News
The Australian Government has approved a new code of practice to support amended WHS laws prescribing how organisations manage risks to workers’ mental health.
The Comcare and Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (SRCC) Annual Report for 2023–24 is now available.
A multi-pronged approach is most effective in preventing and addressing workplace sexual harassment.
The Guide for Arranging Rehabilitation Assessments and Requiring Examinations commences on 18 September 2024. The Guide is a legislative instrument.
An Australian Government department has been charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws after a child suffered serious injuries from an exhibit at the National Science and Technology Centre, Questacon.
Comcare has released a new eLearn course about the role of Health and Safety Representatives.
As of 1 July 2024, the penalties for breaches of the Commonwealth WHS Act have increased under a new indexation mechanism.
Comcare has released the WHS Year in Review 2023, highlighting Comcare’s compliance and enforcement efforts across the Commonwealth jurisdiction.
How to get free access to Comcare’s eLearning via your organisation’s learning management system.
Early bird tickets for the 2024 Comcare National Conference have been extended for an extra two weeks until 14 June.
Comcare has published new statutory rates under the SRC Act.
Comcare has published its new fee guidance for Workplace Rehabilitation Providers which will take effect on 1 July 2024.
We are delighted to announce the keynote speakers for the 2024 Comcare National Conference program.
Comcare has released a comprehensive plan to align our information and communications technologies with our business goals to drive innovation.
Comcare has been successful in securing 2024-25 Federal Budget to deliver a new initiative.
National waste management company Cleanaway has been charged with contravening federal work health and safety laws over a fire that caused serious injuries to a worker.
A final evaluation report has found strong and statistically significant evidence that the Comcare commissioned EML Your Future program had a positive effect on RTW outcomes.
The Department of Defence has been charged with breaches of federal work health and safety laws relating to psychosocial risks at a Queensland Army base.
Comcare has released a new scheme guidance publication to assist claims managers in applying the provisions of the SRC Act.
Comcare has released a new scheme guidance publication to assist claims managers in applying the provisions of the SRC Act.
A new series of good work design team talks is now available to help managers discuss good work design with their teams and better manage psychosocial risks at work.
An updated edition of Comcare's Health and Safety Representatives Handbook is now available.
Designed for health practitioners, this webinar is designed to provide strategies for practitioners to assist clients/patients with chronic pain to participate in work that benefits their health and wellbeing.
Earlier this year we surveyed our employers about their experiences with Comcare. Their feedback has been useful in guiding our work.
An innovative approach to restoring a World War II artefact, a mental health program at a major construction project, and a national initiative to support injured workers are among the winners of the 2023 Comcare National Work Health and Safety Award.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has published new ABS Life Tables 2020–2022. The Life Tables are applied to calculate redemption lump sum amounts under section 137 of the SRC Act.
The Department of Defence has been charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws over a vehicle rollover that killed two soldiers in Queensland.
Greg Vines joined Comcare as its CEO in April 2023 after 10 years as the Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization in Geneva. He shares what’s important to him in taking on this role.
The Department of Defence has been charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws after two soldiers were attacked by a crocodile in far north Queensland.
Comcare has produced a suite of free micro learning modules (micro learns) to help raise awareness and build manager capability to design good work.
Too many Australians leave work due to ill health, injury or disability. Since 2017, The Collaborative Partnership to improve work participation has been working to break down barriers in our systems and culture to enable more Australians to engage in good work.
Registrations are open for Comcare's upcoming webinar on 2023-24 Regulatory Priorities and Incident Management.
Comcare has developed new resources on ways to reduce mental health-related stigma in the workplace and encourage wellbeing at work every day.
Comcare welcomes today’s Australian National Audit Office report into the management of workers’ compensation claims in the Commonwealth scheme.
Designed for GPs and medical practitioners, this webinar will enhance your ability to support people with PTSD to participate in meaningful work that promotes their mental health and wellbeing.
Construction company Lendlease has been fined $100,000 over a workplace safety incident that seriously injured a worker at a Perth Defence base.
National waste management company Cleanaway has been charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws over an incident that injured a Canberra worker.
Comcare has published new statutory rates under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act).
Comcare has published its new fee guidance for Workplace Rehabilitation Providers which will take effect on 1 July 2023.
Defence contractor Thales Australia has been convicted and fined $450,000 for safety failures that resulted in the death of a worker at its Bendigo factory.
The Collaborative Partnership is excited to announce that the Principles on the role of the GP in supporting work participation have been included in the RACGP Curriculum and Syllabus for Australian General Practice 2022.
Comcare has produced a suite of evidence-based resources, including videos and better practice guidance, to help raise awareness and build manager capability to design good work for their teams.
Updated self-paced training on the permanent impairment provisions to assist claims managers in applying the provisions of the SRC Act.
Comcare has released two new scheme guidance publications to assist claims managers in applying the provisions of the SRC Act.
Important changes to Commonwealth work health and safety laws are now in force.
New Guide to the Assessment of the Degree of Permanent Impairment – Edition 3.0 under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 in effect from 1 April 2023.
Work demands are among the most common sources of workplace stress and psychological harm and may include role overload, unrealistic time pressures, ambiguity or conflict, cognitive and emotional demands of the job, conflict arising from tasks, relationships, change management, a lack of organisational justice and a worker’s sense of fairness at work.
New Guide to the Assessment of the Degree of Permanent Impairment – Edition 3.0 under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 in effect from 1 April 2023.
The legislative instrument that provides for the current Guide to the Assessment of the Degree of Permanent Impairment – Edition 2.1 made under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act) will sunset on 1 April 2023.
The Comcare National Work Health and Safety Awards is back to a face-to-face event this year. The Awards recognise and reward excellence in workplace health and safety achieved by employers and individuals operating across the Comcare scheme. The Awards will be presented in Canberra on Thursday 9 November 2023.
Nominations for the 2023 Comcare National Work Health and Safety Awards are now open.
Comcare training is designed and targeted to the various roles and responsibilities relevant to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) (WHS Act) and Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act).
Expansion to the prescribed cancers list for firefighters under the SRC Act with effect from 17 December 2022.
Changes to the presumptive firefighter provisions under the SRC Act came into effect on 7 December 2022.
Comcare has released two new scheme guidance publications to assist claims managers in applying the provisions of the SRC Act.
Comcare has updated its notification requirements for COVID-19 cases in workplaces.
View our new videos and resources on supporting recovery and return to work. They explain the return to work process, show the health benefits of a safe, timely and durable return to work, roles and responsibilities, and better practices in supporting employees to return to work.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has published new Life Tables, States, Territories and Australia 2019 - 2021. The Life Tables are applied to calculate redemption lump sum amounts under section 137 of the SRC Act.
Comcare welcomes today’s Commonwealth Ombudsman report on improving the administration of Independent Medical Examinations (IMEs).
Heavy rainfall and flash flooding are forecast to continue across many parts Australia in the coming days. It’s important for employers and workers, in flood prone or affected areas, to understand how to respond, manage risks and stay safe.
Designed for GPs, medical practitioners and those working in the RTW space, this webinar will enhance how you engage with workplaces to support a client’s recovery and participation in work that improves their health and wellbeing.
A new national position paper from work health and safety regulators has found significant shortcomings in manual handling training available to Australian workers.
The draft Guide to the Assessment of the Degree of Permanent Impairment (Edition 3) and associated consultation documents, including a summary of changes, are now available for review and feedback.
A 72% recovery rate was recorded from workers from across the Australian Public Service who made use of the NewAccess workplaces mental health coaching service.
A 12-month transition support pilot provided to 50 injured workers exiting the Victorian Workers’ Compensation system has shown benefits to the health and wellbeing for participants.
The Department of Defence has been charged with breaching Commonwealth work health and safety laws for allegedly failing to manage psychological risks in relation to the death of a worker.
Defence contractor Thales Australia Limited has been charged with breaching Commonwealth work health and safety laws over the death of a worker at a manufacturing facility in Victoria.
53% of people reported not having enough income to cover essential living costs as they transition from one income support system to another according to the study.
Comcare has published its new fee guidance for Workplace Rehabilitation Providers which will take effect on 1 July 2022.
Comcare has published new statutory rates under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act).
Injured and unwell workers covered under the Comcare scheme are returning to work at high rates according to data from the 2021 National Return to Work Survey.
John Holland will deliver safety improvements worth more than $1.2 million that will benefit the construction industry nationally, through an Enforceable Undertaking accepted by Comcare.
Join us on 7 and 8 June at the National Convention Centre in Canberra for an exciting program of keynotes, panels and networking opportunities at the 2022 Comcare National Conference.
Designed for GPs and medical practitioners, this webinar will show you how “good work” can further support the mental health and wellbeing of people experiencing psychological injury.
The Work Health and Safety Year in Review report for 2021 details compliance and enforcement activities that promote and enable safe and healthy work across the Commonwealth jurisdiction.
What does a healthy truck driver ‘look like’ and how can drivers stay healthy on the road are some of the topics covered in the free Driving Health seminar series this March.
Early bird tickets are now on sale for the 2022 Comcare National Conference, and our opening keynote speakers Future Crunch will set the scene with their presentation on How to embrace intelligent optimism and adapt in a new era.
All medical, pharmaceutical and allied health providers are eligible to submit workers’ compensation claim-related invoices to Comcare digitally through Medipass.
A national transport and logistics company has been convicted and fined $300,000 for breaching federal work health and safety laws in an incident that caused severe injuries to a worker.
The Bureau of Meteorology recently declared a La Niña, the climate driver typically associated with wet conditions for eastern, northern and central parts of Australia over summer.
Key findings from Australia’s largest national research project to improve the health and wellbeing of truck drivers will be shared as part of a new webinar series to be held throughout this month.
The Department of Defence has been convicted and fined $1 million under federal work health and safety laws over the death of a soldier during a training exercise in the Northern Territory.
The penalty is the largest recorded for the Commonwealth WHS jurisdiction.
Comcare recently invited stakeholders to make a submission on the proposed removal of the imposed condition on all plant registrations that ‘a registration holder must notify Comcare annually of any maintenance, repair, inspection or testing of an item of plant’.
This research will enable an understanding of the use and practices of cross-sector services. It will help identify areas of duplication and provide insights into the best opportunities for alignment across services, sectors and systems.
The Royal Australian Mint has been charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws after a three-tonne coin press almost fell on a worker in Canberra.
Efforts to keep a large APS workforce COVID-safe, innovations in handling Defence Force explosives, and a program to reduce recovery times for long-term injuries are among the winners of the 2021 Comcare National Work Health and Safety Awards.
International Labour Organization (ILO) has highlighted the importance of creating and investing in resilient workplace health and safety (WHS) systems as the focus of World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2021.
Comcare has established a specialist team of inspectors to focus on work health and safety risks at major infrastructure projects across Australia.
The Department of Defence has been convicted and fined $350,000 under federal work health and safety laws after a worker was critically injured during a maintenance operation in Queensland.
CSIRO will spend $1.5 million on workplace health and safety improvements that will also benefit the broader research community under a commitment endorsed by Comcare.
The Department of Home Affairs and its healthcare provider International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) have been charged with breaching Commonwealth work health and safety laws over the death of a man in immigration detention.
Construction company John Holland has been charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws over a dangerous incident at a prison development in northern NSW.
A national transport and logistics company has been charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws over an incident that severely injured a worker in Adelaide.
Comcare has a continued focus on mental health safety and wellbeing by promoting the health benefits of good work.
Australia will begin a two-year transition to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals Revision 7 (GHS 7) from 1 January 2021.
A new mandatory safety standard for quad bikes comes into effect nationally in October 2020.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says quad bike-related fatalities have almost doubled this year - 14 people, including three children, compared with eight deaths in the whole of 2019.
Construction company John Holland has been charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws over an incident that severely injured a worker on the Sydney Metro rail project.
The Minister has now made the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Specified Laws) Amendment Declaration 2020 (the Amendment Declaration) updating the list of specified State and Territory laws under section 119 of the SRC Act.
The workplace exposure standard (WES) for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is being reduced in the Comcare jurisdiction.
The Department of Defence has been convicted and fined $300,000 after a Sydney high school student was seriously injured during an army cadet camp
Three companies have been charged over two separate incidents that caused injuries to workers during the redevelopment of Perth’s Campbell Barracks.
Construction company John Holland and two contractors are facing federal work health and safety charges over an incident that injured a worker at Perth’s NorthLink road project.
The Department of the Environment and Energy and a helicopter contractor have been charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws in relation to a fatality in Antarctica.
Waste management company Cleanaway has been convicted and fined $650,000 over a chemical fire in Adelaide that injured an employee.
Federal work health and safety regulator Comcare today began legal proceedings against national waste management company Cleanaway over a truck crash that killed two people in Adelaide.
