The Australian Amusement Leisure & Recreation Association (AALARA) has warned that soaring public liability insurance costs are putting pressure on amusement and recreation operators, following the Insurance Council of Australia’s (ICA) call for reforms to civil liability laws.
In a statement released this week, AALARA said that insurance affordability and accessibility have become critical risks to business continuity in the leisure and attractions sector. The group said some operators are struggling to secure coverage, while others have been forced to reduce offerings, delay investments, or scale back operations to manage exposure.
The comment comes after the ICA released a white paper urging state and territory governments to review laws that it says are contributing to high insurance premiums. AALARA said the report acknowledges the limits of risk management in addressing insurer reluctance to underwrite high-risk industries.
“The report highlights risk management, mitigation actions and potential policy reforms that could improve affordability and accessibility of cover. However, it also acknowledges a hard truth and one that we are all too familiar with: in some sectors, including high-risk recreational industries like ours, risk management alone is unlikely to substantially reduce exposure to the level that reignites insurer appetite,” AALARA said.
The association added that the issue extends beyond amusement parks and attractions, threatening tourism, regional economies, and community-based recreation. It described the ICA’s report as a constructive step in reopening dialogue about reform, though “there are no immediate ‘wins’ on the horizon to meaningfully improve the situation for our sector.”
AALARA outlined several areas of focus to help operators navigate the current environment, including improving safety systems and audits, sharing risk-management practices across the industry, advocating for nationally consistent civil liability laws, and exploring collective risk-pooling models such as mutuals or discretionary funds.
The organisation said it will review the ICA’s civil liability paper in detail and brief its members on the report’s implications and possible advocacy pathways.
“We agree that, after nearly 25 years, civil liability laws must be addressed, to ensure public liability insurance remains sustainable, accessible, and continues to provide the security and confidence that businesses across our sector rely on,” AALARA said, adding that it continues to engage with insurers, regulators, and government agencies to represent the interests of leisure and recreation operators nationwide.
