CompareAll Business InsuranceCompare Business InsuranceOverseas Visitor CoverAll LoansCompare Loans
If you employ workers in Queensland, you must have workers compensation insurance, and WorkCover Queensland is the only insurer that can sell it to you, apart from the large employers licensed to self-insure. There's no wage threshold: you must apply within 5 business days of starting to employ any worker. WorkCover Queensland's target average premium rate for 2026-27 is $1.343 per $100 of wages, unchanged for a second year.
Because there is only one insurer, there's no price to shop around for. What you can control is getting your industry classification and wage estimate right, understanding how your claims history feeds into the premium, and knowing that owners aren't covered by the standard policy. WorkCover Queensland does, unusually, sell an optional policy for sole traders, partners and directors. This page explains each of those.
By Better Rate Mate Editorial Team · Last reviewed
| Queensland | |
|---|---|
| Insurer | WorkCover Queensland (the only insurer), or a licensed self-insurer |
| Regulator | Workers' Compensation Regulator (Office of Industrial Relations) |
| Can you choose your insurer? | No. WorkCover must not issue more than one policy for each employer |
| Who must insure | Every employer of workers in Queensland; no wage threshold |
| Deadline | Apply within 5 business days of starting to employ a worker |
| How premiums are set | Wages, your industry rate (WIC) and, after 18 months, your claims experience |
| Average premium rate | $1.343 per $100 of wages target for 2026-27 (unchanged from 2025-26) |
| Owners | Sole traders, partners, directors and trustees aren't covered by the standard accident insurance |
| Optional cover for owners | Workplace Personal Injury Insurance; minimum premium $1,650 a year including GST and stamp duty |
| Penalty for not insuring | Up to 500 penalty units, plus the unpaid premium and a penalty equal to 100% of it |
| Law | Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 |
Queensland is one of the few places in Australia with a single workers compensation insurer. WorkCover Queensland provides accident insurance to every employer that isn't licensed to self-insure, and the Act says it must not issue more than one policy for each employer. Large businesses can apply to the Workers' Compensation Regulator for a self-insurance licence, but that isn't a realistic route for a small business.
That is why there is nothing to compare on price for Queensland workers compensation, and why WorkCover Queensland ranks for its own name. Better Rate Mate isn't WorkCover and can't sell you a policy; you apply directly with WorkCover Queensland. Where comparing does help is with the covers workers comp doesn't include, such as public liability and cover for yourself as the owner.
WorkCover Queensland's rule is simple: if you employ workers in Queensland, you must have workers compensation insurance. There's no small-wages exemption. The Act gives you 5 business days after you start to employ any worker to apply.
Working out who is a worker follows four tests, applied in order: whether there is a contract for work, whether a specific exclusion applies, whether a specific inclusion applies, and whether there is a contract of service. WorkCover's guidance also lists anyone who is an employee for PAYG withholding. Contractors can fall on either side, so check the tests for anyone you engage regularly.
WorkCover Queensland uses three factors: your wages, your industry rate (based on your Workers' Compensation Industry Classification, or WIC) and your claims experience. How they combine depends on how long you've been insured and how large you are.
For 2026-27 WorkCover Queensland has held its target average premium rate at $1.343 per $100 of wages for the second year in a row. As an illustration of the method only, a business at exactly that average would pay about $1,343 for every $100,000 of wages. Your own industry rate can be much higher or lower.
| Your situation | How the premium is worked out |
|---|---|
| Insured for less than 18 months | (Estimated wages ÷ $100) × industry rate |
| Insured 18 months or more, wages of $1.5 million or less | Simplified model: a policy rating from 1 to 5 sets your premium between 80% and 120% of the industry rate |
| Insured 18 months or more, wages over $1.5 million | Experience-based rating (EBR), which weighs your own claims costs more heavily |
WorkCover Queensland says directors, partners, sole traders and trustees aren't covered by its accident insurance, and a director isn't a worker of their own company for this purpose. So the standard policy protects your staff, not you.
Queensland is the only scheme that sells an alternative. Workplace Personal Injury Insurance is optional cover from WorkCover Queensland for contractors, self-employed people, directors, partners and trustees, with a minimum premium of $1,650 a year including GST and stamp duty. It covers work-related injury; for illness and injury outside work, compare personal accident and income protection options.
You apply directly with WorkCover Queensland, online through its Apply for a policy service or by phone; it says the application takes around 5 to 15 minutes. Have your ABN, a clear description of what your business does (which sets your WIC), and an estimate of wages for the year ready. At the end of each policy period you declare your actual wages and the premium is adjusted.
Employing workers without a policy is an offence under section 51 of the Act, with a maximum penalty of 500 penalty units. Under section 57, WorkCover Queensland can also recover the unpaid premium plus a penalty equal to 100% of it, which effectively doubles the premium, and recover compensation it paid to your injured worker plus a further 50% penalty.
Each state and territory runs its own scheme, and an employer registers where its workers are based. If you employ people in more than one state, check each scheme, or see the eight schemes side by side.
Yes. If you employ workers in Queensland you must have workers compensation insurance, with no wage threshold, and you must apply within 5 business days of starting to employ a worker.
No. WorkCover Queensland is the only insurer for employers that aren't licensed self-insurers, and it issues only one policy per employer.
It depends on your wages, your industry rate and, after 18 months, your claims experience. WorkCover Queensland's target average premium rate for 2026-27 is $1.343 per $100 of wages.
Not under the standard accident insurance: sole traders, partners, directors and trustees aren't covered. They can buy optional Workplace Personal Injury Insurance from WorkCover Queensland, with a minimum premium of $1,650 a year including GST and stamp duty.
It's an offence with a maximum penalty of 500 penalty units, and WorkCover Queensland can recover the unpaid premium plus a penalty equal to 100% of it, and any compensation it paid plus 50%.
No. We are an independent comparison site. For a policy, premium or claim, contact WorkCover Queensland directly.
Better Rate Mate is an independent comparison site. We are not a workers compensation insurer, agent or regulator, and this page is general information for employers, not advice. For a policy, a premium or a claim, contact the scheme or a licensed insurer directly. If you have been injured at work, your employer's insurer and the regulator listed above can explain your entitlements.
