Administrative and scheme delivery changes
WorkCover Queensland Strategy 2030
In June 2025, WorkCover Queensland’s new Strategy 2030 (the Strategy) was approved. The Strategy is a whole of organisation strategy that will invest in people and culture, customer service, technology, risk, financial management, partnerships with providers, employers and stakeholders.
Key metrics include reducing the duration of claims, increasing return to work rates, increasing customer satisfaction (workers and employers) and employee engagement.
Mental Health and Injury
WorkCover’s Mental Health and Injury Project is underway to build enhancements to the claims journey for primary and secondary mental injuries.
Policy developments
Compliance notices
Amendments to the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 in August 2024 expanded the enforcement tools available to the Workers’ Compensation Regulator by introducing compliance notices.
The Office of Industrial Relations has introduced a Workers’ Compensation Regulator - Compliance Notice Policy to provide transparency and consistency to scheme stakeholders around its approach, decision-making principles and other factors that may be considered by an authorised person when deciding whether to issue a notice.
Steps have also been taken to update the Office of Industrial Relations’ Compliance and Enforcement Policy to include the full range of regulatory tools currently available. This policy has been renamed the Workers’ Compensation Regulator - Compliance and Enforcement Framework.
Development of workers’ compensation regulatory strategy and priority plan
The Office of Industrial Relations commenced work on an overall scheme-wide risk assessment for the Queensland workers’ compensation scheme. The outcomes of this risk assessment will help provide a clear and concise indicator of where regulatory effort should be spent and will assist with the development of its overarching regulatory strategy and workers’ compensation priority plan.
Legislative amendments
On 1 September 2025, the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2025 replaced the expired Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2014.
The new regulation followed a sunset review of the expired regulation, which evaluated the continuing need, effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory provisions. Scheme stakeholders were consulted as part of this process.
The new regulation retains the overall policy intent of the expired regulation and makes minor and technical changes to improve clarity, remove duplicative or obsolete provisions, and align with contemporary drafting standards.