Return to work
Also known as: RTW
Return-to-work is the structured pathway by which an injured or ill worker resumes work, typically through staged suitable duties under a written RTW plan. Each Australian state has its own statutory scheme (e.g. NSW SIRA, Vic WorkSafe, Qld WorkCover) with employer obligations including timelines, designated coordinators and plan reviews.
Legal context
Return-to-work obligations live primarily in state workers' compensation legislation, not in the model WHS Act. Each scheme imposes employer duties: provide suitable duties where reasonably practicable, prepare a written RTW plan, designate a return-to-work coordinator at a threshold (e.g. NSW 20+ workers, Qld 30+), review the plan periodically, and engage with the treating medical practitioner and the insurer. New Zealand has the no-fault ACC scheme: the employer carries first-week liability at 80% wage replacement (s97 ACC Act 2001), then ACC takes over from week 2. Privacy obligations on worker health information apply throughout (Privacy Act 1988 in AU, Privacy Act 2020 in NZ).
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Related terms
Suitable duties
Suitable duties are work tasks an injured or ill worker can do during recovery, matched to their current medical capacity. Employers must offer suitable duties so far as is reasonably practicable; they are the primary mechanism by which a graduated return-to-work occurs.
Fit for work
Fit for work means a worker is in a physical and mental state to do their work safely — free from impairment by fatigue, alcohol, drugs, illness or injury. The fitness-for-work duty sits on both the PCBU (to provide a system) and the worker (to declare).
ACC (NZ)
ACC is the Accident Compensation Corporation — New Zealand's no-fault, universal, public accident-injury compensation scheme. ACC covers everyone in NZ for personal injury by accident regardless of fault, replacing the right to sue for personal injury damages in most cases.
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47 WHS and HSWA terms with legal context, FAQs and regulator references.