The most recent Worker’s compensation statistics were released by Safe Work Australia in early 2017. The three industries with the highest number of serious claims were labourers, community and personal service workers and machinery operators and drivers.
A serious claim is an accepted workers’ compensation claim for an incapacity that results in a total absence from work of one working week or more. Claims in receipt of common-law payments are also included. Claims arising from a journey to or from work or during a recess period are not compensable in all jurisdictions and are excluded.
Surprisingly there is no mention of claims for “stress” or mental injury recorded in the summary, buried within the document is the following;
Diseases led to 10 per cent of serious claims and the most common diseases were mental disorders (5.7 per cent).
A higher percentage of female employees’ serious claims arose from mental disorders (over 9 per cent for females versus just under 4 per cent for male employees).
Mental stress accounted for 5 750 claims, some 5.4% of the total number of claims. Mental stress as apercentage of total claims has been consistent for many years
Number of serious claims by nature of injury or disease, 2000–01 and 2009-10 to 2014–15p
| Nature of injury or disease | 2000-01 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | % chg | 2014-15p |
| Mental disorders | 6 620 | 8 095 | 8 735 | 8 355 | 7 680 | 6 685 | 1% | 6 130 |
Serious claims: median time lost (working weeks) and compensation paid by mechanism of injury or disease, 2000−01 and 2009–10 to 2013–14
| Mechanism of injury or disease | 2000-01 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | % chg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Summary of statistics
Preliminary data show that there were 107 355 serious workers’ compensation claims in 2014–15, which equates to 6.5 serious claims per million hours worked.
Between 2000–01 and 2013–14, the frequency rate of serious claims fell by 33 per cent from 9.5 serious claims per million hours worked to 6.3.
In 2014–15, the frequency rate for male employees was 7.2 serious claims per million hours worked, while the frequency rate for female employees was 5.5.
In 2014–15, the three occupations with the highest number of serious claims per million hours worked were Labourers (18.6), Community and personal serviceworkers (12.4), and Machinery operators and drivers (11.8).
In 2014–15, the three industries with the highest number of serious claims per million hours worked were Agriculture, forestry and fishing (13.7),
Construction (9.8) and Manufacturing (9.3).
In 2014-15, injury and musculoskeletal disorders led to 90 per cent of serious claims and the most common were Traumatic joint/ligament and muscle/tendon injuries (43.8 per cent). Diseases led to 10 per cent of serious claims and the most common were Mental disorders (5.7 per cent).
Muscular stress while lifting or handling objects caused 32 per cent of serious claims in 2014–15, while Falls, trips and slips led to 23 per cent of serious claims.
Between 2000–01 and 2013–14, the median time lost for a serious claim rose by 33 per cent from 4.2 working weeks to 5.6. In 2013–14, the median time lost for a serious claim was 5.4 working weeks for male employees and 6.0 working weeks for female employees.
Between 2000–01 and 2013–14, the median compensation paid for a serious claim rose by 94 per cent from $5 200 to $10 100. In 2013–14, the
median compensation paid for a serious claim was $10 900 for male employees and $8 900 for female employees. When accounting for wage inflation, however, median compensation paid for serious claims increased by 23 per cent between 2000–01 and 2013–14, directly comparable with the increase in median time lost.
In 2014–15, the bodily location most commonly affected by injuries and diseases that led to serious claims was the Back (21 per cent). Other common bodily locations were the Hand, fingers and thumb (13 per cent), Shoulder (11 per cent), and Knee (10 per cent).
The rate of serious claims per 1000 employees is highest in metropolitan areas (10.6 claims per 1000 employees)
Between 2009-10 and 2014-15, 69 per cent of serious claims in Agriculture, forestry and fishing occurred in regional areas, while 61 per cent of serious claims in Mining occurred in regional and remote areas. In the same period, 85 per cent of serious claims in Finance and insurance services occurred in metropolitan areas.
Human agencies were the most common breakdown agency for serious claims in metropolitan (13 per cent of all claims) and regional areas (13 per cent), while Outdoor environment (16 per cent of claims) and Road transport (13 per cent) where the most common breakdown agencies in remote areas.
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