All Crown land managers must have adequate insurance. To help eligible Crown land managers and their members manage Crown reserves, the Department provides insurance at no cost through the Treasury Managed Fund.
It covers:
- liability (including public and products liability, professional indemnity and directors and officers liability)
- property damage
- personal accident insurance for volunteer workers.
It does not cover:
- workers compensation – Crown land managers who have employees (either receiving payment and/or benefits instead of payment) need to get their own policy through iCare
- motor vehicles
- contractors or subcontractors.
Conditions and exclusions apply.
Cover depends on Crown land managers giving information when requested to support coverage, and adopting good risk-management practices to ensure you are managing risk proactively and have plans for responsible action.
View the Insurance summary table.
Eligibility
Crown land managers run by a statutory land manager are eligible for Treasury Managed Fund cover.
Those Crown land managers run by corporations (such as a company or incorporated association) are generally not eligible. However, with approval beforehand from the Department, cover may be granted when activities of the corporation are not commercial or profit-making and the corporation cannot afford to get its own insurance.
Council Crown land managers are not eligible for cover through the Treasury Managed Fund.
Crown land managers that are not eligible for cover through the Department must get adequate insurance cover for property, employees, volunteers and liability. This is at the Crown land manager’s own cost.
Liability insurance
Liability cover protects against claims resulting from injuries and damage to people and/or property and can include offsite activities related to the reserve. Cover includes public and products liability, professional indemnity, and directors and officers liability.
Crown land managers are liable for members of the public and their property while they are on the reserve or when the Crown land manager carries out reserve business offsite. For example, a member of the public could be injured at a Crown land manager fundraising event that is not on the reserve.
A liability claim can be considered if a member of the public is injured or has their property damaged because of the actions of a Crown land manager board member, administrator, volunteer or employee. Similarly, a claim can be considered if the injury or damage happens because a Crown land manager does not act.
All high-risk and commercial activities that are not directly related to the maintenance and management of the reserve are not eligible for Treasury Managed Fund insurance cover. Crown land managers that organise or host high-risk or commercial activities on the reserve must get public liability insurance for not less than $10,000,000 coverage at their own cost.
Crown land managers that allow individuals or groups to use the reserve for high-risk or commercial activities must ensure that organisers of these activities hold their own public liability insurance as a condition of the use of the reserve and provide the necessary indemnification. The following are examples of high-risk and/or commercial activities:
- professional sporting
- adventure sports such as abseiling, rock climbing, bungy jumping
- equestrian activities – that is, racing, training, trots, rodeos, equestrian skill events, gymkhanas, cross-country rides
- greyhound racing and training
- motor racing and 4-wheel driving
- bicycle racing
- boat and watercraft racing activities
- aircraft activities – that is, powered and unpowered, gliding, parachuting
- amusement rides (other than playground equipment provided by the trust)
- show days
- restaurants and cafes
- cemeteries
- caravan parks
- any activity for making personal or business profit (except small-scale fundraising activities to benefit trusts).
The above list is not exhaustive. If you are unsure whether an activity is high-risk or commercial, contact the Department for a decision.
Casual users doing non-commercial activities on a reserve do not need to get their own liability insurance. The responsibility of insurance stays with the reserve. ‘Non-commercial activities’ means a member of the public (not an organisation or business) asking to host a one-off event, such as a birthday party, wedding, fundraising event or annual community meeting.
Casual users hiring a reserve facility for a commercial activity must get their own liability insurance. This includes a casual user doing an activity to make personal or business profit (excluding fundraising activities that benefit the Crown land manager).
The Crown land manager should use a venue hire agreement (DOCX, 29 KB) to license the venue to a casual user for both commercial and non-commercial activities.
When a Crown land manager leases or licenses a reserve or part of a reserve to third parties, the legal liability is transferred to the lessee or licensee (except for non-commercial venue hire activity mentioned above). The lessee or licensee must get liability insurance and they must provide a Certificate of Currency before being allowed to use the reserve.
- Contractors and subcontractors.
- Pollution liability to people, property or the environment because of the Crown land manager’s operation, other than sudden and accidental pollution that cannot be prevented by reasonable precautionary maintenance.
- Claims arising out of personal injury or death covered by any third-party policy issued under the NSW Motor Accidents Act 1998 or similar statutes in other jurisdictions.
- Wear, tear and certain hidden defects that fall into the category of ‘inherent vice’.
- Tenants and caretakers – can be covered in limited circumstances.
To be covered for legal liability, eligible Crown land managers must do the following. The Crown land manager must:
- take all reasonable steps following an accident or loss to protect the person and/or their property from any further injury or damage
- keep incident reports (including date, time and place of alleged incident), records of conversations with claimants or witnesses, and photographs of the areas or property
- report all losses, incidents or claims to the Insurance Team within 48 hours of becoming aware of the event
- send all correspondence from a claimant to the Insurance Team
- Do not comment on liability, the potential success of the claim, or how long it will take to process the claim
- not give a statement or interview to any person investigating, except at the request of people acting on behalf of the Department
- not admit liability verbally or in writing.
- However, Crown land manager members can apologise if any injury or incident happens. An apology is not an admission of liability at law and cannot be used as evidence of fault or responsibility. The apology should be an expression of sympathy or regret, but the Crown land manager must not offer compensation or redress.
- require contractors, subcontractors, vendors, associations and other parties to indemnify the NSW Government and the Crown land manager for all loss and damage for public liability, workers compensation and employer’s liability in any contract
If the value of the contract exceeds $10,000,000, you must report that contract to the Insurance Team as soon as possible and before signing the contract.
Property insurance
Property of an eligible Crown land manager is covered for loss, theft and/or damage. This includes:
- buildings and structures on the reserve
- contents (in the care, custody or control of the reserve)
- equipment
- fences and gates that are damaged or lost due to events including but not limited to floods, fires, earthquakes, other weather-related damages, theft and malicious damage.
The following conditions and exclusions apply to cover:
Exclusions
- Wear, tear and certain hidden defects that fall into the category of ‘inherent vice’.
- Property used, leased or licensed for commercial activities. These activities must be independently insured by the Crown land manager (for example, if a Crown land manager leases a building for the operation of a restaurant, the Crown land manager will need to have the building adequately insured).
- Property that does not belong to the Crown land manager but has been left or stored at the reserve.
- Unexplained inventory shortfall.
- Claims that result from any illegally based operations or activities.
- Pollution, other than sudden and accidental pollution.
Conditions
The Crown land manager must maintain an up to date Asset register (XLS, 50 KB). This register should include a declaration of values for reserve buildings and contents.
Personal accident coverage for volunteer workers
Cover for Crown land manager volunteers provides benefits for death or bodily injury for volunteer workers while actively doing voluntary work for the Crown land manager.
Crown land manager volunteers include board members and individuals who do voluntary work for the reserve and are not paid or otherwise compensated for that work.
Crown land manager volunteers are covered for personal injury suffered while carrying out Crown land manager duties whether on or offsite, including attending meetings and doing Crown land manager duties. The following exclusions apply:
- injury suffered while engaged in illegal activities
- caretakers of reserves receiving payment or other incentives for their work
- injury suffered while working under federal or state government employment schemes, such as Work for the Dole
- loss, theft or damage to a volunteer’s personal belongings while volunteering for a Crown land manager
- intentional self-injury or suicide
- sexually transmitted disease.
How to make a claim
The following process applies to claims for property damage, liability and personal injury for volunteer workers.
The Crown land manager must take the following steps as soon as it becomes aware of any claim or potential liability claim:
- Take all reasonable steps following personal injury or loss to protect people or property from further damage (the costs associated with these actions, if reasonable may be covered).
- In emergencies you may immediately organise temporary repairs to make the property safe. Crown land managers should use their discretion for this as the Crown land manager must prove its loss. Take photos of the area and damage before doing any emergency works.
- Theft, malicious damage or damage caused by suspicious circumstances should be reported immediately to the police. Ask for an incident number.
- Contact the Department's insurance team about your claim or potential liability claim.
Important
- Do not make any comment on liability in the incident report form or any supporting documents. Only report the facts as known.
- The insurer will assign an assessor to manage your claim for damage or loss over $20,000.