Insurables — Australian business risk, sourced and dated

Statutory scheme · Victoria · VIC

WorkCover (Victoria)

The Victorian workers compensation scheme, administered by the state regulator through appointed agents.

Data as at · refreshed by scripts/seed-graph.mjs

What the scheme requires

  • Who must insure: An employer must register for WorkCover insurance if it employs any workers in Victoria — including a company that employs its own owner. A contracting company counted as a deemed worker of another business may not need its own registration. VIC · effective 2026-08-13 WorkSafe Victoria · 2026-08-13
  • Premium basis: Premium is based on rateable remuneration and industry classification, with claims history also affecting it above $200,000 of rateable remuneration. The annual WorkCover Premiums Order (No. 34, for 2026-27) sets the calculation methods and industry rates and is published by WorkSafe Victoria. VIC · effective 2026-07-01 WorkSafe Victoria · 2026-08-13
  • Certificate of currency process: Employers request a certificate of currency through WorkSafe Victoria's online request form, providing their WorkCover employer number and business postcode. The certificate verifies current WorkCover registration. VIC · effective 2026-08-13 WorkSafe Victoria · 2026-08-13
  • Small employer exemption: Registration is not required if the employer has no apprentices and does not pay, and is not liable to pay, more than $7,500 in remuneration in a financial year. Sole traders, partners and individual trustees employing no workers are also not required to register. VIC · effective 2026-08-13 WorkSafe Victoria · 2026-08-13

Who administers it

  • WorkSafe Victoria — Victoria’s work health and safety regulator and workers compensation scheme authority.

The cover this scheme deals with

  • Workers compensation insurance — Statutory cover for injury to workers, arranged through each state or territory scheme rather than on the open market.

What this scheme does not do

Scheme cover and a business’s own insurance answer different questions. A workers compensation scheme responds to injury and illness suffered by a business’s own workers; it does not cover injury to members of the public, damage the business causes to someone else’s property, or the business’s own assets.

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