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NSW Psychological Injury Claims: Cost and Return-to-Work Statistics
Key figures (NSW Treasurer's Ministerial Statement to Parliament, 18 March 2025): The average cost of a psychological injury claim in NSW's workers compensation scheme rose from $146,000 in 2019-20 to $288,542 in 2024-25, an increase of about 98% in five years. Psychological claims are 12% of all claims but 38% of total scheme cost. The number of claims has doubled in six years, while all other injury types combined grew just 16%. Just 40% of workers with psychological injuries were still off work after one year, against an 88% return-to-work rate within 13 weeks for physical injuries. All figures are NSW-specific, from a single named government source, not a national estimate.
Last updated: July 2026
Every headline figure on this page comes from one named, dated, primary government source: a Ministerial Statement delivered to the NSW Parliament by the State Treasurer on 18 March 2025. Where this page also references national statistics for context, they are clearly labelled and never blended into the NSW-specific figures. See our companion pages for the national claims-growth trend and for ABS injury-survey and SIRA fee-schedule detail.
1. The average cost of a psychological injury claim has nearly doubled
In a Ministerial Statement to the NSW Legislative Council on 18 March 2025, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey told Parliament: "The average cost of a psychological injury claim has increased from $146,000 in 2019-20 to $288,542 in 2024-25." That is an increase of $142,542, or approximately 98%, in five financial years.
| Financial year | Average cost per claim | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | $146,000 | NSW Treasurer, Ministerial Statement, 18 March 2025 |
| 2024-25 | $288,542 |
Average cost per accepted psychological injury claim, NSW workers compensation scheme. NSW Government, Workers Compensation Ministerial Statement, 18 March 2025.
This is the average cost of an accepted claim to the scheme - covering weekly income payments, medical and psychological treatment, and any lump-sum compensation over the life of the claim. It is not an out-of-pocket figure for the worker; approved treatment, including psychology sessions, is funded directly by the insurer with no gap fee (see our cost and fees guide). The rise reflects a combination of more claims, longer claim duration, and higher treatment and income-support costs per claim, rather than any single cause.
2. Psychological claims are 12% of claims but 38% of total cost
The same statement quantified the disproportion directly: "Psychological claims now make up 12% of total workers compensation claims but 38% of the total cost." In other words, roughly one in eight NSW workers compensation claims is a psychological injury claim, but those claims account for more than a third of everything the scheme spends.
| Measure | Psychological injury claims |
|---|---|
| Share of all claims | 12% |
| Share of total scheme cost | 38% |
Source: NSW Treasurer, Ministerial Statement to the NSW Legislative Council, 18 March 2025.
3. Claim numbers have doubled in six years
The statement also gave a claim-count growth figure specific to the NSW scheme: "The number of psychological injury claims has doubled in six years. By comparison, all other injuries have grown by just 16% during that same period."
4. The return-to-work gap
The Treasurer's statement also addressed outcomes, not just cost. In consecutive sentences, he told Parliament: "88% of workers who suffer from physical injuries on average have returned to work within 13 weeks." He then added: "But 40% of workers with psychological injuries are still languishing in the system after one year off work."
| Injury type | Outcome measure | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Physical injury | Returned to work within 13 weeks | 88% |
| Psychological injury | Still off work after one year | 40% |
Source: NSW Treasurer, Ministerial Statement to the NSW Legislative Council, 18 March 2025. These two figures measure different things - a 13-week return rate for physical injuries and a one-year-still-off rate for psychological injuries - not two sides of the same percentage. We report them exactly as the Treasurer presented them (back to back, introduced by "But") rather than converting them into a single derived ratio.
Whatever the precise arithmetic relationship, the direction is unambiguous: workers with a psychological injury in the NSW scheme are, on the government's own account, substantially less likely to have returned to work within a comparable timeframe than workers with a physical injury. This is consistent with the longer recovery times reported elsewhere in the public data - see our full data reference page for the ABS finding that psychological injuries average 43.7 days off work nationally, the longest of any injury category.
5. What this means for workers and the scheme
The NSW Treasurer presented these figures as the government's own case for reform - not as a criticism of injured workers, but as evidence that the system managing their claims needed to change. A few things follow from the data itself:
- The cost pressure is real and NSW-specific. A claim type costing the scheme, on average, $288,542 - roughly double what it cost five years earlier - is a genuine driver of the reforms that took effect from 1 July 2026 (see our 2026 reform guide for what changed and what didn't).
- None of this changes what an individual worker with an accepted claim is entitled to for treatment. Approved psychological treatment, including telehealth sessions, continues to be funded with no gap fee regardless of these scheme-wide cost figures - see our cost and fees guide.
- The return-to-work gap points to the value of early, consistent access to treatment. The government's own figures show psychological injury claims resolve far more slowly than physical ones. Timely access to a SIRA-approved psychologist - including by telehealth, which removes the need to travel while unwell - is one of the few levers an individual worker and their treating psychologist can influence directly.
If you have an accepted or potential psychological injury claim in NSW and are looking for a SIRA-approved psychologist who offers telehealth sessions, browse listed practitioners, or you can tell us what you need and we'll point you to a relevant match.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a psychological injury claim cost NSW's workers compensation scheme?
The average cost of a psychological injury claim rose from $146,000 in 2019-20 to $288,542 in 2024-25, an increase of about 98% in five years, according to the NSW Treasurer's March 2025 statement to Parliament. This is the scheme's average cost per accepted claim, not an amount paid by the worker.
What share of NSW workers compensation costs come from psychological injury claims?
Psychological claims are 12% of all NSW workers compensation claims but 38% of the scheme's total cost, per the same statement.
Have psychological injury claims in NSW grown faster than other injury types?
Yes - the Treasurer said claim numbers have doubled in six years, versus 16% growth for all other injury types combined. This is a separate, NSW-specific, six-year figure, distinct from Safe Work Australia's often-cited national 161%-over-a-decade statistic; the two use different geographies and time windows and should not be combined.
Do workers with psychological injuries return to work as quickly as workers with physical injuries?
No. The Treasurer cited 88% of physical-injury workers returning to work within 13 weeks, against 40% of psychological-injury workers still off work after one year - different measures of outcome, but both pointing to a substantial gap.
Where do these statistics come from?
A single primary source: the NSW Treasurer's Ministerial Statement to the NSW Legislative Council, delivered 18 March 2025 and published on the NSW Government's official ministerial releases page.
Sources
- NSW Government. Workers Compensation Ministerial Statement. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, NSW Legislative Council. 18 March 2025. nsw.gov.au - confirmed live 16 July 2026.
- Safe Work Australia. Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025. Published October 2025. data.safeworkaustralia.gov.au - cited for context only in Section 3; confirmed still the current edition as of 16 July 2026 (no 2026 edition published yet).
Cite or share this data
This compilation is openly licensed under CC BY 4.0. You may reproduce or embed figures with attribution. The underlying figures remain the NSW Government's own, as delivered in the Treasurer's Ministerial Statement.
Suggested citation:
Workers Comp Psychologist Sydney. "NSW Psychological Injury Claims: Cost and Return-to-Work Statistics." July 2026. workerscomppsychologist.com.au/guides/psychological-injury-claims-statistics-nsw/ If you reproduce data from this page in a report or article, please link back to this page. Data errors or updates can be reported via our contact form.
Related guides
- NSW workers comp psychology statistics 2025-26 - a one-page data hub summarising this page's figures alongside national Medicare mental health services context.
- Psychological injury: the fastest-growing workers compensation claim type in Australia - the national 161% decade growth trend and what SIRA's own NSW figures show.
- Work-related psychological injury in NSW and Australia: what the public data shows - ABS injury-survey context, the NSW legal framework, and SIRA's treatment fee schedule.
- NSW workers compensation reform 2026 - what changed on 1 July 2026 for primary psychological injury claims.
- Workers comp psychology cost NSW - SIRA's gazetted fees and what a worker actually pays.
About this page: This is a data reference resource produced by Workers Comp Psychologist Sydney, a directory of SIRA-approved telehealth psychologists for NSW workers compensation. It is not legal or clinical advice. If your situation is legally complex, consult a workers compensation solicitor. If you are in distress, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, or 13YARN on 13 92 76. This directory is not a crisis service.