Workers Compensation

Under workers’ Compensation law, a worker can claim compensation for an injury arising out of, or in the course of, work. The term “worker” is broad and includes permanent employees, casual employees, some independent contractors and some categories of volunteers. We will check your status to determine whether you’re eligible to claim.

Under workers’ Compensation law, an injury must have happened during work, or whilst doing something sufficiently connected with work to attract compensation. This may sometimes include travelling between workplaces, or for off-site meetings, or attend social functions associated with work.

If you’re injured because of an accident at work, you need to notify your employer immediately. You then have six months to make a claim for compensation – in practical terms, this means that if you want to claim compensation for a medical expense, you have six months from the date the medical expense was incurred to claim compensation for that medical expense.

To make a claim for compensation, you must:

1. Complete a ReturnToWorkSA Claim Form (which you can get from your employer or online);
2. Attend a doctor to obtain a ReturnToWorkSA Work Capacity Certificate.
3. Submit the Claim Form and Work Capacity Certificate to your employer.

Your employer is required to provide the Claim Form and Work Capacity Certificate to their workers compensation insurer (called a “Claims Agent”).

The Claims Agent will then investigate the claim and make a decision to accept or reject the claim. The decision must be provided in writing (in a document called a “Determination”).

If the Determination says your claim is rejected (or “not accepted”), or you disagree with the terms of the acceptance, you can apply to the South Australian Employment Tribunal to review the Determination.

Any Application for Review must be filed with the Tribunal within one month of you receiving the Determination to be “in time”. You can get an extension of time to lodge an Application for Review (if it has been more than one month since you received the Determination).

If your injuries leave you with a restricted capacity for your normal work duties that results in a loss of income, you may be entitled to income support.
Income support is paid on a weekly basis (often called “weekly payments”), and is based on the difference between your normal earnings before the injury (called “average weekly earnings”) and your actual weekly earnings following the injury.

In most cases, an injured worker will only be entitled to income support for a period of up to two (2) years from the date of the work injury (or from the date they first missed work due to incapacity caused by the work injury).

If you think your income support/weekly payments are not being paid at the right amount, you should seek legal advice as soon as possible, as you may need to make an Application for Review to the South Australian Employment Tribunal (and time limits apply in this regard).

If you do not enjoy a full recovery from your work injury, and suffer a permanent impairment, you may be entitled to lump sum compensation.

Lump sum compensation is only payable for permanent impairment arising from physical injuries, and you cannot claim lump sum compensation for permanent impairment arising from a non-physical (psychological or psychiatric) injury.

The lump sum compensation amount is based on the degree of Whole Person Impairment arising from the work injury, which must be assessed in accordance with the Return to Work Scheme Impairment Assessment Guidelines.

In most cases, a worker cannot ask for an assessment of their injury (for the purposes of claiming lump sum compensation) until their medical treatment has finished and their condition has reached “Maximum Medical Improvement”.

The process involved in assessment permanent impairment can be complicated, and the final monetary outcome can vary substantially depending on a number of factors.

An injured worker’s entitlement to lump sum compensation is an important part of their claim. In some cases, it is the only real “compensation” injured workers receive for their work injury.

We would recommend seeking legal advice before making a claim for lump sum compensation.

An employer should provide you with suitable employment if practicable. This may mean modified or alternative work duties.

If your employer is not offering suitable employment, but you think they can, you can make a formal request to your employer for the provision of suitable employment. If they do not offer suitable employment in response to your formal request, you can apply for the South Australian Employment Tribunal for an order requiring your employer to provide you with suitable employment.