Understanding Domestic Worker Insurance

Imagine if your cleaner, gardener or babysitter were to fall and break their arm while in your home. You could be sued for medical costs and wage compensation, which could prove expensive. That’s where domestic workers insurance comes in.

Source: fizkes/shutterstock.com.

Imagine if your cleaner, gardener or babysitter were to fall and break their arm while in your home. You could be sued for medical costs and wage compensation, which could prove expensive. That’s where domestic workers insurance comes in.

Have you ever considered whether or not any staff you employ around the home are covered by your home and contents insurance policy? If someone comes in to clean your house, for example, or somebody comes and tends to your garden regularly, you could find yourself facing a potential compensation claim if they were to become injured while in your employ and on your property.

What is domestic workers insurance?

Domestic workers insurance, also known as domestic workers compensation insurance, is a type of insurance that exists to protect a homeowner in the event of a compensation claim from someone that is injured while working in or about the property. This could be a cleaner, a gardener, a nanny or someone performing similar domestic duties.

Does home insurance cover domestic workers?

Most home and contents policies include public liability insurance, but this only covers visitors to your house and not people you employ to work on your property. This means that if an employee is injured while working at your home, you will not automatically be covered, unless your insurance provider offers domestic workers cover as an optional extra, and you have taken it out. If your insurance provider does not offer domestic workers cover as an optional extra, then you will need to take out a separate policy.

What does domestic workers insurance cover?

According to domestic cleaning agency Absolute Domestics, domestic workers insurance covers such workers as:

babysitters
caretakers
cleaning staff
cooking staff
dog walkers
domestic workers
drivers
gardeners
handymen
health aides
house-sitters
housekeepers
in-home carers
laundry and ironing workers
maids
nannies
pool cleaners
private nurses
yard workers

These are some common examples of household workers, but others employed to do household chores may also be covered.

Is domestic workers insurance a legal requirement?

Domestic Workers Compensation is a requirement by law for some employers, but there are some exemptions. For instance, in NSW it is not required by anyone paying all staff less than $7,500 a year in total. So if you had a cleaner who came once a week for two hours and was paid $60, and a gardener who came for two hours a week that you also paid $60, you would still be paying under the threshold ($6240 a year).

Also, if the worker is a contractor or from an agency, they may have their own insurance protection – in which case you’ll be covered should anything happen to them on your property. Generally, when you’re the employer, you’re the one that’s required to have a workers compensation policy.

Where can you get domestic workers cover?

Depending on where you live, you may be able to purchase domestic workers cover as an optional add-on to your existing home insurance policy, or you may need to purchase it separately. At the time of writing, you can purchase domestic workers cover as an optional extra on your existing insurance in the ACT, Tasmania and Western Australia. In New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, there are designated insurance providers from whom insurance can be purchased as part of government schemes. In Queensland, the domestic workers cover scheme is solely government operated.

What are the rules about domestic workers insurance in your state?

Each state and territory has its own rules around employees and insurance. To know more, visit:

ACT: WorkSafe ACT
New South Wales: icare
Northern Territory: WorkSafe NT
Queensland: WorkSafe QLD
South Australia: Return To Work SA
Tasmania: WorkSafe Tasmania
Victoria: WorkSafe Victoria
Western Australia: WorkCover WA

Are your staff employees or contractors?

If you want to work out whether your domestic staff are officially employees or contractors, then the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has some guidance on the topic, but to make sure you’re doing the right thing, it may be advisable to consult an accountant or legal professional.

Compare Home Insurance

Cover image source: fizkes/Shutterstock.com

Thanks for visiting Canstar, Australia’s biggest financial comparison site*

This article was reviewed by our Editor-in-Chief Nina Rinella before it was updated, as part of our fact-checking process.

Alasdair Duncan

Senior Finance Journalist

Alasdair Duncan is a Senior Finance Journalist at Canstar, specialising in home loans, property and lifestyle topics. He has written more than 200 articles for Canstar and his work is widely referenced by other publishers and media outlets, including Yahoo Finance, The New Daily, The Motley Fool and Sky News. He has featured as a guest author for property website homely.com.au.

In his more than 15 years working in the media, Alasdair has written for a broad range of publications. Before joining Canstar, he was a News Editor at Pedestrian.TV, part of Australia’s leading youth media group. His work has also appeared on ABC News, Junkee, Rolling Stone, Kotaku, the Sydney Star Observer and The Brag. He has a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Journalism from the University of Queensland.

When he is not writing about finance for Canstar, Alasdair can probably be found at the beach with his two dogs or listening to podcasts about pop music. You can follow Alasdair on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In this article