Take a stand against workers’ compensation fraud
Don’t sit on the sidelines – take action to prevent workers’ compensation fraud and support International Fraud Awareness Week 2025.
Be honest with your insurer and educate your workers on the importance of telling your insurer if they are planning on doing any work while receiving compensation.
Best practice
Let your workers know it's important they provide truthful information to their insurer in relation to their workers compensation claim. This includes telling their insurer if they plan to do any work while receiving workers’ compensation benefits.
Be honest with your insurer and with the Workers’ Compensation Regulator (the Regulator) to ensure injured workers are fairly compensated, and you are meeting your premium obligations as an employer.
Proactively report fraud.
Why this is important
The Workers’ Compensation Regulator takes fraud in the workers’ compensation scheme seriously, and investigates and prosecutes workers, employers, insurers and providers who defraud the scheme or provide false and misleading information.
Serious penalties apply for lying to an insurer or to the Regulator. Below are two examples of recent prosecutions of two workers and an employer.
- Since July, two workers have been sentenced to serve time in prison for defrauding WorkCover and were ordered to repay nearly $155,000 in total in restitution. Both workers lied to WorkCover about not being able to work, and ‘double-dipped’ by working while also receiving workers’ compensation benefits. Read more:
- On 8 September 2025, an employer company was fined $95,000 and the company owner fined $3500 for providing false information to WorkCover Queensland and the Regulator. The employer lied and said they didn’t know a worker, when he was actually seriously injured at the workplace on the first day of his employment. Read more:
What actions can I take now?
Take a stand against workers’ compensation fraud by:
- making sure workers know they must tell the insurer if they do any sort of work (paid or unpaid and including self-employment) while receiving workers’ compensation, even if they have already told you
- being honest with your insurer
- staying in touch with workers who are unable to return to work
- providing meaningful and safe suitable duties for workers where possible keeping them connected with your business
- telling your insurer if you have information that a worker is working elsewhere while receiving compensation benefits.
Your toolkit
- The Workers’ Compensation Regulator investigates and prosecutes alleged offences against the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (the Act). Find out more about offences under the Act and maximum penalties, and read summaries of workers' compensation prosecutions.
- Make sure you are aware of your employer obligations. Read about suitable duties programs and access a suitable duties program template (DOCX, 0.15 MB) and ensure that suitable duties programs meet the Guidelines for standard for rehabilitation (second edition) (PDF, 0.4 MB).
- For tips on managing the relationship with an injured worker during their recovery, revisit:
- our past e-bulletin article on why It pays to talk and listen
- Safe Work Australia’s guide to managing the relationship with an injured or ill worker during return to work.
- Learn simple actions you can take when responding to workers with a work-related psychological injury by Guiding the way: responding to mental injury at work, which was developed for employers, by employers.
- Access and share information about the free and independent workers’ compensation advisory and support services for Queensland businesses and workers: