Guides for injured workers in NSW

The NSW workers compensation system has its own language, and it is easy to feel lost in it just when you have the least energy to decode it. These guides explain the parts that matter to you, in plain English, and link back to the SIRA and icare sources so you can check anything yourself.

Two ideas run through all of them. First, there is a difference between the people who treat your injury (allied health treaters like physiotherapists, exercise physiologists and osteopaths) and the workplace rehabilitation provider who coordinates your return to work. Second, you usually have more choice than you might think, over who your providers are and how your recovery is managed. Start with whichever question is on your mind right now.

What a workplace rehabilitation provider does

A WRP is a SIRA approved organisation that coordinates your return to work. Here is what they actually do, and how they differ from your treating clinician.

How to choose or change your provider

You usually have a say in who treats you and who manages your return to work. Here is how to choose well, and how to change providers if the fit is wrong.

The return to work process in NSW

From your certificate of capacity to suitable duties and a recover-at-work plan, here is the sequence most NSW work injury claims follow.

Your rights under NSW workers compensation

A plain-English overview of what you are entitled to as an injured worker in NSW, including treatment, choice of provider and support to return to work.

Treater or workplace rehab provider: who does what, and who pays

The two provider types are easy to confuse. Here is the difference in one page, and how each is funded under the scheme.