NAVA Members’ Insurance Update
Changes are being made for arts workers and artists who work at heights.
Last month, NAVA was notified about more changes being made to the Premium Plus insurance policy we hold with QBE Insurance and brokered by Local Community Insurance Services (LCIS).
Three key changes for Members working at heights will increase premiums for some and exclude others from eligibility. The changes will apply from 1 October 2023, although some NAVA Members have already received notification directly from LCIS.
The changes include:
- Artists and arts workers who work at heights less than 2 metres* will be charged an additional premium of almost $100.
- Artists and arts workers who work at heights greater than 2 metres and less than 5 metres will be charged an additional premium over $600.
- Artists and arts workers who work at heights greater than 5 metres will no longer be eligible for this insurance package.
*2 metres indicates ‘fall height’, the height above the ground a person is standing: e.g. if working from a ladder, the rung the person is standing on.
Please note that these changes do not affect current policies.
NAVA is concerned these changes will directly impact the grassroots of the visual art and craft sector, where many emerging artists and curators install their own work. We are also concerned about the impacts on murals and public art works as artists are either priced out of insurance or no longer eligible. These changes also impact public galleries and local government programs where artists are required to have their own insurance.
We urgently need your help
NAVA has been solidly advocating to contest these changes because we know how important adequate and affordable insurance is for artists, arts workers and our sector.
Your Member Impact stories were instrumental in our advocacy to reverse past policy changes, so we are once again asking for your help before a critical meeting on Thursday 7 September 2023.
Please share how these changes will impact your work and practice as an independent artist, arts worker or organisation that requires artists and arts workers to have their own insurance.
Image credit
Image: David Cragg working on 'The Giving River' on Walbunja Yuin Country, Batemans Bay, collaborative mural with Kim Siew and Nico, commissioned by Chulo Creative, 2022. Photo by Trent Micallef.
ID: Photo of David Cragg standing on an orange scissor lift, working on a mural. David is wearing a hi-vis shirt, black pants and a helmet and is facing the mural. The mural features a white bird in flight against a red background with flowers in white and yellow and other various blue, green and yellow patterns.
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