2021 National Return to Work Survey
Best practice
Stay informed about current rehabilitation and return to work data and trends, with the annual National Return to Work Survey (NRTW Survey).
Why this is important
The NRTW Survey is Australia’s only survey of people who receive workers’ compensation for a work-related illness or injury. It measures outcomes for these workers, to give us a better understanding of the return to work process and factors which influence return to work outcomes.
It will give you insights into the lived experiences of your injured workers, including the important role that you—as well as supervisors, co-workers and other supports—play in supporting their recovery.
Your toolkit
The National Return to Work Survey Headline Measures Report provides an early release summary of the key results from the survey and a jurisdictional comparison of these results.
You should be proud of the role you’ve played in achieving great results for Queensland, which are above the national rates in two key measures:
- Returned to work rate— the proportion of injured workers surveyed who reported having returned to work at any time since their work-related injury or illness. The Returned to work rate for Australia in 2021 was 91.6 per cent and Queensland’s rate was 92.3 per cent.
- Current return to work rate—the proportion of injured workers surveyed who reported having returned to work at any time since their work-related injury or illness and were in a paid job at the time of interview. The Current return to work rate for Australia in 2021 was 81.3 per cent and Queensland’s rate was 83.6 per cent.
All Australian workers’ compensation authorities took part in the survey in 2021 with a total of 4,588 interviews completed.
- Read the National Return to Work Strategy 2020-2030, which aims to minimise the impact of work-related injury and illness, and enable workers to have a safe, durable and timely return to work. The NRTW Survey is a key data source to measure the progress of the strategy and guide its delivery.
- Check out Queensland’s workers’ compensation scheme statistics reports and scheme performance updates for a snapshot of the Queensland scheme as a whole, including claim rates, scheme payments, work days lost, return to work rate, and disputes.