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Changes to legislation

Changes to the Return to Work Act 2014 - what you need to know

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What has changed?

New laws started on 1 December 2024 that make South Australia’s work injury insurance system fairer and easier to understand for everyone involved.

The changes aim to:

  • give better protection to injured workers returning to work
  • help workers with dust diseases or terminal conditions access their entitlements more quickly
  • clarify employer responsibilities.

Read the Summary of Changes

Read the Return to Work Act 2014

Read the Return to Work (Employment and Progressive Injuries) Amendment Act 2024

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What employers need to know

  • You have an obligation to provide suitable employment for injured workers when they have some capacity to return to work.
  • If a worker makes a formal request (in writing  with medical evidence) to be provided with suitable employment, you have one month to respond.
  • The Tribunal can order specific working conditions and compensation if suitable employment is not provided.
  • Employers are not obligated to offer suitable employment if the worker has been terminated for serious and wilful misconduct.
  • Employers' costs in relation to a suitable employment dispute will be paid for in the same way as workers.

Employers have a duty to provide suitable employment to an injured worker once that worker has some capacity and can return to work. In most cases this happens easily, with little need of any intervention.

However, if you have a worker wishing to return from injury and have not provided them with suitable employment, they are required to advise you in writing of their request for suitable employment, and the type of employment they consider they’re capable of performing, if they wish to utilise the process provided for in the Act. This must be supported by evidence of the worker’s capacity for work.

As the employer, you then have one month to consider their request and advise them in writing whether you will provide suitable employment, either of the kind requested or any other kind of employment you are willing to provide. You must give reasons for any refusal to provide suitable employment or why you are proposing alternative employment options. They can also ask ReturnToWorkSA to investigate and take action regarding a failure to provide suitable employment. If you and the worker cannot agree on suitable employment, the worker then has one month to make an application to the Tribunal to deal with the dispute.

If the Tribunal orders that the injured worker should have been provided suitable employment, it can now specify certain aspects of the employment to be provided. These can include the nature and range of duties, any adjustments to be made to enable the worker to perform those duties and the number of hours to be worked.

The Tribunal can also now order the employer to make a payment to the injured worker for the wages or salary they would have received if the suitable employment had been provided. To avoid double dipping, the Tribunal will take into account any remuneration the worker received from other employment during the intervening period.

If you are a self-insured employer

If you are a self-insured employer in a group, the obligation to provide suitable employment is across the whole group and not just to the pre-injury employer. For example, a worker injured while working at a supermarket within a corporate group could be provided with suitable employment at an automotive outlet instead, that is a part of the same corporate group. Similarly, a worker injured in one government agency could be offered suitable employment in a different agency. New provisions allow the Tribunal to direct suitable employment within self-insured groups, ensuring fair treatment and reducing the risk of prolonged disputes.

If you are a labour hire employer and/or host employer

There are also changes affecting labour hire employers and host employers, as defined in the Act. Host employers are now required to cooperate with labour hire providers by communicating about suitable employment options, participating in return to work planning and providing access to the workplace by the injured worker for the performance of duties. For clarity, there is nothing in the Act that requires a host employer to directly employ a labour hire worker following a work injury - it is expected the injured worker will remain employed by their pre-injury labour hire employer.

This is a precis of the detail; however, the changes to the Act may be read in their entirety at the link here- external site- external site.

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What injured workers need to know

  • Your employer must provide suitable employment when you have some capacity and are ready to return to work following a work injury.
  • If they haven’t offered you work, you can send them a written request, with medical evidence supporting your capacity to work.  This will need to confirm that you are ready, willing and able to return to work with the employer and provide information about the type of employment that you consider you are capable of performing.
  • Your employer must reply in writing within one month. If they refuse or offer different work, they must give reasons.
  • If you don’t agree with their decision, you can take your case to the South Australian Employment Tribunal and/ or submit a Non-Compliance Referral Form to ReturnToWorkSA to assist.
  • The Tribunal can order your employer to provide suitable work and pay you wages or salary you would have received if suitable employment had been provided – taking int account any payment you received from other employment during the intervening period.
  • If you work for a self-insured employer in a group, the obligation to provide suitable employment extends across the group and not just to the employer where you were employed pre-injury.
  • There are also changes affecting labour hire employers and host employers as defined in the Act. The Act now requires host employers to cooperate with labour hire providers by communicating about suitable employment options, participating in return to work planning and providing access to the workplace for the performance of employment by the injured worker.
  • If you have a terminal condition, you don’t have to wait for your condition to have ‘stabilised’ before you can have a permanent impairment assessment, which is required to access lump sum compensation.

From 17 July 2025, there are new provisions if you have a prescribed dust disease

You don’t have to wait for your condition to have ‘stabilised’ before you can have a permanent impairment assessment, which is required to access lump sum compensation.You can elect whether your average weekly earnings are calculated with reference to either the date you were exposed to the hazardous dust/fibre that caused your injury, or the date that you were diagnosed with the dust disease.

Prescribed dust diseases are: asbestosis, asbestos induced carcinoma, asbestos related pleural disease, mesothelioma, pneumoconiosis (including silicosis) and other conditions in so far as they are caused by exposure to crystalline silica.

As always, if you have questions, we encourage you to call 08 8233 2545 or email silicosis@rtwsa.com

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What health practitioners need to know

  • Medical evidence is required for injured workers requesting suitable employment.
  • Workers with a terminal condition, asbestosis, asbestos induced carcinoma, asbestos related pleural disease, mesothelioma, pneumoconiosis (including silicosis) and other conditions in so far as they are caused by exposure to crystalline silica can access a permanent impairment assessment even though their condition has not ‘stabilised’. .
  • Only a medical practitioner can determine if a condition is terminal (incurable and likely to cause death).
  • Employers or claims agents (Employers Mutual and Gallagher Bassett) are not allowed to be present while an injured worker is being physically examined, or treated or  undergoing any diagnostic examinations or test required for treatment purposes, unless the worker gives permission using a Consent form. You can ask to see the worker’s consent form before allowing others to attend medical appointments.
  • Employers and claims agents can attend appointments to discuss the worker’s recovery and return to work.

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Contact us

If you require further assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us on 13 18 55 or by email at info@rtwsa.com.

Media release

You can read ReturnToWorkSA’s media release regarding the Return to Work (Employment and Progressive Injuries) Amendment Act 2024 here- external site- external site.

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