Cover · Practitioners
Indemnity that follows the doctor, not the roster
Praxis practitioner indemnity protects the individual clinician — your registration, your reputation and your livelihood — across every place and mode you practise. Claims-made civil liability up to $20 million, the disciplinary and inquiry support that matters most, and a medico-legal team that answers the phone.
What the policy insures
Six insuring clauses, one policy
Like the established practitioner policies, Praxis builds cover from distinct insuring clauses so you can see exactly what responds — and to what limit — when something goes wrong. Read together, they cover the claim, the inquiry behind it, and the long tail after you stop.
Civil liability
Compensation and legal defence costs for a claim arising from the healthcare you provide — in private practice, as a contractor, by telehealth or as a supervisor. Written on a claims-made basis, so cover responds to claims first made and notified during your period of cover. The limit is your aggregate ceiling for the year; defence costs are generally met in addition, so a long-running matter doesn’t quietly erode the sum available to settle.
Disciplinary & inquiry costs
Your legal representation for AHPRA and Medical Board notifications, health-complaint bodies, coronial inquests, Medicare audits, hospital credentialing inquiries and criminal investigations connected to your practice — the matters that arrive without a dollar claim attached but still threaten your registration. This is the clause clinicians use most: most members never face a payout, but many face a notification.
Good Samaritan & unpaid care
Emergency assistance rendered in good faith, gratuitous advice, prescriptions and volunteering are covered automatically, whether or not you have declared private billings — so stopping at the roadside, helping at a community event or treating a colleague’s family is never a coverage question.
Public liability
Third-party injury or property damage where you practise as a contractor on premises you do not own, lease or control. Covers the gap left when the venue’s policy does not extend to you — the patient who trips at a clinic you visit, or the equipment you damage on another provider’s site.
Telehealth & cross-border care
Consultations by phone and video, asynchronous and store-and-forward advice, and second opinions for patients located in another Australian state are treated as core healthcare, not an exception. Provided the patient is in Australia and the work sits inside your declared scope, your retroactive date and civil-liability limit follow the consult wherever it happens.
Run-off cover (ROCS)
When you permanently stop private practice — retirement, parental leave that becomes permanent, disability or death — claims that surface later are met through the Commonwealth Run-off Cover Scheme, administered by Praxis at no ongoing premium. Because cover is claims-made, run-off is what keeps you protected for the long tail of incidents that have already happened but haven’t yet become claims.
Backed by people, not just a limit
Scope of cover
What’s covered, and what isn’t
Plain-English boundaries up front. Your certificate of cover, schedule and the product disclosure statement set the exact terms, sub-limits and exclusions.
Typically covered
- Civil claims by patients for the healthcare you provide
- Privacy and confidentiality breaches you are personally liable for
- Telehealth and second-opinion consultations across Australia
- Good Samaritan acts, prescriptions and unpaid care
- AHPRA, Medical Board & health-complaint notifications
- Coronial inquests and criminal-investigation defence costs
- Medicare audits and professional-services review
- Defamation you defend connected to your practice
- Mandatory-reporting complaint defence
- Run-off cover when you permanently stop practice (via ROCS)
Not covered
- Procedures outside your declared category of practice
- Work performed while unregistered or outside registration conditions
- Fines, civil penalties and punitive or exemplary damages
- Cyber loss and the clinic entity’s own liabilities (see clinic cover)
- Known claims or circumstances notified before cover began
- Wilful, dishonest, fraudulent or criminal conduct
- Trading and contractual disputes of your business
- Liability you assume under a contract that you would not otherwise have
Cyber and the clinic entity’s own liabilities sit in clinic & practice cover.
Exclusions aren’t fine-print traps — they mark the edges of what professional indemnity is for. They keep the cover focused on the consequences of clinical care, rather than business disputes, deliberate wrongdoing, or risks (like cyber) that belong in a purpose-built policy. If you’re ever unsure whether a piece of work sits inside your cover, ask before you do it — a two-minute call is cheaper than an uncovered claim.
Who this is for
Cover that fits each stage of a career
The exposure of a final-year registrar is nothing like that of a procedural surgeon or a GP winding down to two days a week. Praxis rates each stage on the work actually being done — so nobody subsidises a risk profile that isn’t theirs.
Students & prevocational
Medical students on placement and interns finding their feet need cover for the supervised care they give — and a place to ask a medico-legal question without it becoming a file. New-to-practice rating means the premium reflects a low-exposure year, not a full book.
Doctors in training
Registrars and residents practising under supervision, moonlighting, or doing locum shifts across hospitals. You declare the highest-risk work you actually do; sessions picked up mid-term are added pro-rata so you’re never paying for a roster you don’t work.
GPs & non-procedural specialists
The everyday backbone — general practice, physicians, psychiatry, dermatology. Rated on your billings band and FTE so part-time and portfolio careers aren’t charged as though they were full-time procedural lists.
Proceduralists & surgeons
Higher-category work carries a higher base, but also the support that matters: priority medico-legal advice, named advisers and defence teams used to operating-theatre and consent disputes. Declare your full procedural scope so nothing falls outside the policy.
International medical graduates
IMGs on provisional or limited registration, or working to conditions, get cover matched to their registration status. We help you understand how an Australian claims-made policy and your retroactive date interact with cover you may have held overseas.
Late-career & retiring
Winding down to part-time, taking on advisory or medico-legal report work, or stopping altogether. Reduced-exposure rating eases the run-down years, and government-backed run-off means retirement doesn’t mean buying expensive tail cover.
Eligibility & specialties
Rated on the work you actually do
In Australia, a practitioner’s premium is built around a category of practice — a risk band reflecting their specialty and the procedures they perform. Praxis uses eight categories of practice; you declare the highest-risk work you undertake, and cover follows that declaration.
| Category | Specialties | Indicative base premium |
|---|---|---|
| Category 1 — Non-procedural GP & physicians | General practice (non-procedural), general medicine, dermatology, psychiatry | $3,600 |
| Category 2 — Procedural GP & low-risk specialties | GP with minor procedures, skin cancer medicine, pathology, radiology (diagnostic) | $7,200 |
| Category 3 — Acute & perioperative | Emergency medicine, anaesthetics, intensive care | $13,500 |
| Category 4 — General & ophthalmic surgery | General surgery, ophthalmology, ENT, urology, gastroenterology (interventional) | $24,000 |
| Category 5 — Orthopaedic & cardiothoracic | Orthopaedic surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery | $42,000 |
| Category 6 — Obstetrics & gynaecology | Obstetrics & gynaecology, maternal-fetal medicine | $95,000 |
| Category 7 — Neurosurgery & spinal | Neurosurgery, complex spinal surgery | $124,000 |
| Category 8 — Cosmetic & plastic surgery | Cosmetic surgery, plastic & reconstructive surgery | $108,000 |
Base figures are indicative metro, full-time, clean-history starting points at a $20m limit — your premium is confirmed on application. Procedures performed outside your declared category are not indemnified, so declare your full scope of practice.
Why the date the claim arrives matters more than the date you treated
Medical indemnity in Australia is written on a claims-made basis. A policy responds to claims that are first made against you and notified while that policy is in force — not to the policy you held when you treated the patient. That single fact drives almost every important decision you make about cover.
Your retroactive date is the bookend on the other side: the earliest incident date the policy will reach back to. Cover sits between your retroactive date and the end of your current period — so the goal is an unbroken chain, with each renewal continuing the one before it.
The three things that keep you whole
- Continuous cover
Don’t let a policy lapse between insurers. A gap can leave incidents from that window uncovered, because no claims-made policy was in force when the claim eventually arrived.
- Preserve your retroactive date
When you switch to Praxis, we match or preserve your existing retroactive date so your past practice stays covered. Resetting it to today would orphan years of treatment.
- Notify circumstances early
If something might become a claim, notify it now. A circumstance notified during your current period is captured by that period — even if the claim itself surfaces years later.
When you eventually stop practising, government-backed run-off cover (ROCS)continues to answer for that long tail at no ongoing premium — the reason claims-made cover doesn’t leave you exposed in retirement.
A letter, a notification, a coroner’s request — here’s what to do
The first few hours shape everything that follows. This is the order we’ll walk you through the moment you call — and the order to follow even before you do.
- 01
Don’t reply yet — call us first
Before you respond to a patient, a regulator, a lawyer’s letter or an AHPRA notification, call the 24/7 advice line. An early, unconsidered reply is the single most common way a manageable matter becomes a serious one.
- 02
Preserve the record
Don’t alter, add to or ‘tidy’ the clinical record — make a separate, dated file note of your recollection instead. Keep the original notes, correspondence and any relevant images exactly as they are.
- 03
Notify Praxis in writing
Lodge the claim or circumstance through the member portal. On a claims-made policy, prompt notification of a circumstance that might give rise to a claim is what locks in cover under your current period — even if the claim itself arrives years later.
- 04
We assign your team
A medico-legal adviser and, where needed, a Praxis Law solicitor take carriage. They draft responses, brief experts, prepare you for interviews or inquests, and deal with the other side — so you can keep practising.
The 24/7 advice line is the same number whether it’s a 2pm please-explain or a 2am coronial matter. You don’t pay a deductible to ask a question, and asking early is never held against you.
How your premium is built
From risk-rated base to the number you pay
Australian medical-indemnity premiums are assembled in layers. Praxis shows every layer so there are no surprises on the invoice.
Risk-rated base
Your category, billings band, FTE, state and chosen limit set a base premium.
+ ROCS support payment
A ~5% Commonwealth Run-off Cover Scheme support payment is added to your base.
+ GST
Goods & services tax of 10% applies, as it does to any general-insurance product.
+ State stamp duty
Your state or territory applies stamp duty on the GST-inclusive premium.
A worked example
What the layers look like for a real practitioner
Take a full-time, non-procedural GP in metro Victoria, billing in the $250k–$500k band, with a clean history and the risk-education program completed, on Praxis Plus at a $20m limit. Here’s how that premium assembles.
| Risk-rated base premium | $3,538 |
| + ROCS support payment (~5%) | $177 |
| + GST (10%) | $372 |
| + Stamp duty (VIC) | $409 |
| Estimated annual total | $4,495 |
| or by monthly direct debit | $390/mo |
Why this is only a starting point
Eligible practitioners may then have a Premium Support Scheme subsidy applied, reducing what they pay. See the full pricing breakdown →
Practitioner FAQ
The questions clinicians ask before they switch
Straight answers on mandatory cover, retroactive dates, telehealth and what happens when you change insurers or wind down.
Is medical indemnity insurance mandatory in Australia?+
Yes. Under the Medical Board of Australia’s registration standard, every registered medical practitioner must hold professional indemnity arrangements that cover all aspects of their practice. Practising without appropriate cover is itself a registration risk, separate from any claim.
What is a retroactive date, and why does it matter?+
Your retroactive date is the earliest date of incident your claims-made policy will respond to. Treatment given before that date generally isn’t covered, even if the claim is made while you’re insured. When you move insurers, keeping a continuous (or earlier) retroactive date is how you avoid leaving a gap behind you.
I’m changing insurers. Will I have a gap in cover?+
Not if it’s handled properly. We can match or preserve your existing retroactive date so the incidents from your past practice remain covered, and align the start of your Praxis cover with the end of your current policy. Tell us about any known claims or circumstances first — those stay with the insurer you notified them to.
Does my cover follow me to telehealth and interstate patients?+
Yes. Telehealth, second opinions and care for patients located in another Australian state sit inside your civil-liability cover, provided the patient is in Australia and the work is within your declared scope. You don’t need a separate telehealth product.
What happens to my cover if I take parental leave or work part-time?+
Reduced-exposure and new-to-practice rating mean your premium reflects the work you’re actually doing. If you stop entirely, government-backed run-off keeps you covered for the tail of past incidents without ongoing premium — so a career break doesn’t leave you exposed.
Are AHPRA notifications and coronial inquests really covered?+
Yes — that’s the disciplinary & inquiry costs clause, up to $2m. It funds your legal representation for AHPRA and Board notifications, health-complaint bodies, coronial inquests, Medicare audits and credentialing inquiries. These matters carry no dollar claim but can threaten your registration, which is why so many members value this clause most.
How is my premium actually calculated?+
From a risk-rated base set by your category of practice, billings band, FTE, state and chosen limit. We then add the ROCS support payment, GST and your state’s stamp duty, and subtract any Premium Support Scheme subsidy you’re eligible for. Every layer is shown on your quote — the figure is an estimate, confirmed on application.
What does ‘declare your scope of practice’ mean in practice?+
You tell us the highest-risk work you undertake, and cover follows that declaration. If you start performing a new procedure or take on higher-category work mid-year, let us know — work performed outside your declared category isn’t indemnified, so keeping your declaration current is what keeps you covered.
See your practitioner premium estimate
Tell us your category, billings and state, and watch the premium build layer by layer.