WorkSafe Victoria has commenced the procurement process for the provision of the Occupational Rehabilitation services in Victoria. The Occupational Rehabilitation Panel is expected to provide relevant Return to Work support to injured workers and employers across Victoria from the period of 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2027.

The purpose of Occupational Rehabilitation (OR) is to assist injured workers to remain at, or return to, safe and sustainable work. In the 22/23 financial year, more than 22,000 injured workers have received support from OR Providers. This has been achieved with WorkSafe’s Agents utilising OR to support workers and employers in achieving return-to-work outcomes throughout the life of a claim.

Section 230-(4) of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (WIRC Act) entitles injured workers to receive OR services from OR providers who have been approved by WorkSafe. Agents and Self Insurers determine and approve what OR services are reasonable and necessary. As per the WIRC Act, Agents must provide injured workers with the choice of at least three (3) OR providers who can provide the required services. There is no guarantee of work for OR providers.

The intent of the Application process is to ensure the panel has the highest calibre of OR providers delivering services to injured Victorians.

The role of an OR provider is to support injured workers and employers to;

• facilitate return to work with an original or new employer;
• provide retraining services;
• assist with interpersonal conflict resolution; and
• keep workers ‘work-ready’ despite barriers to return to work.

Occupational Rehabilitation providers are invited to apply for a position on the panel by adequately addressing a combination of mandatory criteria and application questions.

Those providers who successfully obtain a position on the panel will commence services from 1 July 2024.

Briefings

Briefing Session - OR Provider Panel

A briefing session will be held on 10 November 2023 10:30 am.

Notes: A briefing session will be held on 10 November 2023 10:30 am. The Briefing will be held online as a Microsoft Teams Meeting. Participants can access the briefing at the date and time specified. To access, please copy and paste the following link in to your browser: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_OWFiODIyYjMtYWU1ZS00ODU4LTgzYjYtMjg2OGJjYTA3ZWZm%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%227babb6c1-7c2f-4b0e-9da4-589c4c4a3fca%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2286f19daf-9ab8-4e91-a918-20653bcb0a3f%22%7d

Registration closes on 9 November 2023 05:00 pm