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Whilst the short-term scheme was effective at mitigating the immediate risk to service delivery, it was not designed to be a longer-term solution and had a number of limitations, including:
A national scheme was explored but determined not be viable because:
icare is established as a service provider to State Government insurance and care schemes.
icare will manage and operate the SLIS on behalf of the NSW Self Insurance Corporation.
The purpose of the Special Liability Insurance Scheme is to address the specific market failure that has occurred in relation to physical and sexual abuse (PSA) cover for OOHC and youth accommodation services.
PSA insurance coverage for other services is still available in the commercial market.
No. OOHC and youth homelessness providers who have been able to access physical and sexual abuse cover in the commercial market will be eligible to apply to the Special Liability Insurance Scheme. Service providers can choose the cover that is appropriate for their organisation.
No. The Special Liability Insurance Scheme is not a compulsory scheme. Service providers have the option to obtain cover from the commercial insurance market if they are able to do so.
If your organisation requires physical and sexual abuse insurance coverage for other services you deliver on behalf of DCJ or other government agencies, you will need to obtain cover for these services from the commercial insurance market.
Many service providers do not have adequate cover for historical physical and sexual abuse risks.
Retro-active cover will provide cover for claims made during the policy period for incidents that have already occurred.
2007 aligns with when the number of NGO OOHC placements started to increase, and balances service provider and government risks, and scheme costs.
If a service provider held occurrence-based cover for the period during which the incident occurred, the previous insurance policy should respond to the claim.
In the event a service provider has an uninsured historical claim made against their organisation and they are concerned about financial viability, they should notify DCJ.
Government review of the liabilities has strongly indicated that $10 million per claim and in the aggregate is both appropriate for the risks being insured and in line with reasonable limitations for a product of insurance.
The limit of cover will be indexed annually from date of policy inception to the date of settlement, based on published wage inflation indices.
The suitability of the limit of liability will be considered as part of the regular review of the scheme.
The purpose of the excess is to share the cost of claims with service providers and in turn reduce the cost of premiums.
The $10,000 excess was adopted for smaller providers in response to feedback from the sector that a higher excess may pose financial challenges. Excesses lower than this level have historically been uncommon in the commercial market.
A $50,000 excess has been adopted for larger providers in line with actuarial analysis of scheme costs.
A $50,000 excess for larger providers is at the lower to middle limit of excesses reported by service providers who have been able to maintain commercial physical and sexual abuse cover.
Yes – the cost of insurance scheme premiums will be higher than service provider short-term indemnity scheme fees. This is because the insurance scheme will offer much more comprehensive cover and increased protection for service providers including occurrence-based cover, retroactive cover from 30 June 2007, and a $10 million limit.
Service provider insurance premiums will be commensurate with the cost to government of providing cover.
Yes. Activities and services that a service provider delivers via a co-contribution arrangement with DCJ will be covered by the scheme providing they are listed in the service providers contract or service agreement with DCJ.
Yes. National Redress Scheme payments will be covered by the scheme, where otherwise covered by the terms and conditions of the Special Liability Insurance Scheme policy.
18 Feb 2025