Rehabilitation management system and auditing
Comcare recommends that rehabilitation authorities (who are usually the employer) develop and maintain a rehabilitation management system.
This system can help you meet obligations under legislation and can provide better rehabilitation services to employees.
What a rehabilitation management system includes
A rehabilitation management system can support your organisation to meet its requirements under the Guidelines for Rehabilitation Authorities Instrument 2019 (PDF, 247.1 KB).
As an employer, an effective rehabilitation management system is a framework of processes and procedures you can use to:
- achieve the safe and efficient recovery and return to work of employees with a work-related injury or illness
- meet requirements of the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act)
- comply with the Guidelines for Rehabilitation Authorities Instrument 2019 (PDF, 247.1 KB)
- comply with the Guide for Arranging Rehabilitation Assessments and Requiring Examinations 2024.
A rehabilitation management system should support:
- commitment and corporate governance
- planning and implementation
- measurement and evaluation
- review and improvement.
Rehabilitation management system audits
Audits of rehabilitation management systems and gaining a certification of compliance are no longer required under the Guidelines for Rehabilitation Authorities 2019.
Comcare may, however, still carry out an audit to support your organisation to meet its requirements.
Audit tool
Comcare’s Rehabilitation Management System audit tool (PDF, 251.8 KB) includes the key parts of a rehabilitation management system in the Comcare scheme.
This tool is used to assess rehabilitation management systems and to identify areas to improve.
Who conducts an audit
Audits can be completed by an internal auditor, if you have one. They can also be completed by an external auditor.
Auditors should:
- be independent of the rehabilitation area
- know the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act)
- have relevant experience, which includes appropriate audit training, qualifications and experience.
You can find guidance on how to assess the competence of an auditor in chapter 7 – Competence and evaluation of auditors, International Standard ISO 19011 – Guidelines for auditing management systems.
Frequency of audits
To determine how often audits should be carried out and the scope of audits, carry out a risk assessment.
The risk assessment should consider your organisation's:
- rehabilitation and return to work outcomes
- size
- average number of rehabilitation cases managed and how complex they are
- level of compliance in previous findings
- capability and the experience of staff managing and delivering rehabilitation and return to work.
We recommend that employers audit at least once every three years.
Rehabilitation compliance of self-insured licensees
In applying for a self-insurance licence, applicants need to demonstrate that an appropriate rehabilitation management system is in place. This is checked as part of a regular monitoring system.
See Self-insured licensees for information about what is required to comply.
