Choosing a rehabilitation provider for a workers compensation claim

First separate the two things you may be choosing

A treating allied health provider — physiotherapist, exercise physiologist, psychologist, occupational therapist — delivers clinical treatment for the injury. A workplace rehabilitation provider works on participation: worksite assessment, suitable duties, graduated upgrading, and where needed new-employer services.

You may be choosing one, the other, or both, and the checks differ. Our guide on allied health treatment versus workplace rehabilitation explains the distinction in detail; this guide assumes you already know which one you are shortlisting.

What 'approved' means, and where to verify it

For treating clinicians, the baseline is national registration or the recognised professional body for that discipline, plus whatever the scheme requires for treatment requests and fees.

For workplace rehabilitation, several schemes run their own approval regime and publish who holds it. Check the register that belongs to the scheme managing the claim, and note the period the approval covers.

• NSW: SIRA publishes a workplace rehabilitation provider search and an approval framework describing what approval requires.
• Victoria: WorkSafe Victoria publishes approved occupational rehabilitation provider profiles, currently for the 2024–2027 period.
• Commonwealth (Comcare scheme): Comcare publishes a directory of workplace rehabilitation providers and the requirements they must meet.
• Other jurisdictions: check the regulator or insurer for the applicable arrangement before assuming an approval exists or is required.

Match the provider to what has actually been requested

Scheme paperwork usually defines the service being purchased, and providers are not interchangeable across those definitions. In Queensland, for example, WorkCover Queensland publishes treatment and approval requirements for allied health providers and uses provider management plans for planned treatment — a provider unfamiliar with that process will be slower.

In South Australia, ReturnToWorkSA publishes healthcare and treatment information for claims, and separately describes return-to-work services. Ask the provider which of those they are quoting for.

• Confirm the provider has done this specific service under this specific scheme before.
• Confirm who writes the reports the insurer expects, and how quickly.
• Confirm whether the provider can attend the workplace if that is part of the request.

Selection questions that reveal real differences

• When is the first appointment available, and what is the usual wait between appointments after that?
• Which clinician will actually be seen, and what happens during leave?
• How is progress reported to the insurer and the treating practitioner, and how often?
• Do you bill within the scheme's fee order, and is any gap possible?
• Do you offer telehealth for review appointments, and when do you consider it unsuitable?
• How far is the site from home or work, and is parking or public transport realistic while injured?
• Who do we contact if something goes wrong or an appointment is missed?

A hypothetical comparison

Consider two shortlisted physiotherapy services for a hypothetical shoulder injury. Both are registered and both quote within the fee order. One can start in three days, is a ten-minute drive from the workplace and reports to the insurer fortnightly. The other has a four-week wait and requires a longer trip. On paper they look identical; in practice the first supports an earlier, better-monitored return.

This example is illustrative only. It is not based on any real person or claim, and it does not imply either service would be funded.

What Get Rehab's check is, and is not

Get Rehab collects referral information and helps connect people with participating providers. Where a scheme requires an approved, accredited or panel provider, we aim to match referrals only with providers whose relevant scheme status has been checked. That check is separate from any government or scheme approval, and it is not a clinical recommendation, a quality ranking or a funding decision.