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.
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 Workplace Injury Rehabilitation & Compensation Act 2013) 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.)