Professional indemnity insurance

The PII required for registration of health professionals is designed to cover the risks arising from a health practitioner's provision of health care to a person.

Under the National Law, a registered health practitioner must not practise their profession unless they have appropriate PII arrangements in force.

The Board may require a registrant to provide evidence that they have appropriate PII arrangements in place. Read the PII registration standard.

Public hospitals often provide PII cover for their employees, however, it is the responsibility of the individual registrant to check that appropriate PII arrangements are in place.

No. The PII requirements do not apply to a person granted 'non-practising' registration.

Areas of practice which may carry higher risk and warrant additional cover might include obstetrics or prescribing, mixing and/or dispensing therapeutic goods. You need to think about your own practice and discuss it with your insurer or broker.

Run-off cover means insurance that protects a Chinese medicine practitioner who has ceased a particular practice or business against claims arising out of activities that occurred when he or she was conducting that practice or business.

It is possible for action to be taken against a Chinese medicine practitioner a considerable time after the incident took place. Therefore, it is important that cover continues into the future. This type of cover may be included in a PII policy or may need to be purchased separately.

Every year when a Chinese medicine practitioner renews registration, the practitioner will be required to make a declaration that they will not practise without appropriate PII arrangements being in place and has not practised without PII during the previous registration period.

Chinese medicine practitioners with private PII arrangements must retain written advice from an approved insurer or insurance broker that PII has been issued or that a premium has been paid and accepted. This will usually be in the form of a Certificate of Currency.

If a Chinese medicine practitioner is covered by an employer or union, he or she will need to keep any PII documentation automatically issued to them.

If a Chinese medicine practitioner does not receive PII documentation usually, he or she will only need to seek it if requested in writing to do so by the Board.

The Board is empowered to ensure that Chinese medicine practitioners only practise with PII arrangements in place. If a Chinese medicine practitioner is found to have practised without PII arrangements in place, the Board may consider appropriate disciplinary action.

The Board's registration standard addresses professional indemnity insurance. Chinese medicine practitioners should also be aware of the importance of public liability insurance to cover injuries to patients or clients or members of the public on their premises.

Yes. In Australia an approved insurer is any insurer authorised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to conduct new or renewal of insurance business in Australia. Your professional association will investigate and offer a suitable policy per your membership.