The new Labor Government has moved to update return to work
legislation with the introduction of the Return to Work
(Permanent Impairment Assessment) Amendment Bill 2022
(Bill) which it wants passed by 7 July 2022.
The proposed changes come in light of the Supreme Court decision
in Return to Work Corporation of South Australia v
Summerfield [2021] SASCFC 17
(Summerfield). In this case the
Supreme Court held that workers could combine their injuries when
calculating their impairment rating for compensation claims.
Under the current legislation there are two thresholds which
determine the amount of compensation an injured worker is eligible
receive. An impairment rating of 5 per cent is needed for an
injured worker to receive a lump sum for non-economic loss, while
an impairment rating of 30 per cent is the threshold needed for a
worker to be considered seriously injured. If the 30 per
cent threshold is met, the injured worker will be entitled to
ongoing medical
