Insurance and Working With Children Checks for Australian Home Education Groups

None of the Australian pages we read says a small home education group must hold insurance by law, but many venues ask for it before you book. Ballina Shire Council's community venues, for one, ask hirers for a certificate showing at least $20 million of public liability cover. The Home Education Association (HEA) offers event organiser's cover to members. Screening works state by state. Three state governments' pages say a parent helping out in an activity their own child joins generally doesn't need a check, though there are exceptions, such as overnight camps. This page describes what those organisations say. It isn't advice, so check with an insurer or a lawyer before you decide anything for your group.

Do home education groups in Australia need insurance?

Picture a Wednesday in a scout hall on the edge of town. Seven families, a circle on the wooden floor, a verse for the morning and a song with actions for the littlest ones. Painting boards laid out for wet-on-wet, with jars of water and wide brushes. Later, a walk down to the creek to look for tadpoles for the nature table. Most weeks nothing goes wrong. Now and then a child slips on the wet step, or a jar of red paint lands on the hall's curtains.

Community group insurers describe a few kinds of cover for moments like that. Ansvar, an insurer that works with community organisations, lists:

• public liability, for claims from other people for injury or property damage caused by the group's volunteers or employees
• personal accident, for volunteers hurt while doing the group's work
• directors and officers liability, for committee members

None of the pages we read describes any of these as a legal requirement for a small, informal group. Whether your group needs any of them is a question for an insurer, with your real group described.

One detail that surprises many leaders: Local Community Insurance Services, which arranges cover for volunteer-run groups, says "a General Public & Products Liability Insurance policy will not cover personal injury to your volunteers because this is specific to cover members of the public." It sells volunteer personal accident cover separately. If a parent is hurt while running the painting table, ask your insurer which policy, if any, would respond.

The hall will probably ask first

For most groups the insurance question arrives with the booking form. Community Spaces manages Ballina Shire Council's venues in NSW. It asks hirers for a certificate of currency showing "a minimum of $20 million cover." The certificate has to name the activities and people covered, where the policy applies, and its start and end dates. Other councils set their own terms, so read the hire conditions for the hall you want.

Before you print the term's dates, ring the venue and ask what they need in writing. Our guide to where a co-op can meet has the other questions worth asking. If you meet in someone's home instead, ask the host's own insurer, in an email, whether a weekly group of several families is covered.

Cover through a home education association

Some state and national home education associations arrange cover for members' group events. The Home Education Association says members who volunteer to organise group home education events can apply for event organiser's cover, "Public Liability and Products Insurance cover to run your Homeschooling Activities," with a limit of $20,000,000. HEA lists these conditions:

• the organiser is a current HEA member
• the organiser holds a valid Working With Children Check
• the organiser attends the event
• a risk assessment goes in 2 to 3 weeks before the event

HEA says the cover can't be used at private residences, and that camps and retreats are no longer included. That's one association's product, described here as an example, not a recommendation. Your state's own association may offer something different, so ask them too.

Working With Children Checks: each state has its own

Every state and territory runs its own screening scheme, under its own name. Queensland calls it a blue card. The rules below come from the three states whose pages we read. If you live somewhere else, find your state's screening page and read its exemptions.

New South Wales. The Office of the Children's Guardian says "a parent or close relative can volunteer without a WWCC for... a team, program or activity in which their child usually participates." It lists three exceptions where a check is needed. They're "an overnight camp," "formal mentoring," and "intimate personal care of a child with a disability." It says the check is free for volunteers and lasts 5 years. Paid workers pay a fee.

Victoria. The Victorian Government says "parents are exempt and do not need a Check to volunteer in the same activity their child is participating, or normally participates in." Its example is a mother sewing costumes for her daughter's school play, who doesn't need a check even if her daughter misses some rehearsals.

Queensland. The Queensland Government says "you do not need a blue card if you volunteer in an activity your own child takes part in." A card is still needed for an overnight camp or excursion. It's also needed for close personal contact with another child, such as toileting or dressing, or if your own child isn't taking part. It adds that only parents count: "other relatives are not covered."

Notice what those exemptions are built around: your own child taking part. A grandmother who comes along to run handwork may be treated differently in Queensland than in NSW. A parent who takes the older children on an overnight camp at the end of the year needs a check in NSW and Queensland, according to their pages. A family friend with no child in the group is a different case again. And if you ever pay someone to teach a term of woodwork or a eurythmy class, that's paid work, with its own rules.

What one group asks of parents

The Home Education Network in Victoria (HEN) lists local groups on its site and says "parents retain the responsibility for the education and supervision of their own children." One group listed there puts it in capitals: "PARENTS/CAREGIVERS MUST REMAIN ON THE PREMISES WITH THEIR CHILDREN."

Picture two groups. In one, every parent stays and looks after their own children. In the other, two parents mind everyone while the rest go to the shops. The first sits much closer to the exemptions above. Our piece on drop-off or parents staying helps you choose how your mornings run. Then check your roles against your state's screening rules.

What to take to an insurer or lawyer

Before you call, write down:

• how many families and children, and their ages
• where you meet, how often, and what certificate the venue wants
• what the children actually do: painting, handwork with needles, whittling or festival candles
• whether parents stay with their own children
• whether anyone is paid, and whether you have a committee
• whether you're an informal group or an incorporated association

Then ask what each policy covers, what it leaves out, and whether it covers your volunteers as well as the public. Our state guides cover home education law in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, and our Australian homeschooling guide covers the rest. If you're looking for Waldorf-inspired families nearby to share the work with, the Waldorf Map lists groups and schools. For the same questions in other countries, see our UK and US guides, and for the wider picture, our co-ops and pods guide.

None of this is legal or insurance advice. The organisations quoted here describe their own products and rules. For a decision about your group, an insurer or a lawyer is the person to ask.