Across Australia, millions of campers, 4WDers, and touring families are actively seeking quiet, secluded private land stays and authentic farmgate experiences—far removed from crowded commercial caravan parks.

Opening your farm gates is an exceptional way to generate sustainable revenue from underutilized acreage. However, operating an agritourism or outdoor hosting setup comes with steep operational hurdles, soaring public liability premiums, extreme insurer exclusions, and hidden legal traps that can leave your personal home, farm assets, and land exposed. The COA Farm Stay Insurance Program was built to give Australian landholders total protection and peace of mind.

Why a Registered Housing Charity Leads Regional Outdoor Protection

Landowners frequently ask why a registered housing charity is involved in farmstays, private camping, and regional hosting. Our foundational mandate is built on two inseparable operational pillars: Sanctuary (safe housing and shelter) and Mobility (the capacity to travel, explore, and access nature safely).

"There is no point in providing a person or family with safe housing (Sanctuary) if they do not have the capacity, skills, or outdoor frameworks to travel, explore, and access nature safely (Mobility)."

To fulfill this dual mandate, COA Housing Charity Ltd operates through two dedicated divisions:

• Conservation and Occupiers Authority (coa.estate): Delivering housing sanctuary, crisis accommodation pathways, land stewardship, and emergency regional shelter frameworks.

• Club & Operators Alliance (coa.insure): Acting as an accredited non-profit Gatekeeper to deliver structured harm prevention, WHS risk management, and underwriter-backed insurance program pathways for farmstays, private campgrounds, and regional stays.

COA does not sell or provide insurance directly—we are a compliance engine. We provide the Work Health & Safety (WHS) risk-management frameworks, safety governance, and approved codes of practice that major global underwriters mandate before writing high-risk policies. By bringing your property under the COA Gatekeeper framework as a Program Member, your property transitions from an "uninsurable private risk" into an accredited community safety and outdoor recreation program—unlocking direct underwriter pathways at insulated rates.

The 3 Hidden Insurance Traps Facing Australian Landowners

Many property owners list on third-party booking platforms or rely on standard farm policies, assuming they are fully protected. Under Australian insurance law and underwriter guidelines, severe coverage gaps exist:

1. The Duty of Disclosure Trap on Domestic & Farm Policies: Under Australian insurance regulations, landowners must provide a complete Duty of Disclosure to their primary insurer regarding any commercial hosting or paid guest activities. Failing to declare guest income on a standard home or farm policy creates massive legal exposure. If an incident occurs on an undeclared site, the insurer can void your entire policy—leaving your farmhouse, shearing shed, machinery, and land completely unprotected.

2. Third-Party Platform Insurance Limitations: Relying solely on online booking platform "host guarantees" leaves dangerous blind spots. Platform protections are typically built as secondary extensions to cover gaps in a host's existing primary policy. If your underlying farm policy rejects commercial camping, the platform policy may fail entirely. Furthermore, platform fine print explicitly excludes commercial operations, worker/volunteer activities, off-platform direct bookings, and high-risk leisure.

3. ATO Business Definitions vs. Insurance Exclusions: Under ATO criteria, a business is defined as "a set of continuous and repeated activities you do for the purpose of making a profit." When you combine continuous host income with ATO commercial definitions and booking platform exclusions that drop commercial operations, many landowners are operating completely uninsured without realizing it.

Newly Expanded Farm Stay & Agritourism Policy Framework

We enforce an expanded Farm Stay and Agritourism Conditions and Exclusions framework to ensure full, seamless underwriter acceptance across all your property features and farmgate activities:

• Overnight & Day Guest Coverage: Expanded definitions covering both overnight farmstay guests and visiting day-use farmgate patrons.

• Agritourism & Farmgate Sales: Full coverage for farmgate stalls, produce sales (fresh free-range eggs, honey, organic crops), farm products, and educational farm tours.

• Permitted Animal Interactions: APRA-authorized ($20M Public Liability with Lloyd's security) coverage for approved guest animal interactions—including free-range poultry, egg collection, petting paddocks, animal feeding experiences, shearing demonstrations, and displays involving approved farm animals (donkeys, miniature horses, and miniature cattle).

• Farm Tours & Guest Transport: Dedicated conditions permitting guest transportation around your acreage in purpose-built passenger seating (such as side-by-side ATVs/UTVs or passenger trailers) under controlled safety guidelines.

• Compliant Playgrounds & Equipment: Dedicated write-backs permitting compliant guest play areas and equipment maintained to Australian Standards.

• Clear Core Exclusions: Keeping core risk controls intact (excluding guest quad bike operation, animal riding, rope swings, and guests operating heavy farm machinery) to keep underwriter appetite high and premiums low.

Underwriter-Backed Insurance Pathways & Starting Rates

Through our accredited Gatekeeper framework, COA member submissions are placed in a separate, insulated reporting portfolio, protecting your farm from blanket commercial market rate spikes:

Why Choose the COA Framework?

• APRA-Authorized & A+ Rated Global Security: Access direct pathways to primary master policy coverage ($20M Public & Products Liability limits) backed by APRA and A+ rated global underwriters (including Lloyd's of London).

• Cross-Policy Alignment: Our broker partners align your underlying property cover (farmhouse, shearing shed, farm assets) with your liability policy so both explicitly recognize and accept all declared hosting activities.

• 0% Corporate Tax Advantages: Revenue generated through COA-accredited community safety, outdoor recreation, and harm-prevention programs is 100% tax-exempt under COA's charity framework.

• Complete Property Autonomy: Maintain 100% control over your land, guest limits, nightly rates, booking schedules, and site rules without corporate red tape.

• 100% Charitable Impact: Surplus funds generated through the COA platform are directed straight to COA Housing Charity Ltd to build off-grid, modular emergency homes for displaced regional workers and local families in crisis.

How to Get Started

Getting your farmstay protected under the COA framework is straightforward:

1. Speak Directly with Our Preferred Insurance Specialist:

   Contact Ryan Sharvell (COA Preferred Insurance Specialist / OTTA Insurance Services) directly at 0482 696 754. Ryan can review your current farm policy, walk through the new agritourism endorsement wording, and ensure your farmhouse, shearing shed, and farmgate operations are perfectly aligned under our master facility lines.

2. Register as a COA Program Member:

   Complete your property registration online under the Club & Operators Alliance umbrella on coa.au. (Note: Underwriter acceptance and placement under these specialized master policy lines is strictly conditional upon active COA Program Membership).

3. Access Your Safety Toolkits:

   Instantly download our easy-to-use WHS risk-management guides, animal interaction checklists, and property maintenance toolkits built straight to underwriter standards.

4. Fast-Track to Your Policy Schedule:

   Once your COA Program Membership is confirmed, Ryan and our licensed insurance team will issue your finalized policy schedule under our master facility setup.

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