Corporate profile

Who we are

WorkCover Queensland is a statutory body, which provides and manages workers’ compensation insurance for the people of Queensland. We are self-funding and operate as an independent, commercial enterprise, even though we are owned by the Queensland Government. Our income is derived from premiums paid by employers and returns on our invested funds. We return excess funds to our customers as improved benefits for injured workers, better customer service, and lower premiums for employers.
WorkCover Queensland insures more than 148 000 employers and manages over 87 000 statutory and 2400 common law claims annually. WorkCover Queensland employs approximately 900 people in metropolitan and regional Queensland. WorkCover Queensland is governed by the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003.

What we do

We are the main provider of workers’ compensation insurance in Queensland. A WorkCover Queensland accident insurance policy covers injured workers for their lost wages and medical costs for a workplace accident, and covers employers against these costs and possible common law claims. Our key focus is on a prompt and effective return to work for injured workers. We work with the injured worker, the employer, and medical and allied health providers to help rehabilitate the injured worker so they can return to work quickly and safely.

Where we have come from

Workers’ compensation insurance has been part of Queensland business since 1916. The Kennedy Inquiry, in 1996, reviewed the Queensland scheme and led to the formation of WorkCover Queensland. At the time the scheme was $320 million in debt. WorkCover Queensland was transformed from a poor performing bureaucracy into the best workers’ compensation insurer in Australia and, this year, WorkCover Queensland celebrates its ten year anniversary. WorkCover Queensland is now financially secure, receives high customer satisfaction ratings from both injured workers and employers, and offers the lowest average premium rate in Australia.

How we do it
Our guiding philosophy is simple—to provide the best possible benefits and rehabilitation programs for injured workers at the lowest possible premium for employers. One of the ways we achieve this is to build beneficial working relationships with our stakeholders.

Our corporate plan and statement of corporate intent set out the strategies we will use to meet our vision, values, and goals. They also outline our corporate drivers and how we will meet our business projections and performance standards.

Our industry

The Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 states that every Queensland employer, unless a licensed self-insurer, must have a workers’ compensation policy with WorkCover Queensland. We manage approximately 88% of all workers’ compensation claims, with self-insurers accounting for the remaining 12%. Self-insurance licences are determined by strict legislative eligibility criteria regarding a company’s number of employees, assets, and health and safety performance. There are currently 25 licensed self-insurers in Queensland, covering 290 employers and their employees.

Regulation

The Queensland workers’ compensation industry is independently regulated by Q-COMP, which was formally separated from WorkCover Queensland on 1 July 2003. Q-COMP is funded by contributions from insurers and is responsible for monitoring insurer performance and compliance across the industry, deciding self-insurance applications, reviewing insurer decisions, and administering medical assessment tribunals.
Unlike some other WorkCover authorities, WorkCover Queensland is not responsible for workplace health and safety regulation. In Queensland, the Workplace Health and Safety division of the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations oversees all workplace health and safety.

Australia wide comparison

In Australia, there is a federal worker’s compensation scheme (Comcare) and state governments independently manage their own schemes. Not all workers’ compensation schemes are the same. At WorkCover Queensland we are the only state insurer to manage our claims in-house, which we believe is an important part of our excellent customer satisfaction and return to work results. Queensland workers are also covered when travelling to and from work, which is not the case in every state or under the federal scheme. Premium rates vary significantly, with WorkCover Queensland maintaining the lowest average premium rate in an Australian state for eight consecutive years.

Bodies established to advise WorkCover

WorkCover Queensland is a statutory authority operating as a commercial enterprise. As a commercially run insurer, WorkCover Queensland has no boards, councils, committees, or other bodies whose meetings are open to the public and/or whose minutes of meetings are available for inspection. WorkCover Queensland reports to the Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations. The Minister consults regularly with members of the community.

Community participation

For internal reviews of decisions on claim or premium matters, stakeholders are invited to provide us with information to support their position. Under section 134 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, we are required to provide aggrieved parties with written reasons for the decision and to notify applicants of their right to seek review through Q-COMP.

We also regularly provide stakeholder briefings and forums, where interested stakeholder groups may provide feedback on performance and suggestions for improvement. Additionally, we engage an independent research group to conduct annual customer satisfaction surveys, to identify services which stakeholders find satisfactory, and where improvements may be made to our service delivery.

You can email, mail, or call us to raise an idea, comment, or complaint:

GPO Box 2459
BRISBANE QLD 4001

info@workcoverqld.com.au

1300 362 128.

Impact on members of the community

WorkCover Queensland has a substantial impact on Queensland employers and injured workers, and is focused on balancing the needs of employers with the rights of injured workers.

The decision making functions of WorkCover Queensland in relation to claim applications are set out in chapters 3, 4, and 5 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003. Decision making powers in relation to insurance products are outlined in chapter 2 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003.

The decision making function that WorkCover Queensland is most often called on to exercise involves the determination of whether an applicant for compensation has a legal right under workers’ compensation legislation to be provided with such compensation, and the extent of liability for such compensation. Additionally, WorkCover Queensland is called on to exercise it’s decision-making powers in relation to premium setting for applicants for policies of accident insurance. Decisions of this nature affect applicants for compensation and their employers (the policyholder). A person affected by a decision subject to review may apply to Q-COMP, the workers’ compensation regulatory authority.