as a licence of its own. The functions of an on-site residential property manager sit inside the real estate agent licence: the work requires a real estate agent licence, or a licence restricted to on-site residential property management. Anyone searching for a separate "property manager licence" is looking for something that does not exist as a standalone category. NSW · effective 2003-09-01 NSW Fair Trading · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No professional indemnity requirement — none at all. A full-text reading of the authorised Act returned ZERO occurrences of "professional indemnity" or "public liability insurance". Victoria protects clients through the VICTORIAN PROPERTY FUND instead, a trust account holding interest received on agents' trust money, which compensates people when an estate agent, conveyancer or their representative has misused or misappropriated trust money or property. THE THING NOBODY EXPLAINS: Australia protects the clients of real estate agents in TWO fundamentally different ways, and which one you live under decides whether you need professional indemnity insurance at all. Some jurisdictions require the AGENT to carry PI. Others require no insurance whatsoever and instead run a STATUTORY FUND — financed by the interest earned on agents' trust accounts — that compensates clients directly when an agent misuses trust money. New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory take the insurance route. Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT take the fund route. Queensland sits between them. An agent moving state does not merely face a different limit; they face a different mechanism. VIC · effective 2026-08-24 Victoria Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None. There is no insurance requirement to evidence. VIC · effective 2026-08-24 Victoria Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: In VIC, property management is NOT a separate licence — Victoria folds it into the estate agent definition itself: an agent is a person who carries on the business of selling, buying, exchanging, letting or taking on lease of, and of COLLECTING RENTS FOR, real estate on behalf of another person. ACROSS AUSTRALIA: six of seven jurisdictions fold property management into the real estate agent licence; only South Australia and Tasmania name it separately, and even they do so under the same Act rather than a separate statute. Anyone hunting for a standalone "property manager licence" is usually looking for something that does not exist. VIC · effective 2026-08-24 Victoria Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Not in practice, though the Act leaves the door open. Section 54(2)(b) provides that "A condition may require a licensee to hold insurance of a kind and in an amount prescribed under a regulation" — an enabling power, not a requirement. A full-text reading of the Property Occupations Regulation 2014 found ZERO occurrences of "insurance", so nothing has been prescribed and no condition currently applies. Queensland therefore runs on its statutory CLAIM FUND, established under the Agents Financial Administration Act 2014 (Qld). Watch the regulation rather than the Act: a future amendment could switch this on without Parliament sitting. THE THING NOBODY EXPLAINS: Australia protects the clients of real estate agents in TWO fundamentally different ways, and which one you live under decides whether you need professional indemnity insurance at all. Some jurisdictions require the AGENT to carry PI. Others require no insurance whatsoever and instead run a STATUTORY FUND — financed by the interest earned on agents' trust accounts — that compensates clients directly when an agent misuses trust money. New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory take the insurance route. Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT take the fund route. Queensland sits between them. An agent moving state does not merely face a different limit; they face a different mechanism. QLD · effective 2026-08-24 Queensland Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None currently prescribed. QLD · effective 2026-08-24 Queensland Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: In QLD, property management is NOT a separate licence — a Queensland real estate agent licence authorises letting real property and collecting rents, so the function sits inside it. ACROSS AUSTRALIA: six of seven jurisdictions fold property management into the real estate agent licence; only South Australia and Tasmania name it separately, and even they do so under the same Act rather than a separate statute. Anyone hunting for a standalone "property manager licence" is usually looking for something that does not exist. QLD · effective 2026-08-24 Queensland Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No professional indemnity requirement for real estate agents. A full-text reading of the Act found no substantive PI obligation. Protection runs through the REAL ESTATE AND BUSINESS AGENTS FIDELITY GUARANTEE FUND, which reimburses people who suffer loss of trust money or trust property through the criminal or fraudulent actions of a licensed agent. AND NOTE A TRAP: Western Australia DOES require professional indemnity insurance — but of SETTLEMENT AGENTS, the conveyancers, under the separate Settlement Agents Act 1981 (WA), where a triennial certificate holder must at all times be insured under the Commissioner's Master Policy Agreement. Two property professions, one state, opposite answers. THE THING NOBODY EXPLAINS: Australia protects the clients of real estate agents in TWO fundamentally different ways, and which one you live under decides whether you need professional indemnity insurance at all. Some jurisdictions require the AGENT to carry PI. Others require no insurance whatsoever and instead run a STATUTORY FUND — financed by the interest earned on agents' trust accounts — that compensates clients directly when an agent misuses trust money. New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory take the insurance route. Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT take the fund route. Queensland sits between them. An agent moving state does not merely face a different limit; they face a different mechanism. WA · effective 2026-08-24 Western Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None for a real estate agent. A settlement agent must hold a current certificate of insurance under the Commissioner's Master Policy at all times. WA · effective 2026-08-24 Western Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: In WA, property management is NOT a separate licence — WA defines a "real estate transaction" to include the leasing and letting of land and expressly to include the collection of rents or other payments for use or occupation. The phrase "property manager" does not appear in the Act at all. ACROSS AUSTRALIA: six of seven jurisdictions fold property management into the real estate agent licence; only South Australia and Tasmania name it separately, and even they do so under the same Act rather than a separate statute. Anyone hunting for a standalone "property manager licence" is usually looking for something that does not exist. WA · effective 2026-08-24 Western Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: No professional indemnity requirement — the phrase does not appear anywhere in the Act. South Australia runs a statutory INDEMNITY FUND maintained by the Commissioner, comprising interest paid by banks on trust accounts and money recovered in relation to a fiduciary default. THE THING NOBODY EXPLAINS: Australia protects the clients of real estate agents in TWO fundamentally different ways, and which one you live under decides whether you need professional indemnity insurance at all. Some jurisdictions require the AGENT to carry PI. Others require no insurance whatsoever and instead run a STATUTORY FUND — financed by the interest earned on agents' trust accounts — that compensates clients directly when an agent misuses trust money. New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory take the insurance route. Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT take the fund route. Queensland sits between them. An agent moving state does not merely face a different limit; they face a different mechanism. SA · effective 2026-08-24 South Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None. SA · effective 2026-08-24 South Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: In SA, property management is a SEPARATE registration category, under the same Act — South Australia is the exception. The Land Agents Act 1994 defines a property manager as a person who, for or on behalf of an agent, grants leases, tenancy agreements or licence agreements in relation to land, or induces or attempts to induce a person to enter into them — and provides a dedicated registration pathway. ACROSS AUSTRALIA: six of seven jurisdictions fold property management into the real estate agent licence; only South Australia and Tasmania name it separately, and even they do so under the same Act rather than a separate statute. Anyone hunting for a standalone "property manager licence" is usually looking for something that does not exist. SA · effective 2026-08-24 South Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: YES — and Tasmania is one of only three jurisdictions that requires it. Section 131(2): a property agent "must maintain insurance cover that indemnifies the property agent against any liability that the property agent may incur in respect of any loss or damage suffered by other people occasioned by any act, default, omission, neglect or defalcation by the property agent in the course of his or her business". The penalty runs to 500 penalty units. Tasmania is BELT AND BRACES: it requires the insurance AND maintains a separate Property Agents Guarantee Fund, where Victoria, WA, SA and the ACT rely on the fund alone. THE THING NOBODY EXPLAINS: Australia protects the clients of real estate agents in TWO fundamentally different ways, and which one you live under decides whether you need professional indemnity insurance at all. Some jurisdictions require the AGENT to carry PI. Others require no insurance whatsoever and instead run a STATUTORY FUND — financed by the interest earned on agents' trust accounts — that compensates clients directly when an agent misuses trust money. New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory take the insurance route. Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT take the fund route. Queensland sits between them. An agent moving state does not merely face a different limit; they face a different mechanism. TAS · effective 2026-08-24 Tasmania Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence evidence required: Evidence on every renewal of the policy, in a form the Board specifies. And the consequence of a gap is automatic: section 132(1) provides that the licence "is to be taken to have been suspended during any period when the property agent does not have the insurance cover required". No decision, no notice — the same automatic-suspension mechanism Tasmania uses for conveyancers. TAS · effective 2026-08-24 Tasmania Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licensing body: In TAS, property management is a SEPARATE register category, under the same Act — Tasmania lists property managers in their own Part of the Register, distinct from real estate agents and general auctioneers — and the professional indemnity obligation in section 131 applies to them by name. ACROSS AUSTRALIA: six of seven jurisdictions fold property management into the real estate agent licence; only South Australia and Tasmania name it separately, and even they do so under the same Act rather than a separate statute. Anyone hunting for a standalone "property manager licence" is usually looking for something that does not exist. TAS · effective 2026-08-24 Tasmania Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance requirement — a full-text reading of the whole Act returned ZERO occurrences of the word "insurance". The ACT runs a CONSUMER COMPENSATION FUND kept and administered by the director-general, made up of interest paid on trust accounts. THE THING NOBODY EXPLAINS: Australia protects the clients of real estate agents in TWO fundamentally different ways, and which one you live under decides whether you need professional indemnity insurance at all. Some jurisdictions require the AGENT to carry PI. Others require no insurance whatsoever and instead run a STATUTORY FUND — financed by the interest earned on agents' trust accounts — that compensates clients directly when an agent misuses trust money. New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory take the insurance route. Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT take the fund route. Queensland sits between them. An agent moving state does not merely face a different limit; they face a different mechanism. ACT · effective 2026-08-24 Australian Capital Territory Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: None. ACT · effective 2026-08-24 Australian Capital Territory Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: In ACT, property management is NOT a separate licence — the ACT lists "managing property under a lease" as one of the real estate agent services. The phrase "property manager" does not appear anywhere in the Act. ACROSS AUSTRALIA: six of seven jurisdictions fold property management into the real estate agent licence; only South Australia and Tasmania name it separately, and even they do so under the same Act rather than a separate statute. Anyone hunting for a standalone "property manager licence" is usually looking for something that does not exist. ACT · effective 2026-08-24 Australian Capital Territory Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: YES. Section 108B(1) is blunt: "An agent must not carry on business as an agent unless the agent is insured under an approved indemnity insurance policy", with a maximum penalty of 500 penalty units for an individual and 2,500 for a body corporate. Like Tasmania, the Territory runs this ALONGSIDE its older Agents Licensing Fidelity Guarantee Fund rather than instead of it — section 108E expressly says the insurance Part does not derogate from the Fund. THE THING NOBODY EXPLAINS: Australia protects the clients of real estate agents in TWO fundamentally different ways, and which one you live under decides whether you need professional indemnity insurance at all. Some jurisdictions require the AGENT to carry PI. Others require no insurance whatsoever and instead run a STATUTORY FUND — financed by the interest earned on agents' trust accounts — that compensates clients directly when an agent misuses trust money. New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory take the insurance route. Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT take the fund route. Queensland sits between them. An agent moving state does not merely face a different limit; they face a different mechanism. NT · effective 2026-08-24 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence evidence required: The policy must be one the Board has approved — not merely any professional indemnity policy the agent can buy. An exemption is available by regulation. NT · effective 2026-08-24 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licensing body: In NT, property management is NOT a separate licence — the NT definition of a real estate agent covers leasing, letting and other dealings with land, so the function is inside the agent licence. ACROSS AUSTRALIA: six of seven jurisdictions fold property management into the real estate agent licence; only South Australia and Tasmania name it separately, and even they do so under the same Act rather than a separate statute. Anyone hunting for a standalone "property manager licence" is usually looking for something that does not exist. NT · effective 2026-08-24 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25

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