Short answer
Yes. Under NSW law an owners corporation must hold public liability insurance covering death, injury or property damage happening in connection with the common property. The cover must be for not less than $10,000,000 for any single event. It protects the scheme against claims arising on common property, not incidents inside individual lots.
What it protects against
If someone is injured on the common property — a slip in the foyer, a fall on a shared stairway — public liability insurance responds to the resulting claim against the owners corporation. Without it, a single serious claim could fall back on owners collectively. The Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 makes this cover mandatory, so it is a standard part of every scheme’s insurance.
How much cover is required
The Act sets a floor of not less than $10,000,000 for each event for which a claim may be made. A scheme can choose to hold more, and many policies are written above the minimum, but it must never sit below it.
Where it stops
Public liability cover here is tied to the common property. It does not extend to incidents inside a lot, which are the owner’s responsibility, and it is separate from office-bearers’ liability insurance, which protects committee members over their decisions (see committee liability insurance).
Keeping the cover live
A self-managed scheme needs this policy to be in force continuously, not just arranged once. An automated system such as Straita tracks the public liability cover alongside the building policy and its renewal date, prompting the committee before it falls due — so the scheme is never unknowingly exposed and the committee simply confirms the cover.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — mandatory public liability cover of not less than $10,000,000 (s 164).
- NSW Government — Strata schemes (Fair Trading) — strata insurance requirements.