What Does CTP Insurance Cover? A State-by-State Guide
CTP pays for injuries, never for damage. Whether it also covers the driver who caused the crash depends on the state, and that is the detail most people get wrong.
CTP (compulsory third party) insurance covers injuries and deaths caused by a registered vehicle. It pays for the injured person’s treatment, rehabilitation, lost income, care and, in some cases, compensation, and it protects the owner and driver from being personally sued for those costs. It never covers damage to any vehicle or property.
Whether CTP also pays for the injuries of the driver who caused the crash depends entirely on the state. In New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory it does, to varying degrees. In Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia it generally does not. The rest of this guide explains both halves, with a state-by-state table.
What CTP insurance covers
The details differ between schemes, but CTP everywhere in Australia pays for some combination of:
- Treatment and care: medical, hospital and ambulance costs, rehabilitation, medication, and in more serious cases long-term care, aids and home modifications.
- Lost income: regular payments while you cannot work (as in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT) or compensation for past and future lost earnings as part of a settlement (as in Queensland’s fault-based scheme).
- Compensation: lump sums for pain and suffering or permanent impairment, where the scheme allows it.
- Death: funeral costs and support for dependants.
- Your legal liability: protection for the owner and driver against claims by the people the vehicle injures. Victoria’s TAC describes its charge as covering the owner and driver for any liability, including large court payouts.
CTP attaches to the vehicle, not to a person. Queensland’s regulator, for example, describes it as covering accidents caused by whoever is driving your registered vehicle, and WA’s policy wording covers injuries caused by any driver of the vehicle.
What CTP never covers
No CTP scheme in Australia pays for:
- repairs to your car, or to the car or property you hit
- property inside either vehicle
- theft, fire, storm, hail or flood damage
- towing and storage (Victoria’s TAC lists these as excluded)
- non-medical personal items such as clothes, phones or riding gear.
This is the gap that catches people out. A registered car is not an insured car. Damage needs a separate, optional policy: third party property damage, third party fire and theft or comprehensive.
Some injuries fall outside CTP too. In South Australia, bicycles, e-scooters and e-bikes are not motor vehicles, so an accident one of them causes is not covered by CTP, though a cyclist or rider hit by a car can claim against the car’s CTP insurer. Injuries at work are generally a workers compensation matter first: NSW and Victoria both direct work-related crashes to workers compensation, and the NT’s MAC Scheme excludes them.
Who CTP covers
The people your vehicle injures are always covered, provided the claim meets the scheme’s rules: other drivers, your passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. In NSW, SIRA says Green Slip cover extends to the driver as well as every third party involved.
The question that divides the states is the driver who caused the crash, and people hurt in crashes where nobody was at fault.
Does CTP cover the at-fault driver? It depends on your state
Queensland’s Motor Accident Insurance Commission groups the schemes neatly: Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia are fault-based, while New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory offer varying benefits to at-fault drivers.
| State | Scheme type | The at-fault driver’s own injuries | The most serious injuries |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | No-fault for a period | Up to 52 weeks of treatment, income support and care, unless charged with a serious driving offence | Lifetime care, funded through SIRA’s Fund Levy |
| VIC | No-fault (TAC) | Covered: you can claim even if the accident was your fault | Covered by the TAC |
| QLD | Fault-based | Not covered if totally at fault, or if no one was at fault | National Injury Insurance Scheme Queensland |
| SA | Fault-based | Not covered if entirely responsible; children under 16 are covered | Lifetime Support Scheme |
| WA | Fault-based | Not covered unless the injury is catastrophic | Catastrophic Injuries Support Scheme (no-fault) |
| TAS | No-fault benefits plus common law | Covered for no-fault benefits | Daily care with no monetary limit |
| ACT | Hybrid (MAI Scheme) | Up to 5 years of treatment, care and income benefits | Lifetime Care and Support Scheme |
| NT | No-fault (MAC Scheme) | Covered, subject to exclusions | Lifetime attendant care where needed |
Sources: the regulator for each state, checked 28 September 2026. See each state page for the detail.
What “no-fault” does and does not mean
No-fault does not mean unlimited. In NSW the at-fault driver’s benefits stop at 52 weeks, and only people who were not mostly at fault and have a more serious (non-threshold) injury can receive benefits beyond that or claim a lump sum. In the ACT, defined benefits generally stop at five years. Lump sums in no-fault schemes are usually tied to permanent impairment or to proving that someone else was negligent.
Single-vehicle crashes and animals
A crash where nobody else is at fault, such as running off the road or hitting a kangaroo, is where the fault-based states leave drivers most exposed. Queensland’s regulator gives a single-vehicle accident involving only your car as an example of a crash CTP does not cover. South Australia excludes accidents not caused by anyone’s fault (except for children under 16), and WA excludes non-catastrophic injuries where no other driver was negligent. In the no-fault schemes, the driver can claim.
When a claim can be refused or reduced
Even where you are covered, what you do matters:
- Partly at fault: in fault-based schemes, compensation is reduced by your share of the blame. WA’s examples include not wearing a seatbelt, driving at an unsafe speed and travelling with a driver you knew was under the influence. NSW lump sums can also be reduced for contributory negligence, such as not wearing a seatbelt.
- Serious offences: in NSW, a driver charged with or convicted of a serious driving offence connected to the crash may not be eligible for income or medical benefits.
- Breaching the policy: in South Australia, if you cause injury while drink or drug-driving, driving unlicensed, driving without the owner’s permission or leaving the scene, your insurer can recover the claim costs from you.
- Exclusions: the NT’s MAC Scheme excludes, among others, drivers of unregistered vehicles, motor sports and criminal activity, and reduces benefits in some cases involving alcohol and drugs, helmets or an invalid licence.
CTP, third party property and comprehensive: how they fit together
| CTP (compulsory) | Third party property damage | Comprehensive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injuries to other people | Yes | No | No |
| Your own injuries | Depends on the state | No | No |
| Damage to other people’s cars and property | No | Yes | Yes |
| Damage to your own car | No | No | Yes |
| Theft of your car | No | No (fire and theft cover adds it) | Yes |
| Needed to register the car | Yes | No | No |
Comprehensive and property policies do not include CTP, and CTP does not include them. Most drivers need CTP plus at least one damage policy. See car insurance types compared for the damage side.
Interstate crashes
Your CTP travels with your vehicle: the regulators in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT all say their policies cover injuries your vehicle causes to others interstate. Your own injuries, though, are generally assessed under the scheme where the crash happened. A Queensland driver at fault in a Victorian crash may be eligible for TAC benefits, while a Victorian at fault in a Queensland crash has no Queensland CTP claim. If you drive interstate often, check the scheme at your destination. Our CTP comparison by state sets them side by side.
Check the rules for your state
Every state page covers what the scheme pays, the exclusions and how to claim, with the regulator as the source:
- Green Slips in NSW
- The TAC charge in Victoria
- CTP in Queensland
- CTP in South Australia
- Motor Injury Insurance in WA
- MAIB cover in Tasmania
- MAI insurance in the ACT
- The MAC Scheme in the NT
If you have been injured, our guide to CTP claims by state lists the deadlines.
Frequently asked questions
Does CTP cover damage to other cars?
No. CTP covers injury and death only. Damage to another person's car or property is covered by third party property damage, third party fire and theft, or comprehensive insurance, none of which is compulsory.
Does CTP cover theft of my car?
No. CTP has nothing to do with the vehicle itself. Theft is covered by third party fire and theft or comprehensive car insurance.
Does CTP cover any driver of my car?
Yes. CTP attaches to the vehicle, not the person. It covers injuries caused to other people by anyone driving your registered vehicle. Whether the driver's own injuries are covered depends on the state and on who was at fault.
Does CTP cover passengers?
Yes. Passengers injured in a crash can claim in every state. In fault-based states (Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia) the claim is made against the CTP of the vehicle whose driver was at fault, which may be the car the passenger was travelling in.
What does CTP stand for?
Compulsory third party. It is compulsory because you cannot register a vehicle without it, and third party because its core job is to cover injuries you cause to other people.
Does CTP cover me if I hit a kangaroo?
It depends on the state. In a no-fault scheme such as Victoria's TAC or Tasmania's MAIB you can claim for your injuries. In Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, a crash where no one else was at fault is generally outside CTP, apart from catastrophic injuries covered by separate schemes.
