According to the latest data released by Safe Work Australia, the rate of serious claims is falling but time lost from work is rising. Males account for 64% of claims with 90% of overall claims due to injury and musculoskeletal disorders. 

The Australian Workers’ Compensation Statistics 2014-15 report provides detailed workers’ compensation statistics, including preliminary claim data for 2014-15 and an analysis of claims over time.

Now in it’s fourth year, the Australian Workers’ Compensation publication looks at information surrounding work-related injuries and diseases, trends over time and statistics on time lost from work and compensation paid. Data is presented by key variables such as industry, occupation, age group and sex. 

The Compendium of Workers’ Compensation Statistics publication was discontinued and replaced by the Australian Workers’ Compensation Statistics publication due to a major revision of the publication’s format and a change in the scope of serious workers’ compensation claims. As a result, data in the two publications are not comparable. 

Key findings in the 2014-15 report include:

• the rate of serious claims has fallen by 33 per cent between 2000-01 and 2013-14;
• the median time lost from work rose by 33 per cent to 5.6 working weeks between 2000-01 and 2013-14;
• labourers had the highest rate of workers’ compensation claims in 2014-15;
• the health care and social assistance industry had the highest number of claims in 2014-15 and the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry has the highest rate.

For more information or to download the full report, please visit the Safe Work Australia website.

Source: Safe Work Australia, 31 March 2017