RTW Matters has extracted the data from the last six Australian & New Zealand Return to Work Monitor reports and analysed the information on a jurisdictional basis. As one of a series of publications covering the various jurisdictions, this review analyses Comcare results. Our analysis has sought to highlight trends and comparison between the jurisdictions.

The executive summary is below, to view the graphs and full information click on the icon below.

Return to work results

In 2010-11 87% of injured Comcare workers had returned to work seven to nine months after submitting a claim.  The Comcare RTW rate has dropped 6% from rate of 2008-09 while the national average has increased. The durable, or sustained RTW rate (81%), has been trending down since 2005-06, and is now 8% lower than 2005-06. 

Over the last 12 months Comcare employees have been returning to work later, on average 17 days later. 

While the rates of return to work have been dropping, the percentage of Comcare employees returning to reduced hours and modified duties is increasing.  Over the five years there has been a steady increase in the percentage of Comcare employees returning to work on modified duties, and the 2010-11 rate is now 16% higher than in 2005-06. The percentage of employees doing their normal duties at the time of the Monitor interview has dropped 5% over the last three years. 

Return to work influences

Despite fluctuations, the proportion of injured workers who said a RTW plan has been developed has remained relatively stable in the Comcare system over the last five years. The rate remains one of the highest in the country and comfortably above the national average.  

However, over the last five years there has been a reduction in the percentage of people reporting that the RTW plan was helpful. 

Over the last year there has been a significant reduction in the percentage of employees who advise their supervisor helped with RTW, without a material change in those advising their employer helped with RTW.  There has also been a downward trend in the percentage who report the insurer helped with RTW in the Comcare system.  

In 2009-10 33% of employees indicated someone made their RTW harder. This increased by 4% in 2010-11, the highest level in any of the past five years. This year the percentage of Comcare employees who report someone made their RTW harder is better than the national average, and is the highest of any jurisdiction.

22% of employees indicated their supervisor made RTW harder, and 10% indicated the insurer made RTW harder. While the insurer result is identical to the national average, the supervisor result is higher than any other reported jurisdiction and well above the national average.  The percentage of employees who say their supervisor made return to work harder has increased from 14% to 23% over the last 12 months. 

Over the last five years there has been a substantial rise and then fall in the percentage of Comcare employees interviewed who said the main reason they were not working was injury related. After hitting a large peak of 89% the 2010-11 rate of 65% is almost back to the 2005-06 rate of 61%. 

On virtually all measures of workplace culture, Comcare employees were among the most confident that their work is valued, and that there was clarity in RTW policies and procedures. On the other hand, they had the lowest ratings in terms of work confidence, the importance of their work and their belief in management's desire to help RTW.

Comcare employees indicate it is now easier to get information they need to lodge a claim. However, the process of putting in a claim is becoming more complex, with a 9% increase in the percentage of employees who say it was complicated or very complicated to lodge a claim over the last five years.

Rating of customer services

Insurer’s service ratings were a mixed bag. While most were close to the national average, notable exceptions included 'response to enquiries' (10% above the national average), 'advice about rights' (19% above and highest of any jurisdiction) and 'understanding situation' (9% below and lowest of any jurisdiction). 

At 3.5/5 in 2010-11, the overall average service rating matches that of the national average for the first time over the last five years. 

Rehabilitation services

The percentage of Comcare employees who have some rehabilitation expenditure as part of their claim cost did not change over the last 12 months. The average cost spent was $2,913, the fifth consecutive year of increase and the highest average cost of any jurisdiction. 

Demographics

In 2010-11, 58% of Comcare employees reported they had had a prior claim. 44% reported they had a previous lost time claim. Both of these are significantly higher than the national average.

The Comcare workforce is unique in its gender composition. 35% of Comcare employees are male. This is 27% below the national average, the only jurisdiction in which male workers are in the minority, and by the far the lowest proportion of any jurisdiction (61% the next lowest in Tasmania and Queensland).