With South East Queensland still drying out from a week of heavy rain and the official storm and cyclone season starting on Sunday, the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) has today opened applications for a panel of specialist insurance brokers, so tourism and events operators can find advice from people who understand how their businesses work.

The panel is the first industry-led action from QTIC’s Insurance Affordability and Availability: Advocacy Report & Action Plan, which made 21 recommendations to the Australian and Queensland Governments, insurers and industry in July 2026.

QTIC CEO Natassia Wheeler said operators could not afford to wait any longer for change.

“Every year, storm season is when tourism businesses find out whether their insurance actually works. Too many are finding out the hard way,” Wheeler said.

“We handed our recommendations to the Australian and Queensland Governments in July and we’ve raised them repeatedly since. We appreciate the conversations, but you can’t insure a business with a conversation. The weather isn’t waiting for a policy cycle, so industry is getting on with what we can deliver ourselves.”

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the November to April season brings the highest risk of storms, cyclones and floods, with Queensland averaging three to four tropical cyclones a season. Just last week, the South East suffered up to 380ml of rain and flash flooding in some parts with Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast having seen much heavier October rainfall than normal, with more than twice the average falling in some parts.

QTIC’s research found many operators struggle to find a broker who understands tourism and events risks such as seasonal trading, adventure activities, event cancellations and disaster recovery. Operators invest heavily in safety and accreditation, but when their broker doesn’t understand the industry, that work often isn’t passed on to the insurer. The result is businesses paying more than they should, or carrying the wrong cover.

Case studies gathered by QTIC this year show what is at stake:

• A small accommodation provider with eight villas saw its property premium jump from $2,300 to a renewal quote of $57,000, after one cyclone claim in eight years.
• A South East Queensland caravan park hit by a severe hailstorm in late 2025 had an $800,000 loss reduced to a $109,000 payout because its assets were unknowingly underinsured.
• A cyclone-exposed holiday park faced a $500,000 cyclone excess and premiums over $1 million before changing brokers and restructuring its cover.

“The right broker can be the difference between a business that rebuilds after a cyclone and one that doesn’t,” Wheeler said.

“This panel won’t fix premiums on its own. But it gives operators a short, vetted list of brokers who know their sector, and it gives us a direct line to educate the broking market on how well-run tourism businesses manage risk.”

Brokers who want to join the panel must show at least three years’ experience broking for Queensland tourism or events clients, at least 10 current clients in their chosen sub-sectors, and provide client referees. Applications will be independently assessed, with listed brokers grouped by sub-sector, from caravan parks and marine tourism to events and adventure operators, and reviewed every year.

Wheeler said industry action was only part of the answer, and called on the Federal and State Governments to act on the report’s recommendations, including:

• Back a stronger Cyclone Reinsurance Pool: Australian Government to lift the property cap to at least $10 million and fix the 48-hour event window which left most of Tropical Cyclone Jasper’s flood damage outside the Pool.
• Put Queensland’s insurance duty to work: Queensland Government to work with industry to model practical options, including phased duty reductions over seven to nine years; targeted relief for tourism and events businesses with annual turnover of $2 million or less; and a dedicated share of insurance duty revenue used for disaster mitigation. This could support a Tourism and Events Resilience Fund, administered through the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, to help operators strengthen assets, reduce disruption and improve insurability.
• Lead national public liability reform: Australian Government to bring states and territories together to tackle rising legal and claims costs, strengthen protections against claim farming and provide consistent rules for tourism and adventure activities, while preserving fair access to compensation.
• Come to the table: Join industry and insurers on the Tourism and Events Insurance Reform Working Group to drive the rest of the 21 recommendations.

“Queensland’s visitor economy supports more than 277,000 jobs, and over 90 per cent of tourism businesses are small businesses. They are doing everything they can to manage their risk. We need both levels of government to meet them halfway,” Wheeler said.

Brokers can find out more and apply at www.qtic.com.au/tourism-and-events-insurance-broker-panel.

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