Insurables — Australian business risk, sourced and dated

Statutory scheme · New South Wales · NSW

Workers compensation (NSW)

The New South Wales workers compensation scheme, with the nominal insurer and specialised insurers underwriting employer policies.

Data as at · refreshed by scripts/seed-graph.mjs

What the scheme requires

  • Who must insure: Most NSW employers must hold a workers compensation policy if they pay or hire anyone full time, part time or casually; contractors or subcontractors can legally be counted as workers, and some categories are deemed workers. NSW · effective 2026-08-13 icare NSW · 2026-08-13
  • Premium basis: Premium starts with wages multiplied by the industry WIC rate; employers with average performance premium over $30,000 are experience-rated on claims history. Current WIC rates are published on icare's premium rates page. NSW · effective 2026-06-30 icare NSW · 2026-08-13
  • Certificate of currency process: Employers download a Certificate of Currency any time from icare's self-service policy portal; it shows business name, ABN, wages, industry classification and workers covered, and confirms the policy is up to date. NSW · effective 2026-08-13 icare NSW · 2026-08-13
  • Small employer exemption: Exempt employers need no policy if they pay $7,500 or less in wages in a financial year, hire no apprentice or trainee, and are not part of a group of businesses; claims against an exempt employer incur a $175 administration fee. NSW · effective 2026-08-13 icare NSW · 2026-08-13

Who administers it

  • icare — The New South Wales state insurer, which includes the nominal insurer for workers compensation and the home building compensation fund.
  • State Insurance Regulatory Authority — Regulates the New South Wales workers compensation, motor accidents and home building compensation schemes.

The cover this scheme deals with

  • Workers compensation insurance — Statutory cover for injury to workers, arranged through each state or territory scheme rather than on the open market.

What this scheme does not do

Scheme cover and a business’s own insurance answer different questions. A workers compensation scheme responds to injury and illness suffered by a business’s own workers; it does not cover injury to members of the public, damage the business causes to someone else’s property, or the business’s own assets.

Sources