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Questions and Answers: Midwife professional indemnity insurance

This page provides information about professional indemnity insurance for midwives.

PDF printable version of the Midwife professional indemnity insurance Q and As (PDF 76 KB)

If you have any difficulty in accessing the PDF, please contact pacdweb@health.gov.au for an alternate version to be sent to you.

Do I need professional indemnity insurance?

Q. Why do I need insurance?
A. Under the National Law, which governs the new National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, it will be a requirement for midwives to have appropriate professional indemnity insurance.

Q. Will all privately practising midwives need to have this insurance?
A. All privately practising midwives who wish to provide private midwifery services in NSW, QLD, Victoria, Tasmania, NT and the ACT will need appropriate professional indemnity insurance from 1 July 2010.

This is because the National Law will be in effect in those jurisdictions from 1 July 2010.

For other jurisdictions which have not yet passed the National Law (SA and WA), the pre-existing registration requirements will continue until such time as the National Law is passed in that jurisdiction.

Q. I'm employed as a midwife by a hospital. Do I need to buy insurance?
A. No. If you are employed in either the public or private sectors (which includes just about all midwives in Australia at present), you should already be covered by your employer's insurance arrangements. If you are not sure, check with your employer.

Q. I’m employed as a midwife by a hospital, but I also want to develop a private practice by taking on some private patients of my own. Do I need to buy insurance?
A. Yes. You will need to have your own professional indemnity insurance in place to cover the services you provide to your private patients. You will need to ensure that you continue to be covered by your employer for the work you do as an employee. If you are not sure, check with your employer.

Availability of insurance

Q. How can I purchase insurance?
A. The Government-supported policy is available from MIGA. See the MIGA website (www.miga.com.au).

If you want to purchase insurance from another insurer (see the Australian College of Midwives for information about other insurers), you can contact the insurer directly.

Cost of insurance

Q. How much does the MIGA insurance cost?
A. $7,500 pa. for a full time privately practising midwife.

Q. Is this cost reduced for midwives who work a less than full time caseload?
A. Yes. Contact MIGA for details.

Q. Is the cost of cover tax deductible?
A. You will need to seek advice about your own particular tax position, but generally, if the Australian Tax Office considers the cost of your cover to be a business expense, then it is likely to be treated as a legitimate deduction against income received for the provision of private midwifery services.

Coverage of the MIGA insurance policy

Q. What does the MIGA insurance policy actually cover?
A. The policy covers an eligible midwife for the full scope of her/his midwifery practice, except intrapartum services for planned home births. See www.miga.com.au for further details.

Am I eligible to purchase this insurance?

Q. What skills, experience and qualifications do I need?
A. The eligibility requirements are:

• Current general registration as a midwife in Australia by or under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory and with no restrictions on practice;
• Midwifery experience that constitutes the equivalent of 3 years full time post initial registration as a midwife;
• Current competence to provide pregnancy, labour, birth and post natal care to women and their infants;
• Successful completion of a professional practice review program approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia for midwives working across the continuum of midwifery care; or an undertaking that you will complete such a program by 31 October 2010;
• Agreement to undertake 20 additional hours per year of continuing professional development relating to the continuum of midwifery care:
• Successful completion, or a formal undertaking to the Board that you will complete within 18 months, of recognition as an eligible midwife:
  • an accredited and approved program of study determined by the Board to develop midwives’ knowledge and skills in prescribing; or
  • a program, recognised by the Board, that is substantially equivalent to such an approved program of study.

These requirements align with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s registration standard for eligible midwives’ at www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/index.php via http://www.ahpra.gov.au/index.php .

Homebirth

Q. Does the Government-supported insurance from MIGA cover homebirths?
A. No. It does not cover claims relating to the provision of intrapartum services for planned homebirths. However, it does cover claims relating to the provision of ante-natal and post-natal services, regardless of the planned location of the birth.

Q. Are homebirths illegal from 1 July 2010?
A. No.

Q. Will providing midwifery services in connection with a home birth be in breach of registration requirements from 1 July 2010?
A. No, because of the two year exemption in relation to the provision of intrapartum services for planned homebirths agreed under the National Accreditation and Registration Scheme.

Q. What's the two-year exemption all about?
A. Under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS), health practitioners must not practise unless appropriate professional indemnity insurance arrangements are in force in relation to their practice. However, there is a two year exemption from this requirement for midwives who provide intrapartum services for planned homebirths. This exemption will run from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2012.

Q. Do I need insurance to provide antenatal and postnatal care for women planning to birth at home?
A. Yes. You will need insurance because the exemption does not apply to antenatal and postnatal care for women who may be planning to birth at home.

Collaboration

Q: Are midwives who have this insurance cover required to work in collaborative arrangements with other health professionals?
A. Yes. Midwifery services must be provided as part of, and in accordance with, collaborative arrangements with a medical practitioner.

Like other professional indemnity policies of this nature, this insurance requires the practitioner to comply with the relevant College guidelines - in this case, the Australian College of Midwives' Guidelines.

These guidelines broadly provide for the circumstances in which a midwife should consult with, refer to and transfer patient care to another health practitioner.

If a midwife does not comply with the guidelines, and an incident happens which results in a claim, then the insurance policy may not respond to this claim.

For details of the Collaboration requirements see www.miga.com.au.

Q: I am interested in securing formal Collaborative Arrangements, but I don't think I can obtain an obstetrician's or a hospital's agreement to collaborate with me before 1 July 2010. Can I still be covered by the MIGA insurance?

A: Yes. If you are unable to obtain a Collaborative Arrangement for a particular woman, you will still be covered if you communicate a maternity care plan for that woman to a public hospital that provides obstetric services. The maternity care plan needs to cover arrangements for consultation, referral and transfer of the woman's care to the hospital, should these become necessary. You will need to keep comprehensive records of the information provided to the public hospital, including a record that the maternity care plan has been sent to, and acknowledged by, the hospital. (The acknowledgement can either be in writing from the hospital or it could be a record in your notes of a verbal acknowledgement). The full list of information to be provided to the public hospital will be set out in the insurance policy.

Claims after I have ceased private practice

Q. Will I be covered for claims relating to my private practice, even if they don’t come to light until after I have ceased private midwifery practice?
A. Yes. This is known as ‘Run-off Cover’ and is available to midwives insured by MIGA. If you cease private practice you can access Run-off Cover in one of two ways:

1) If you cease private practice, you will be eligible for the Commonwealth Run-off Cover Scheme (at no further cost) if you:

• are 65 years of age or more and have retired permanently from private practice as an Eligible Midwife; or
• have ceased practice as an Eligible Midwife because of permanent disability; or
• under 65 years of age and have not engaged in private practice as an Eligible Midwife at any time during the preceding period of 3 years; or
• have ceased practice (temporarily or permanently) as an Eligible Midwife because of maternity; or
• are deceased.

2) If you cease private practice but you are not yet eligible for the Commonwealth Run-off Cover Scheme, you can purchase standard Run-off Cover from MIGA. After three years of ceasing private practice, you will become eligible for the Commonwealth Run-off Cover Scheme.

Do you need more information?

See Questions and Answers on the home page of www.miga.com.au

Information Booklet (PDF 88 KB)

Application Form (PDF 436 KB)

Insurance Policy (PDF 336 KB)

Product Disclosure Statement/Financial Services Guide (PDF 386 KB)