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CTP insurance explained, state by state
Compulsory third party (CTP) insurance pays for injuries caused in road crashes, and every state and territory requires it. It does not pay to repair cars or replace belongings, and what it does pay for, and to whom, depends on the state where the crash happened.
General information, not legal advice. Each scheme is set by its own state law. Check the details with the scheme linked in the table below.
How you pay for it
You rarely buy CTP on its own. In Queensland its cost is included in vehicle registration fees, and in NSW a CTP policy, the Green Slip, is required before a vehicle can be registered. Victorian motorists pay a “TAC charge” with their registration, and the Northern Territory and Tasmanian schemes are funded through registration charges and premiums too.
Behind that sits one of two arrangements. In some states, licensed private insurers carry the risk and manage claims: Queensland is one, and its regulator, MAIC, supervises them. Victoria’s scheme is different: the TAC is owned by the Victorian Government.
The two kinds of scheme
Fault-based
QLD · SA · WA
You claim against the CTP insurer of the vehicle at fault, and you generally need to show that someone else caused the crash, wholly or partly.
No-fault, benefits vary
NSW · VIC · TAS · ACT · NT
Some benefits are available whoever was at fault, though what an at-fault driver receives differs from scheme to scheme. At-fault drivers, state by state.
Queensland’s regulator adds that in every state and territory, benefits may be refused to people injured through their own serious wrongdoing, such as criminal activity or intoxication, and reduced if something a person did or didn’t do substantially contributed to their injuries.
What each scheme can pay for
The headings are similar everywhere: treatment, lost income, and in some cases a lump sum. The shape of each is not. These are the schemes’ own descriptions, shortened.
| State | What the scheme describes |
|---|---|
| NSW | Treatment and care, income support payments, and a lump sum payment, depending on the claim. Income support is a percentage of pre-crash earnings: up to 95% for the first 13 weeks, then up to 85%. |
| VIC | Medical treatment including ambulance transport, services while you recover, repair or replacement of damaged glasses or dentures, income support, return-to-work support, and a lump sum if you are eligible for compensation. |
| QLD | Insurer-funded treatment and rehabilitation, past and future loss of income, general damages for pain and suffering where an injury is serious enough, and legal costs and disbursements. |
| WA | Cover for injuries caused to others in a crash anywhere in Australia, through motor injury insurance on WA-registered vehicles. |
| SA | Reasonable and necessary treatment, care and support for injuries caused by the crash, such as physiotherapy, psychology, hospital treatment, travel to appointments and paid care; compensation may follow when the claim settles. |
| TAS | A range of treatment and support services, regardless of fault, and a temporary loss of income allowance while you recover enough to return to work. Common law compensation can also be sought where another driver was at fault. |
| ACT | Treatment and care for up to five years, income replacement for up to five years, and a quality of life payment if an injury is significant and permanent. |
| NT | Periodic benefits for medical treatment and other supports for as long as necessary and reasonable, rather than one lump sum for injuries, plus lump sum death and permanent impairment benefits. |
Percentages and periods are as the scheme pages state them in October 2026. They can change, and they depend on the date of the crash.
What CTP doesn’t cover
- Damage to vehicles and property. Queensland’s regulator says plainly that CTP does not cover property damage; that is a matter for other, non-compulsory insurance. The TAC lists cars, motorbikes, bicycles, towing and storage among the things it doesn’t pay for.
- Personal belongings. The TAC excludes non-medical items such as riding gear, clothes and phones.
- Your own injuries, in a fault-based state, where you were totally at fault, and in Queensland, injuries in a crash where no one was at fault, such as a single-vehicle accident.
- Crashes caused by bicycles and e-scooters. In South Australia these aren’t motor vehicles for CTP purposes, so an accident they cause isn’t covered, though there may be other routes to claim.
When the injuries are very serious
Several states have separate arrangements for the most serious and long-lasting injuries. Most of those listed here say they pay whoever was at fault:
- Queensland: the National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIISQ) provides necessary and reasonable lifetime treatment, care and support for eligible serious injuries from crashes on or after 1 July 2016.
- Western Australia: the Catastrophic Injuries Support Scheme is a no-fault scheme for serious injuries from crashes in WA on or after 1 July 2016.
- South Australia: the Lifetime Support Scheme funds treatment, care and support for people very seriously injured in crashes in SA, regardless of fault, including brain and spinal cord injuries, amputations, burns and blindness.
- NSW: part of the CTP levy goes to Lifetime Care and Support, a no-fault scheme for people catastrophically injured in a road accident. Separately, CTP Care takes over treatment and care payments for people who still have an entitlement under a NSW CTP claim after five years.
- Northern Territory: lifetime care and support benefits fund ongoing care for people catastrophically injured, regardless of fault.
If the crash was in another state
The scheme that applies is generally the one where the crash happened, even if your car is registered elsewhere. If you were hurt in Queensland by a vehicle registered interstate, for example, you follow Queensland’s process, but the claim is managed by that vehicle’s interstate insurer. The ACT scheme says plainly that it doesn’t apply to crashes outside the ACT, and suggests people travelling interstate consider other cover such as private health or travel insurance.
Queensland’s regulator keeps a list of every state’s CTP authority, which is a useful first call if you aren’t sure where to start. Then see how long each scheme gives you to claim.