Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 May 5;6(5):e010910.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010910.

Does time off work after injury vary by jurisdiction? A comparative study of eight Australian workers' compensation systems

Alex Collie  1 , Tyler J Lane  1 , Behrooz Hassani-Mahmooei  2 , Jason Thompson  2 , Chris McLeod  3
Affiliations

Does time off work after injury vary by jurisdiction? A comparative study of eight Australian workers' compensation systems

Alex Collie et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether the jurisdiction in which a work-related injury compensation claim is made is an independent predictor of duration of time off work following work injury, and if so, the magnitude of the effect.

Setting: Eight Australian state and territory workers' compensation systems, providing coverage for more than 90% of the Australian labour force. Administrative claims data from these systems were provided by government regulatory authorities for the study.

Participants: 95 976 Australian workers with workers' compensation claims accepted in 2010 and with at least 2 weeks of compensated time off work.

Primary outcome measure: Duration of time lost from work in weeks, censored at 104 weeks.

Results: After controlling for demographic, worker, injury and employer factors in a Cox regression model, significant differences in duration of time loss between state and territory of claim were observed. Compared with New South Wales, workers in Victoria, South Australia and Comcare had significantly longer durations of time off work and were more likely to be receiving income benefits at 104 weeks postinjury, while workers in Tasmania and Queensland had significantly shorter durations of time off work.

Conclusions: The jurisdiction in which an injured worker makes a compensation claim has a significant and independent impact on duration of time loss. Further research is necessary to identify specific compensation system policies and practices that promote timely and appropriate return to work and reduce duration of time off work.

Keywords: OCCUPATIONAL & INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE; injury; return to work; workers compensation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adjusted survival plots for duration of time loss (weeks) by jurisdiction.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Haagsma JA, Graetz N, Bolliger I et al. . The global burden of injury: incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years and time trends from the Global Burden of Disease study 2013. Inj Prev 2016;22:3–18. 10.1136/injuryprev-2015-041616 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. International Labour Organization. Safety and Health at Work: A Vision for Sustainable Prevention: XX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work 2014: Global Forum for Prevention, 24-27 August 2014, Frankfurt, Germany. Geneva: International Labour Office, 2014.
    1. Bacikova-Sleskova M, Benka J, Orosova O. Parental employment status and adolescents’ health: the role of financial situation, parent-adolescent relationship and adolescents’ resilience. Psychol Health 2015;30:400–22. 10.1080/08870446.2014.976645 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Newnam S, Collie A, Vogel AP et al. . The impacts of injury at the individual, community and societal levels: a systematic meta-review. Public Health 2014;128:587–618. 10.1016/j.puhe.2014.04.004 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Waddell G, Burton AK. Is work good for your health and well-being? London: Department for Work and Pensions, 2006.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources