Public Liability Insurance (PLI)

From 1 July 2025, your Optometry Australia membership will automatically include public liability insurance (PLI) for eligible members—at no additional cost to you. This will be provided alongside your professional indemnity insurance (PII) through Avant, Australia’s largest medico-legal insurer.

Why is this important?

In recent years, businesses in the healthcare industry have increasingly required independent contractors or locums to hold PLI in addition to PII. Avant has responded by including PLI in its medical PII policies from 1 July 2025 onwards, and Optometry Australia has secured this additional coverage for the optometry PII policy provided for members.

While PII covers claims related to the delivery of healthcare (e.g. clinical errors), PLI covers third-party claims related to non-clinical incidents—such as physical accidents or property damage that occur in your work environment.

You may need your own PLI if you’re not directly employed by the organisation where you practise, particularly when working at a location not owned, leased, or controlled by you.

What does PLI cover?

Here are some common examples:

  • A patient trips over a chair in your consulting room
  • A visitor slips on a wet floor
  • You accidentally spill liquid on a patient’s personal electronic device

Who is eligible?

This cover applies only to members who:

  • Operate as independent contractors, and
  • Provide healthcare services from a third-party premises (not owned, leased or controlled by you)

Documentation

The updated PII policy document (which now includes PLI) is available here.

Optometry and general PLI FAQ are also available to explain this new member benefit.

You can request documentation to certify your cover (e.g. for employers) via our Optometry Advisor Help Desk

As always, we recommend you discuss insurance matters with a licensed financial   services advisor who can tailor advice for your specific circumstances.

Providing tailored insurance for over 6,000 members is no small task— we remain committed to providing quality insurance for you, our members.

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Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation Optometry Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.