Safe Work Australia has published the Australian workers' compensation statistics 2020-21 report, which provides the latest national statistics on accepted serious workers' compensation claims.
2020-21 key findings:
- There were 130,195 serious workers' compensation claims.
- 13% of serious claims were for illness and diseases. Of these, mental health conditions were the most common.
- The 3 occupations with the highest frequency rates of serious claims were:
- labourers
- community and personal service workers
- machinery operators and drivers.
- The 3 industries with the highest rate of serious claims were:
- agriculture, forestry and fishing
- health care and social assistance, and
- manufacturing.
- 87% of serious claims were for injuries. The 3 most common injury types were:
- traumatic joint/ligament and muscle/tendon injuries (40% of all serious claims)
- musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases (16%)
- wounds, lacerations, amputations and internal organ damage (15%).
Key findings from the trend analysis to 2019-20:
- The number of serious claims fell 7% from 133,041 claims in 2000-01 to 122,801 claims in 2019-20.
- The median time lost for a serious claim was 7 working weeks. The median compensation paid was $15,100.
- While a relatively low proportion of claims relate to occupational violence, such injuries are on the rise. Serious claims for Being assaulted by a person or persons have more than doubled since 2000-01 (up by 177%).
This report complements and provides additional detail to Key Work Health and Safety Statistics report published on 7 November 2022.
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