Information, training and resources to help NSW employers navigate the changes to the workers compensation system now in effect.
We are in the midst of the most significant changes to the NSW workers compensation system in over a decade.
The two Bills that have passed in the NSW Parliament will significantly change how primary psychological injury claims are defined and managed in NSW. As fewer psychological injuries will be compensable under the workers compensation scheme, it is more important than ever that NSW employers have sound processes and systems for preventing psychological injuries, and for supporting workers with mental health concerns.
We have been delivering award winning case management services in NSW since 1910 and in the last ten years have invested over $144M into services designed to create safer workplaces for all Australians. This is our field of expertise, and we’ve created this page to support NSW employers prepare their businesses for change.
Download our checklist and take a look below to find tools, resources and training which will help you address key impacts to your business.
If you are an employer in NSW and have a question regarding the reforms, fill in our online query form and our team will come back to you with guidance.
For reference, the full details to Bills that have passed the NSW Parliament can be found here:
Take a look at our new practical employer booklet regarding the NSW psychological injury reforms applicable to primary psychological injury claims first notified to the employer on or after 1 July.
Download our psychological injury claims booklet to find out what employers need to know about how these types of claims will be defined and managed post 1 July.
Access our excess information booklet, to find guidance regarding how excess applies under the new reforms (including several case studies).
View our employer checklist and factual evidence checklist for practical guidance to help your workplace respond to the reforms.
Read our July 2026 EML Insights Exchange FAQs here and scroll to the bottom of this page to find the answers to common questions we’re received from employers.
Readiness check: Are relevant policies, procedures, risk mitigation and workplace training up to date?
Tools available to identify workplace needs:
Partners with support and resources available:
Additional resources:
EMlearning self- paced online courses (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Resources:
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
EML Offer (discounted services available to EML customers):
Readiness check: Are psychosocial risk assessments and early intervention return to work practices regularly reviewed and implemented?
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
03 Sep 2026 | Understanding psychosocial risk: What it means for you at work
Tools available to identify workplace needs:
EMlearning self- paced online courses (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Risk Management of Psychosocial Hazards
Bullying & Harassment in the Workplace – for Workplaces
Bullying & Harassment in the Workplace – for Leaders
Managing Risk in the Workplace for Leaders
Duty of Care for Workers
EML Offer (discounted services available to EML customers):
Additional resources:
Guide for preventing and responding to workplace bullying by Safe Work Australia
Psychosocial hazard Audit readiness checklist from Healthy Minds Education and Training
Conversation guide with workers about psychosocial hazards by Safe Work Australia
Build Psychological Safety at Work: A Leader’s Guide by Lysander
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Partners with support and resources available:
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
EMlearning self- paced online courses (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Partners with support and resources available:
EML Offer (discounted services available to EML customers):
Additional resources:
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
EMlearning self- paced online courses (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Partners with support and resources available:
EML Offer (discounted services available to EML customers):
Additional resources:
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
EMlearning self- paced online courses (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Partners with support and resources available:
EML Offer (discounted services available to EML customers):
Additional resources:
When a claim is lodged:
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Additional resources:
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
EMlearning self- paced online courses (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Readiness check: Can relevant information be easily provided to the insurer on lodgement of the claim, to ensure 42 day liability determination timeframes can be met?
EMlearning self- paced online courses (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Free workplace resources:
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Online training available:
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Services available to EML customers include:
Readiness check: Have you consulted with your broker or claims service provider on the potential financial impact to your business, and ways to prepare?
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
More information:
For your business:
Facilitated employer training (available exclusively at no cost to EML customers):
Services available to EML customers:
Online training available:
If you are an EML customer and need assistance, please contact your claims team on 133 365.
If you would like to partner with EML, you can reach out to our NSW State Relationship Manager Emily Powell.
We have hosted a variety of employer information sessions (both in person and online) since the reforms were announced in 2025.
Below you can find a selection of common questions we’ve received during these events and the answers we’ve provided.
If you are an employer in NSW and have a query regarding what the changes mean for you, please fill in our online query form and our team will come back to you directly.
The reforms apply where the injury is first notified to an employer on or after 1 July 2026. If the injury was notified before that date, the pre-reform legislation will continue to apply.
For a claim to be compensable, there needs to have first been a relevant event or series of relevant events; so a trauma-based claim or relevant conduct claim. Relevant conduct includes bullying, sexual harassment, racial harassment and excessive work demands. Any worker seeking to make a claim will need to identify the relevant event first.
Pursuant to section 8O, no compensation is payable for a primary psychological injury to a worker unless:
(a) a relevant event or a series of relevant events caused the primary psychological injury,
(b) there is a real and direct connection between the relevant event or series of relevant events and the worker’s employment, and
(c) employment is the main contributing factor to the primary psychological injury.
The legislation introduces an objective “reasonable person” test for relevant conduct claims: bullying, excessive work demands, racial harassment and sexual harassment.
The decision maker, in the first instance, is the insurer who will apply the principles of the “reasonable person test” to the information gathered, including all information about the worker’s role, profession, experience etc. A worker’s perception is relevant, but only to the extent that it is considered reasonable when weighed against the facts and circumstances. The worker can make an application for review of a decision and can thereafter take a dispute to the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) where the application of the reasonable person test will be examined.
Section 8B defines excessive work demands as demands that are beyond what would reasonably be expected in the role and are repeated or persistent and not reasonable in all the circumstances.
When assessing excessive work demands, consideration may also be given to factors such as staffing levels, workload allocation, industry norms, supervision, the worker’s level of responsibility, employment arrangements, and whether the worker’s remuneration already reflects an expectation of working additional hours.
Pursuant to section 8O, no compensation is payable for a primary psychological injury to a worker unless:
(a) a relevant event or a series of relevant events caused the primary psychological injury, and
(b) there is a real and direct connection between the relevant event or series of relevant events and the worker’s employment, and
(c) employment is the main contributing factor to the primary psychological injury.
The “management action” that caused the injury would need to satisfy a relevant event test, so, either trauma or workplace conduct to pass the gateway.
Yes. Employers should continue to notify potential psychological injury claims to their insurer as soon as they become aware of them. Determining whether an injury arose from a “relevant event” is part of the insurer’s claim assessment process, not a prerequisite for notification by the employer.
If a worker notifies an employer of a workplace injury, it is recommended that a notification is lodged. This will trigger contact with the worker regarding any outstanding documentation. A claim cannot proceed until the minimum claim requirements have been met.
The new legislative framework requires a Certificate of Capacity to be provided in order to make a claim. Until both a claim form and a Certificate of Capacity are received, the claim is not duly made and is not required to be assessed.
If we do not receive a completed claim form or it is considered invalid, we give the worker the ability to provide further particulars (within seven days) and, if not received, we close the claim. Should that completed information come back at a later date, we reopen the claim and the timeframes will then commence from the date a complete claim form is received.
If sufficient information has not been provided to meet the minimum requirements for a claim, the worker will be advised of what is required. The claim may be closed until the information is received and can be reopened if the required documentation is provided.
Insurers consider a range of evidence when assessing a psychological injury claim, including medical information, the worker’s account (claim form and supporting information), employer records, witness evidence and, where required, information obtained through a factual investigation.
The evidence is assessed collectively to determine whether the legislative requirements for compensation have been met.
Employer evidence plays a critical role in liability determinations. Contemporaneous records, investigation findings and other relevant documentation are considered alongside medical and factual evidence.
Employers should focus on early evidence gathering, maintaining detailed records of workplace interactions and management decisions, preserving emails and communication records, obtaining witness statements promptly, and ensuring policies, training records and investigation materials are readily available. Early notification to the insurer remains critical.
Each aspect of the claim is assessed under the applicable legislative provisions. Where multiple potential entitlements arise, the worker will generally receive the most beneficial entitlement available while liability is being determined.
Claims are not automatically treated as one type or the other simply because multiple allegations are raised. The insurer will review the facts, identify the alleged relevant event(s), and determine the appropriate claim pathway. Where both traumatic event and relevant conduct allegations are present, investigations may need to consider both before a liability determination is made.
If there is a dispute about relevant conduct (sexual harassment, racial harassment, bullying, excessive work demands), the worker must first seek an internal review. If the dispute is maintained at internal review, the worker can only pursue the claim in the IRC. The IRC will determine, or the parties can agree, whether there was relevant conduct or not.
The IRC’s role is to determine whether the conduct alleged by the worker constitutes relevant conduct under the legislation. Psychological injury disputes involving relevant conduct events of bullying, excessive work demands, sexual harassment and racial harassment now follow an IRC pathway because the key issue is whether the alleged workplace conduct meets the legislative definition of relevant conduct.
If there are other elements in dispute such as weekly benefits, medical entitlements, diagnosis, incapacity or compensation entitlements, these issues remain within the PIC jurisdiction.
Pre-existing vulnerabilities do not automatically exclude a claim.
The assessment focuses on whether employment was the main contributing factor to the injury. Decisions are based on medical and factual evidence, not personal characteristics alone. Each claim is assessed on its individual circumstances.
The excess equals the worker’s weekly benefit entitlement for the first compensable week and the week immediately following. EML will calculate the applicable entitlement and advise the employer.
The excess is based on the worker’s weekly benefit entitlement rather than the number of hours worked. It is calculated using the applicable weekly compensation entitlement after taking earnings into account.
The excess is applicable on any claim where there are weekly benefits payable, even if only minimal. If a worker only lost 2 days, the excess amount will only be the benefits payable for those 2 days of loss.
For claims with minimal time loss, only the weekly benefit amount payable on these claims will be withheld as excess. The excess applies from the first week where the worker has an entitlement greater than $0, and the week immediately after.
Even if there is future earnings loss after the excess period, only payments in the excess period (being the first 2 weeks when a weekly benefit is payable) would be withheld/payable as excess.
Early observations suggest that workplace relationships, organisational culture, and workplace support are having a greater impact on return-to-work outcomes than the injury itself.
Where communication is positive and workers remain connected to the workplace, return to work outcomes appear stronger.
As more claims progress beyond the initial stages, we will gain a clearer understanding of the key barriers and trends emerging under the new legislative framework.
