NGO Short-Term Indemnity Scheme
Key information for OOHC and youth homelessness service providers seeking to access DCJ’s Short-Term Indemnity Scheme.
FAQs
- Is it mandatory for OOHC and youth homelessness providers to participate in the Scheme?
Participation in the Scheme is voluntary. It’s an internal decision for individual service providers to make, as to whether they apply to the Scheme and/or accept an offer of indemnity from DCJ.
Service providers should carefully review the Program Guidelines and the offer of indemnity (where issued) to determine if the cover offered is appropriate for their organisation.
- Is it mandatory for OOHC and youth homelessness providers to accept an offer of extension?
Accepting an offer of extension in the Scheme is voluntary. It’s an internal decision for individual service providers to make as to whether they accept an offer of extension of indemnity from DCJ.
- Why is there are a fee to access the Scheme?
DCJ is required to make an additional contribution to the TMF to cover the assessed State liability for the Scheme. DCJ will recoup this additional cost by charging a fee to service providers.
- Why is my organisation’s indemnity fee higher for the extension period?
The assessed State liability for the Scheme increases every year the Scheme is in operation. To cover the cost of providing cover under the Scheme for a third year, until 31 December 2024, DCJ is required to increase its additional contribution to the TMF (refer to question 3). DCJ will pass on this increased cost to service providers.
- Why are only OOHC and youth homelessness providers able to access the Scheme?
The Scheme has been established as a temporary measure in response to the withdrawal of commercial insurers from providing PSA cover for OOHC and youth homelessness services. PSA cover for other service types is still available from commercial insurers.
- What is ‘claims made and notified’ cover?
The Scheme is provided on a ‘claims made and notified’ basis.
This means the indemnity provides cover for PSA claims (relating to incidents which have occurred after 30 June 2017) that are made against the service provider and notified to icare during the indemnity period.
‘Claims made and notified’ cover is different from ‘occurrence’ based type cover which provides cover for claims relating to incidents that occur during the period of cover, regardless of when the claim is made.
- Are claims made under the National Redress Scheme covered?
Yes – providing the claim is within scope of the indemnity as outlined in Section 4.1 – Scope of the Indemnity of the Program Guidelines.
- Why does the Scheme only cover claims relating to incidents that have occurred since 30 June 2017?
The Scheme is a temporary measure only, aimed at ensuring current contracted service providers can continue delivering services until a sustainable and longer-term solution is identified. Cover for historical PSA claims is being considered as part of the work DCJ is doing to develop a potential longer-term solution.
Further information about this work is available here.