Insurance policies and procedures

The Bush Club has two insurance policies, a Public Liability policy and a Personal Accident policy.

Public Liability policy

This is in place to provide some financial protection to The Bush Club Inc, including its leaders, members, prospective members and guests who may find themselves facing legal action in relation to the duty of care when reasonably managing risks and notifying participants of the risks associated with a Bush Club activity.

Personal Accident policy

This is in place to insure members, prospective members and guests who suffer a loss during, or on the way to or from, a club activity. A claimant against the Personal Accident policy may seek compensation for a financial loss (eg certain medical and physiotherapy expenses, medical evacuation costs etc) and/or a physical loss ( eg loss of limbs, eyesight etc, or loss of life).

Members should be aware that initially claims for reimbursement should be made to Medicare (if appropriate), private health insurance (if cover is in place), and Compulsory Third Party Personal Injury Insurance, aka CTP Greenslip Insurance (if appropriate), before claiming against the club’s Personal Accident insurance policy.

If an incident or accident occurs on a Bush Club activity the procedure to follow is:

What the injured person must do

• notify the leader on the same day, ideally during the walk itself
• fill out the claim form, asking a witness to the accident to fill out the witness section (see Forms and downloads page on main menu or obtain it from the Insurance Officer - see below). Note that although witness statements needs to be entered on the claim forms the witness is not required to sign. Therefore the Club Incident Report is sufficient to attach to a claim form.
• send the completed claim form and copies of the receipts directly to the insurance broker within 90 days of the incident
• keep the originals of the receipts.
• notify the Insurance Officer when the claim is paid, or request assistance with an unpaid claim

What the leader must do

• report the incident to the Walks Recorder, either on the Walk Report form or email (for a minor incident) or on a separate Incident Report Form (see Forms and downloads page on main menu) for an incident requiring professional medical attention.

What the Walks Recorder must do

• notify the Insurance Officer and Walk Secretary of all minor or major incidents

What the Insurance Officer must do

• record all minor and major incidents on the incident register
• provide the injured person with information about what is claimable, and then, if there are claimable expenses, give the injured person a claim form and provide assistance in completing it if required
• report incidents to the Committee so that the Committee can consider how such incidents can be reduced in future

Click here for Ambulance FAQs (updated July 2020).

Please see the Contact Us page for the name and email address of the Club's Insurance Officer and Walks Recorder.

If you are interested in reading in detail our insurance policies, they are on the Bushwalking Australia website here: http://www.bushwalkingaustralia.org/insurance

Certificate of Currency

Click here to download the Certificate of Currency of the Public Liability, which leaders may be required to show if they are walking on private property.

Issues affecting Bush Club insurance

Walking in restricted areas

Walkers and leaders are reminded of The Bush Club’s position in relation to access.

• The club respects the rights of the owners of private properties and it respects the decisions made by professional managers of public lands. This position is consistent with the values of the club and the Bushwalkers’ Code of the Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs (of which we are a member club).
  
• Walkers and leaders participating in Bush Club activities should not enter a park if it closed and should not walk on tracks that are closed, nor should they enter land where access is permanently restricted, such as water catchment areas and Department of Defence and other Commonwealth lands.
  
• Any fines and penalties incurred are the responsibility of the individual walker.

The cover provided by most insurance policies can be reduced or nullified by unlawful activities. The club has received advice from Confederation that if an act is illegal, any amount payable under the club’s Public Liability policy would be substantially reduced, possibly to zero, and in relation to the club’s Personal Accident policy, nothing would be payable.

Up-to-date NPWS track closures can be found at NPWS Fire and track closures. This page has links to the RFS page as well.