Workers compensation insurance in Tasmania: a guide for employers

Who sells workers compensation insurance in Tasmania

Tasmania uses licensed private insurers. The WorkCover Tasmania Board decides who may write workers compensation, and when it licenses an insurer it must be satisfied the insurer will set premiums that reflect each employer's claims experience. You take out a policy with any licensed insurer, directly or through a broker. Large employers can apply to the Board for a permit to self-insure, which WorkSafe Tasmania says is usually for large businesses.

Who you must insure

Section 97 of the Act requires every employer that isn't a self-insurer to maintain a policy with a licensed insurer. WorkSafe Tasmania doesn't publish a small-wages exemption, so treat cover as needed from your first employee. Even a private household that employs a domestic worker needs cover once that worker reaches 48 hours of employment in total.

Contractors are generally outside the scheme: WorkSafe Tasmania's guide says that in most cases independent contractors aren't entitled to workers compensation. There is an exception for some work over $100 that falls outside the contractor's usual trade or business, which doesn't apply if the contractor holds their own personal accident insurance. Working directors aren't specifically deemed to be workers by the Act, but WorkSafe Tasmania notes the courts have generally found them to be workers, so discuss director cover with your insurer.

How premiums are set in Tasmania

Insurers set their own premiums, but the WorkCover Tasmania Board must publish suggested premium rates for industries each year (section 102B). For 2026/27, the actuarial report behind those rates gives a suggested average premium rate of 2.18% of wages, excluding GST, up from 2.06% for 2025/26. The rates are set at the ANZSIC 2006 industry level, and the report makes clear that insurers should do their own analysis to support the rates they charge.

Your premium therefore depends on your industry's suggested rate, the insurer's view of it, your wages and your own claims experience. As an illustration of the method only: at exactly the suggested average rate, every $100,000 of wages would attract about $2,180 of premium before GST. Your industry's rate and your claims history will move that, which is why it is worth asking more than one licensed insurer.

If an insurer won't cover you

Tasmania gives employers an unusual protection. Under section 103 of the Act, a licensed insurer can't refuse to issue or renew a workers compensation policy without the consent of the WorkCover Tasmania Board. A business with a poor claims record may pay more, but it can't simply be left without cover, and if you are told otherwise, contact WorkSafe Tasmania.

Sole traders and partners

Workers compensation insures employers for their workers. If you work for yourself as a sole trader or partner, you aren't your own employee, and the Australian Government's business.gov.au notes that workers compensation doesn't cover sole traders, who need their own accident and illness cover. WorkSafe Tasmania doesn't publish a way for sole traders to insure themselves under the scheme. See insurance for sole traders for the alternatives.

Penalties for not insuring

Failing to maintain a policy is an offence under section 97, with a fine of up to 500 penalty units. On top of the fine, the court is to order the employer to pay the premiums it avoided, going back as far as seven years before the conviction. That look-back is longer than in most other states.

Workers compensation in other states and territories

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 compare workers compensation insurance in every state.