Most personal trainers in Australia are asked for two covers: public liability, commonly at $20 million for training in a park, and professional indemnity for claims about their programs and coaching. Gyms, councils and AUSactive each set their own requirement. Here is who asks, what each cover is for, and the one clause worth reading before you buy.
General information only. This guide sets out what trainers are commonly asked to hold and what one published policy wording says. It doesn’t consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Check each requirement with whoever sets it, and read the wording for any cover you are considering.
Your own public liability, often professional indemnity too
Contractor and rent-a-space trainers are usually asked for a certificate of currency before their first session. The gym’s own policy is written to protect the gym, not you.
$20 million public liability, sometimes PI
Hornsby Council (NSW) asks for $20 million with the council noted on the policy. City of Casey (VIC) asks for $20 million public liability and $5 million professional indemnity before it issues a permit.
Both public liability and professional indemnity
Registered professionals must hold appropriate professional indemnity and public liability insurance covering the work they do.
Whatever their contract says
Workplace wellness programs and schools commonly name a limit, and ask to be noted on your policy as an interested party.
Councils set their own rules, and they change. Read your council’s current permit conditions before you book a park, and keep a certificate of currency on your phone: it is the one-page proof the gym, the council or a client will ask to see.
Written for injury to people, or damage to their property, caused by your business. A client trips over a kettlebell you left on the path. A walker is hit by a medicine ball at your park session. A mirror cracks at a client’s home.
Written for claims about your professional advice and service. A client says the program you wrote ignored the knee injury on their screening form. Another blames your nutrition plan for a health problem. The claim is about what you advised, not about something falling over.
Most business public liability wordings exclude claims arising from professional services you charge for. Here is that exclusion in the Mitti Insurance Commercial Package, the business pack that prices personal trainers on our panel:
“if it arises from professional advice or service You provided or failed to provide, but this exclusion will not apply to: … ii. advice or services provided by You without charge”Mitti Insurance Commercial Package Policy (POL0001-0826), Section 4 exclusion (c), shortened
A personal trainer’s paid service is the coaching itself. A claim that blames the session or the program, rather than a trip hazard, may sit with this exclusion, which is the gap professional indemnity is built for. That is why gyms, AUSactive and councils like Casey ask for both. Fitness-industry policies commonly combine the two in one product; GymCover’s business pack provides the public liability and property side, not professional indemnity.
$525.80 a year
Public liability alone, $10 million or $20 million (the same price for both), for a Victorian sole-trader PT turning over $60,000, priced on our panel in November 2026. Including GST, stamp duty and the insurer’s fee, before our broker fee.
Your turnover, where you train, the gear you carry and the sections you add will change it. Running a studio? See insurance for personal training studios.
There is no single law requiring it, but in practice most trainers can’t work without it: gyms ask contractors for it, councils require it for training in parks, and AUSactive requires registered professionals to hold both public liability and professional indemnity.
Public liability is written for injury or property damage caused by your business, such as a client tripping over a kettlebell you left out. Professional indemnity is written for claims about your professional advice and services, such as a client saying the program you wrote caused an injury. Many public liability wordings exclude paid professional services, which is why trainers commonly hold both.
Usually whatever the gym, council or client asks for, and for training in public parks that is very often $20 million. Check the requirement in writing before you buy, because a certificate showing a lower limit will not be accepted.
Not at the moment. GymCover’s business pack provides the liability and property side: public liability, cover for your equipment and, if you run a studio, the premises and lost income. Professional indemnity for trainers is arranged separately.
For one Victorian sole-trader PT turning over $60,000, public liability alone was priced at $525.80 a year on our panel, the same for $10 million or $20 million. Your turnover, location, equipment and the sections you add will change it.
No. This page is general information about what personal trainers are commonly asked to hold and what one published wording says. It doesn’t consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Read the policy wording for any cover you are considering, and check each requirement with the gym, council or body that sets it.
Sources, checked November 2026
Choose public liability, pick the limit you were asked for, and see the price and the policy wording before you decide.