Guide
How much does business insurance cost?
There’s no single price for business insurance. What you pay is the premium for each cover you choose, plus GST and your state’s stamp duty. Here’s what drives each part.
- Stamp duty for every state and territory
- No made-up averages
The short answer
Business insurance costs the sum of the premiums for the covers you choose, plus GST and state insurance duty. Insurers set each premium on the risk in your business, so a sole trader bookkeeper and a roofer with staff can pay very different amounts for the same covers. Comparing quotes for your own business is the only reliable way to know.
We don’t publish average premiums, because an average mixes very different businesses and wouldn’t tell you what you’d pay.
What drives the price of each cover
| Cover | Main price factors |
|---|---|
| Public liability | Occupation, limit, turnover, staff, claims history. |
| Professional indemnity | Profession, fee income, limit, client types, claims history. |
| Tools | Value of your tools, where they’re kept, claims history. |
| Commercial vehicle | Vehicle, use, drivers, where it’s parked, excess. |
| Business pack | Sums insured, location, security, sections chosen. |
| Cyber | Turnover, data held, security controls such as MFA and backups. |
| Workers compensation | Wages and your industry, under your state’s scheme. |
Costs across the market move premiums too. In May 2023 the Reserve Bank noted that prices for insurance had increased strongly, “reflecting higher insurance premiums due to increased claims arising from natural disasters”. The Insurance Council of Australia reports that insurers paid almost $20 billion in natural disaster claims in the five years after the 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires.
Stamp duty by state and territory
GST is added to business insurance premiums, then most states add insurance duty:
| State | Insurance duty on business insurance |
|---|---|
| NSW | 9%. Public and product liability is exempt for a small business with aggregated turnover under $2 million that declares it to the insurer. |
| Victoria | 7% from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, falling by 1% a year until abolished. |
| Queensland | 9% of the premium paid, including GST. |
| South Australia | 11% of the GST-inclusive premium. |
| Western Australia | 10% of the premium. |
| Tasmania | 10% of the premium, including GST and levies. |
| Northern Territory | 10% of the premium. |
| ACT | None. Insurance duty was abolished from 1 July 2016. |
What Australian businesses pay in total
APRA publishes the premium insurers write in each class of business every quarter. Adding the four quarters to 30 June 2026 gives the size of each market, and shows that liability premium fell slightly over the year while the number of businesses grew 3.1% (ABS).
| Class of insurance | Premium written, year to 30 June 2026 | Change on the year before |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial motor | A$5.12 billion | +3.6% |
| Public and product liability | A$3.83 billion | −2.6% |
| Employers liability (workers compensation written by private insurers) | A$3.72 billion | |
| Professional indemnity | A$2.35 billion | −0.4% |
| Directors and officers | A$0.80 billion | |
| Cyber | A$0.21 billion | +14.0% |
These are market totals, not prices. They do tell you where insurers compete hardest: public liability and professional indemnity are mature, softening markets, and cyber is small but growing fast, which is why insurers ask more questions before they quote it.
Part of every premium is tax. In its February 2026 submissions to the parliamentary inquiry into small business insurance, the Insurance Council of Australia said state taxes and levies add nine to 40 per cent to premiums, and that state governments collected $8.9 billion in insurance taxes in 2024-25. The stamp duty table above shows the rate that applies to you.
Ways to lower the cost without leaving gaps
How to see what your business would pay
Business insurance cost questions
What is the average cost of business insurance?
We don’t publish one. Premiums depend on your occupation, size, claims history and covers, so an average wouldn’t reflect what you’d pay.
Do I pay GST on business insurance?
Yes. GST is added to business insurance premiums, and most states then add insurance duty.
Which state has no stamp duty on insurance?
The ACT abolished insurance duty from 1 July 2016. Victoria is phasing it out on business insurance.
Is it cheaper to bundle covers?
A business pack combines several covers in one policy. Compare the pack with separate policies to see which suits you.
Why did my premium go up?
Common reasons include changes to your business, claims, the limit, insurer pricing and taxes. Ask your insurer or broker to explain the change, and compare at renewal.
Compare the covers
More guides
Sources
- business.gov.au: Types of business insurance
- Revenue NSW: Types of insurance (duty rates)
- Revenue NSW: Small business exemption
- State Revenue Office Victoria: Insurance policies, current rates
- Queensland Revenue Office: Insurance duty rates
- RevenueSA: Stamp duty on insurance, rates
- WA Government: Insurance duty
- State Revenue Office Tasmania: Rates of duty
- NT Government: Stamp duty examples and rates
- ACT Revenue Office: Tax reform
- Reserve Bank of Australia: Statement on Monetary Policy, May 2023 (Inflation)
- Insurance Council of Australia: Catastrophe Resilience Report 2023–24
- APRA: Quarterly general insurance performance statistics, June 2026
- ABS: Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, July 2022 to June 2026
- Insurance Council of Australia: Insurance Council calls for reforms to support small business resilience (February 2026)
Business insurance costs