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In New South Wales the durable or sustainable return to work rate fell, reversing the upward trend over the last two years. The durable return to work rate currently stands at 76% in New South Wales, down 4% from the high in 2005-06.

New South Wales employees returned to work earlier this year. Injured employees were back to work almost 5 weeks earlier than two years ago. However a greater proportion of employees are returning to work on reduced hours or modified duties. The percentage of injured New South Wales employees back at their usual job at the time they were interviewed for the survey has dropped from close to 80% in 2005-06 to 74% in 2011-12.

An increasing percentage of New South Wales employees had a return to work plan developed. However the percentage of employees who indicated they were given help to follow the return to work plan has been declining. Between 2005-06 and 2011-12 there has been close to a 10% decline in the percentage of employees saying they were given help to follow their return to work plan.

As in previous years, we note the inverse correlation between return to work and employees identifying someone made the return to work harder. Over the last 12 months New South Wales employees were more likely to say their employer, their main supervisor, and the insurer had made their return to work harder. The percentage of employees who say their insurer made return to work harder has increased from 10% in 2006-07 to 17% in 2011-12.

In summary, after two years of improving results, the last 12 months has seen return to work performance in New South Wales regress. This is noted in the durable return to work outcomes, and a series of factors that influence return to work outcomes. On a positive note, when workers do return to work they are getting back to work earlier in New South Wales.