6.5 Provisional payments for a mental injury
6.5.1 Employer obligations for mental injury claims | 6.5.2 Agent receives early notification of a mental injury | 6.5.3 Agent determines provisional payments entitlement | 6.5.4 Worker is entitled to provisional payments | 6.5.5 Provisional payments and employer excess | 6.5.6 Processing provisional payments | 6.5.7 Ceasing provisional payments on rejected claims | 6.5.8 Other information
Note: employer early notification obligations commence on, and provisional payments are only available for claims made on or after, 1 July 2021.
From 1 July 2021, workers and eligible volunteers may be entitled to receive provisional payments where their workers’ compensation claim includes a mental injury (primary or secondary).
Note: for the purposes of assessing a worker’s entitlement to provisional payments under the Act, the definition of mental injury in s3 of the WIRC Act Workplace Injury Rehabilitation & Compensation Act 2013 doesn’t apply.
Key timeframes
If a claim includes a mental injury (primary or concurrent, but not secondary mental injury), there are requirements imposed on employers, Agents and Self-insurers (SIs), in addition to other legislative requirements. These are:
- Employers must provide early notification of the claim to their Agent. This means that Part A of the Worker’s Injury Claim Form, with question 7 completed and signed by the employer, must be forwarded to their Agent within 3 business days of receiving the claim from the worker.
- Employers must forward their completed and signed Part B of the Worker’s Injury Claim Form, and any WorkSafe Certificates of Capacity, to their Agent no later than 10 calendar days after receiving the claim from their worker.
- Agents are required to determine whether the worker is entitled to provisional payments within 2 business days of receiving the early notification from the employer.
- Self-insurers are required to determine whether a worker is entitled to provisional payments within 5 business days of receipt of the worker’s claim form.
- Usual claim determination timeframes apply.
Business day means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday.
The authority guidelines relating to early notification of a mental injury claim can be found here.
Employers may be financially penalised if they do not adhere to the legislative timeframes.
See: 2.3.4 Penalties for late lodgement and additional liability | 5.3.5 Employer obligations - penalty units
Volunteers who are eligible for workers’ compensation under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (WIRC Act) and Accident Compensation Act 1985 (AC Act) are also entitled to provisional payments in accordance with the legislation from 1 July 2021. (The enabling legislation for this is the relevant Acts which provide for personal injury compensation for volunteers.)