Many COVID Workers' Compensation Claims Relate to Mental Health

More than one in three COVID-19-related workers’ compensation claims involve mental health issues, according to a new report from Safe Work Australia (SWA).

SWA has collected preliminary data on the 533 COVID-19 related workers’ compensation claims up until July 31 2020 (the number of current claims is expected to be much higher).

202 were for workers who had contracted COVID-19, while an alarming 179 were for mental health impacts related to the virus. 152 were related to testing or isolation requirements.

NSW reported the most claims (299), followed by Victoria (75), Queensland (68) and Tasmania (59).

Of all the 533 claims, 253 claims were accepted, 95 claims were rejected, and 185 claims were pending.

The number of rejected claims includes those made by workers who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, but where the evidence showed they did not contract the disease in the workplace.

Expectedly, the healthcare and social assistance industry recorded the most claims (183), followed by public administration and safety (88), transport, postal and warehousing (74), education and training (28).