Not-for-profit groups will escape public liability exposure under new legislation proposed by the West Australian Government. The move is part of a five-point plan to ease the massive hikes in public liability. 

Labelled the Volunteers Protection Bill, it will protect community services which rely on volunteers who could otherwise be held personally liable.

Sounds good, but the proposed legislation will have little or no impact on the cost of public liability, says Daryl Cameron, ICA’s Group Manager for WA and NT. “It will protect the individual from being sued, but it will have very minimal impact on the organisation,” he said. “As public liability stands now, the individual is protected; but the ultimate loss will fall on the organisation.”

Other states are investigating options to make it possible for community events to be staged without having to pay huge public liability premiums. But like the WA scheme, they won’t solve the wider liability problem until they concentrate on the underlying causes.