Queensland Consolidated Acts

WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND REHABILITATION ACT 2003 - SECT 232AB

232AB Insurer’s responsibility for providing support to worker

(1) The insurer must take all reasonable steps to provide reasonable services to support the worker in relation to the psychiatric or psychological injury during the prescribed period for the worker.

Examples of reasonable services to support a worker—

mediation services, counselling services

Penalty—

Maximum penalty—500 penalty units.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1) , if the services include medical treatment for the worker’s injury during the prescribed period for the worker, the insurer must pay—

(a) for medical treatment by a registered person—the cost the insurer accepts as reasonable, having regard to the relevant table of costs; and

(b) for nursing, medicines, or medical or surgical supplies—the cost the insurer accepts as reasonable.

(3) However, the insurer is not required to pay—

(a) the costs of nursing, medicines, or medical or surgical supplies that the worker receives as an in-patient at a hospital; or

(b) the costs of hospitalisation of the worker.

(4) If the worker’s application for compensation is allowed, a payment under this section by the insurer is taken to be a payment of compensation.

(5) In this section—

"prescribed period" , for a worker, means the period that—

(a) starts on the day the worker makes an application for compensation under section 132 for a psychiatric or psychological injury arising out of, or in the course of, employment; and

(b) ends on the day the insurer decides to allow or reject the application for compensation mentioned in paragraph (a) .