The rising costs of public liability insurance has had a tremendous impact on community groups, sporting organisations and small businesses throughout Western Australia. It is an extremely complex issue that requires everyone in the community to work together to try to keep the cost of insurance down. A range of strategies have been used by the Government to control the rising costs of insurance for community organisations.
The Volunteers (Protection from Liability) Act 2002 which protects volunteers from personal liability when performing community work;
The Fire and Emergency Services Legislation Amendment Act 2002 that extends protection from personal liability to volunteer emergency workers and their organisations;
The Civil Liability Act 2002 which will create a fairer and more predictable legislative environment;
The Civil Liability Amendment Bill 2003 which will help change social and legal attitudes towards the assumption of and liability for risk; and
The Insurance Commission of Western Australia (Amendment) Act 2002 which enables Government to provide insurance cover to eligible community organisations.
The Community Insurance Fund (CIF) has been established by the State Government to assist community organisatons based in Western Australia to obtain affordable insurance cover. Full details, including application and claim forms, of the program are available at www.icwa.wa.gov.au.
Please note: The Government has decided to close the Community Insurance Fund to new members from 30 June 2007 and will not offer renewal to existing members past 31 January 2008.
This decision is in consequence of the general insurance market now actively seeking business and offering "affordable" premium rates to Community Organisations.
The Community Insurance Fund delivered not-for-profit organisations with a valuable resource where coverage from the private insurance industry could not be reasonably achieved.
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