[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]More than half a million Australians sustain a work-related injury or illness each year. The various impacts on affected workers can be devastating and frequently reverberate more widely through families and communities.

In addition to the immediate personal toll, work-related injury and illness also impose costs on the Australian health system and the economy through loss of productivity income.

Originally scheduled for release in April 2020, Safe Work Australia Members agreed to delay the NRTW Survey by 12 months due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Safe Work Australia have now published findings from the 2021 National Return to Work Survey, including key metrics, insights and time series data.

The biennial survey measures outcomes of ill and injured workers receiving workers’ compensation to better understand their experiences and factors that may influence their return to work.

The survey is a key data source guiding the delivery of the National Return to Work Strategy 2020-2030 and between 22 June and 30 September 2021, a total of 4588 people across Australia were surveyed over the telephone by the Social Research Centre.

New to the report, the 2021 survey also explores the impact of COVID-19 on recovery and return to work. Safe Work Australia have cautioned that the results of this Survey should also be considered in the broader context of the COVID-19 pandemic when comparing data over previous periods.

Key findings from the survey include:

• The vast majority (91.6%) of all workers surveyed in 2021 reported having returned to work at some time since their work-related injury or illness. This total Returned to Work Rate was broadly consistent with the previous results in 2014, 2016 and 2018, and across jurisdictions, with all except Seacare (66.2%) and Victoria (89.6%) reporting a Returned to Work Rate above 90 per cent.
• 81.3% of workers reported they had returned to work at some stage since their work-related injury or illness and were currently working, which was also broadly consistent with the 2014, 2016, and 2018 results.
• Of those respondents asked about the impact of COVID-19 on their recovery and return to work most stated that the pandemic had no impact (around 73%).

Despite broadly consistent overall RTW rates in 2021 compared to previous years, there were some negative trends across other measures:

• Self-reported health has declined since 2016. A significantly greater proportion of respondents rated their health ‘Fair’ or ‘Poor’ in 2021 (31.5%) and 2018 (30.1%), compared to 2016 (21.9%) and 2014 (23.7%)
• Unsuccessful RTW attempts continue to increase. Despite steady headline measures, 2021 continued to see a significant increase in the proportion of unsuccessful RTW attempts (those who had to take additional time off since returning to work, due to their work-related injury or illness), at 25.2% (compared to 19.6% in 2018, which was also significantly higher than the 15.9% seen in 2016).
• Perceptions of employer support have reduced since 2018. There were significant declines in 2021 across all six statements which measure employer support (61.0% to 74.4%) compared to 2018 (65.2% to 79.5%).

There were also some positive observations:

• Reduced financial distress. 24.7% of workers surveyed reported experiencing relatively high levels of financial distress (7 or above out of 10, where 1 is not at all stressed and 10 is as stressed as can be), which was significantly lower than the 28.6% in 2018.
• Employer interactions are generally positive. Most workers reported receiving contact from their employer about their recovery (63.4%) and/or a RTW coordinator (57.3%), with only a small proportion (14.1%) of those who were contacted by a RTW coordinator reporting their interactions were stressful (consistent with previous years).
• Healthcare provider interactions are generally not stressful.  A low proportion of respondents overall reported feeling that their interactions with healthcare providers were stressful (12.3%, consistent with previous years).
• Most workers felt they could easily access medical care.  Overall, 86.2% of workers reported that they were able to access the medical treatment or services needed for their work-related injury or illness (consistent with previous years).

Learn more in the 2021 National Return to Work Survey Summary report.

Source: SafeWork Australia, 21 February 2022[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]