Western Australia sets new maximum fees for workers compensation medical and rehabilitation services

Western Australia’s Minister for Industrial Relations, Simone McGurk, has made four workers compensation fees orders fixing the maximum amounts payable for medical, health, workplace rehabilitation and permanent impairment assessment services from 1 November 2026. The orders were made under the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023 on the recommendation of WorkCover WA, and were published in a special edition of the Government Gazette of Western Australia on 16 October 2026. Each instrument is dated 11 October 2026 and repeals and replaces its 2025 predecessor.

The four instruments are the Workers Compensation (Medical Services) Fees Order 2026, the Workers Compensation (Health Services) Fees Order 2026, the Workers Compensation (Workplace Rehabilitation Services) Fees Order 2026 and the Workers Compensation (Approved Permanent Impairment Assessor) Fees Order 2026. They rest on sections 73, 73, 94 and 195 of the Act respectively, and each states that it applies to services provided on or after 1 November 2026, whether the injury from employment was suffered before, on or after that date. All four provide that fixed amounts are exclusive of GST, that a fee rises by 10 per cent where GST is payable, and that an injured worker’s entitlement is calculated on the net cost of the service without deducting any GST component.

Medical services pegged to the AMA Fees List

The medical services order sets the maximum fee for a medical service at the amount specified in the AMA Fees List published by the Australian Medical Association, except for workers compensation ancillary services and diagnostic imaging, which have their own schedules. Ancillary items are billed in six-minute blocks:

• Return to work case conference, medical report, return to work program and services additional to usual medical management: $37.00 per six minutes for a medical practitioner and $54.85 per six minutes for a medical specialist.
• Diagnostic imaging is priced by MBS item number, with magnetic resonance imaging at $1,340.30 to $2,010.35 depending on the item, and ultrasound items ranging from $68.70 to $890.85.

The order also imposes billing conditions, including that a practitioner must meet the item descriptor, that comprehensive items cannot be split into separate claims, and that the Multiple Operations Rule in the AMA Fees List applies to surgery performed on one occasion.

Eleven health services with fixed fees

The health services order fixes a specified fee for each of eleven prescribed services: acupuncture, chiropractic, clinical psychology, counselling psychology, exercise program, mental health social work, occupational therapy, osteopathy, psychology, physiotherapy and speech pathology. Hourly rates must be applied pro rata and cannot exceed the time limits set in the order.

• Acupuncture: $128.60 for an initial consultation, $102.60 for a subsequent consultation and $125.20 for a report.
• Psychology: $251.50 per hour for consultations, reports and treatment management plans, with communication and case conferences at $25.05 per six minutes.
• Physiotherapy: $125.20 for an initial consultation, $249.80 per hour for a worksite visit and $200.00 per hour for travel.

Rehabilitation and impairment assessment scales

Workplace rehabilitation is priced at a flat hourly rate of $236.10 across all seventeen items in the schedule, covering support counselling, vocational counselling, case management, workplace activities, placement activities, functional capacity and vocational assessments, ergonomic and job demands assessments, aids and appliances, travel, medical liaison, return to work case conferences and reports. Travel must be calculated from the provider’s normal business location and pre-approved by the insurer beyond one hour.

Permanent impairment assessments by an Approved Permanent Impairment Assessor carry the highest individual fees in the package:

• Straightforward assessment: $1,685.20, or $2,106.45 with an interpreter present.
• Moderately complex assessment: $2,106.45, or $2,527.75 with an interpreter.
• Complex assessment and standard psychiatric assessment: $2,527.75, or $2,948.80 with an interpreter.
• Complex psychiatric assessment: $4,212.50, or $4,633.80 with an interpreter.
• Re-examination $1,263.80, supplementary report $421.35, consolidation of assessments $842.55, and non-attendance without adequate notice $842.55.

All four orders require invoices to include the relevant service codes and fees, a provision aimed at making billing auditable against the published scales.

The package matters because it sets the ceiling on what insurers and self-insurers must pay, and therefore what injured workers can claim, for almost every service in the Western Australian workers compensation system. Providers who bill above the fixed maximums from 1 November 2026 will be outside the scale, while workers whose claims span the commencement date will have services priced under the new orders regardless of when the injury occurred.

Source: Government Gazette of Western Australia, No. 132 (Special), 16 October 2026, pp. 2335–2367 (official reference: Workers Compensation (Medical Services) Fees Order 2026; Workers Compensation (Health Services) Fees Order 2026; Workers Compensation (Workplace Rehabilitation Services) Fees Order 2026; Workers Compensation (Approved Permanent Impairment Assessor) Fees Order 2026).