Insurance for landcare groups?

Public liability insurance for landcare groups is a complex and costly issue - and I am having trouble pinning down exactly how it should be handled. Thought I'd put some matters to this forum in the hope of clarity...

Info below is from Geoff Hudson, Natural Resource Management Facilitator, Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW:

Community groups operating on council owned land (ie. Bushcare, Coastcare groups) are usually covered by councils insurance policy. This is the same policy that covers everyone who volunteers for councils (meals on wheels, library, child care, etc). For those councils with bigger, more developed volunteer programs there will systems in place to ensure OH&S issues, including training, supply of tools and materials, registration, reporting procedures, etc. For those smaller councils, it is probably a more relaxed arrangement.

There is a really good manual that was developed by the Volunteer Co-ordinators Network (VCN) that can assist an organisation (council) build a volunteer program from the ground up. It is designed to assist the council running a whole program, not an individual group. A CD version was sent to every council in Australia, but it is also available on the web. It is really good, but I don’t think it is utilised enough (or promoted enough). Judy Christie and myself were involved in putting it together. It has a big section on Insurance. Go to: http://www.aabr.org.au/vcn/index.htm