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Getting around Australia can be much easier with a car, but there are some insurance requirements you'll need to consider first. In Australia, you insure a car, not a person. This means that you just need to make sure that whatever car you're driving has insurance, rather than you holding it yourself. It depends on how you plan to drive:
You'll need to get at least what's called CTP insurance from an Australia car insurer. This covers you from third party damage e.g. injuring someone else in a car accident.
For just a few uses, the owner needs at least CTP insurance and you may need to be over 25. If you plan on borrowing a car regularly, the owner may need to list you on their insurance.
You'll need to get car insurance from the rental company. This will cover you for the incidents that happen in the rental car. Learn more about Car Rental Excess Insurance.
Every car needs CTP or else it's not allowed on the road in Australia. In addition to that, you can add any one of the following levels of insurance on top of the car's CTP:
When you get car insurance in Australia, you are buying insurance for a particular car, not a particular person. So if you don't own the car you're driving, you'll need to make sure the owner has a level of insurance you're comfortable with and that their policy will cover you. Same goes for any car your drive.
Not all international drivers will have the same needs. You might only be here for a few weeks and simply need to borrow someone else's car. Or you're here for a year and plan on buying your own. What follows is a breakdown of how you should approach car insurance based on the following situations:
If you're borrowing a friend's car, you'll need to make sure that:
If you're renting a car in Australia, it will come with its own insurance that will cover you for the full range of injuries and damages possible. But believe it or not, that might not be enough.
These policies usually come with absurd excesses, meaning if you have to claim, you will be forking out as much as $3,000 of your own cash out-of-pocket.
The answer here is car rental excess insurance. This is a special form of insurance that will reduce your excess to something a lot more manageable, like $300 or even $0 depending on the policy you choose.
Car rental excess insurance is usually optional and there are a few ways to get it:
If you're buying a car in Australia, your insurance obligations are no different than a typical Aussie's. To get your car onto the road, you need make sure that:
On top of that, you'll want to have one of the additional optional forms of insurance like third party property, third party fire and theft or comprehensive to protect other people's property and/or your own car.
As a visitor, there are two main reasons why comprehensive car insurance would be well worth the cost:
In order to take out a policy you will need to meet all the eligibility requirements. Generally, as long as you have a driver’s license or international equivalent equal to at least a provisional license (not a learner one) you will be able to take out a policy. However, you will need to be able to provide appropriate details which may include:
Most states will require you to switch over to a state license after a certain amount of time. This differs by state and by your residency situation. Here is how long you can drive in each state before your overseas license is no longer valid, even if it's still valid in your home country. At that point, you'll need to get a state-issued license.
| Australian permanent resident | New Zealand license holder | Everyone else | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 3 months after arriving in NSW or becoming an Australian permanent resident, whichever comes later | 3 months after taking up residence in NSW | 3 months after arriving in NSW |
| Victoria | 6 months after taking up residence in VIC or getting your permanent resident visa, whichever comes later | 3 months after taking up residence in VIC | No limit |
| Queensland | 3 months after taking up residence in QLD or getting your permanent resident visa, whichever comes later | 3 months after taking up residence in QLD | No limit |
| South Australia | 90 days after taking up residence in SA or getting your permanent resident visa, whichever comes later. | 90 days after taking up residence in SA | No limit |
| Western Australia | 3 months after arriving in WA | 3 months after taking up residence in WA | 3 months after arriving in WA |
| Australian Capital Territory | 3 months after taking up residence in ACT | 3 months after taking up residence in ACT | 3 months after taking up residence in ACT |
| Tasmania | 3 months after arriving in TAS | 3 months after taking up residence in TAS | No limit |
| Northern Territory | 3 months after taking up residence in NT | 3 months after taking up residence in NT | Within 3 months after taking up residence in NT |
Here are some tips to help keep you safe while you're exploring Australia:
Compare car insurance from Australian brands
Picture: GettyImages
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I am bringing my own vehicle to Australia from the UK using a CPD (Carnet de Passage) to temporarily import it (maximum 12 months).
I need to buy CTP but its really hard try find an easy answer. The AAA website says its possible but I can’t find a solution.
Please help…….Paul
Hi Paul,
Thanks for leaving a question on finder and welcome to Australia.
You can get CTP insurance on an import vehicle and compare your options by going here. Please note that laws about CTP vary from state to state so you may have to select the appropriate state you will be getting it from. It is also a good idea to check out this page about car insurance for visitors to Australia.
If you need anything else aside from this, please send me a message anytime.
Cheers,
Joel
Great article on insurance and safety for a foreigner buying and driving a car in Australia. Are there further articles regarding the rego and how to provide an Australian address when I am coming to Australia to tour around and have no permanent Australian address?
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your feedback. Currently, we do not have dedicated pages on these topics but these are really good points to work on. Thanks for bringing it up. I will forward your suggestion to our team. Please feel free to visit our website every now and then for updates.
Cheers,
Liezl