WorkCover WA's role is to minimise the social and economic impact of work-related injury and disease and achieve cost effectiveness for employers and the community.

WorkCover WA achieves this through the effective regulation and administration of the Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981 (the Act), provision of quality policy advice to government and maintenance of excellent stakeholder relationships.

To ensure the State’s workers’ compensation and injury management scheme operates effectively for the people of Western Australia, WorkCover WA:

• provides information and community education on all aspects of the scheme
• promotes the injury management and vocational rehabilitation of injured workers to help them successfully return to work
• undertakes research and provides statistics in the areas of rehabilitation, injury prevention and noise induced hearing loss
• monitors compliance with the Act to ensure employers are insured for workers’ compensation to their full liability
• regulates and monitors the performance of service providers (eg. insurers, self insurers, approved vocational rehabilitation providers, registered agents) to ensure they deliver an appropriate standard of service to workers and employers
• ensures all workers employed in a prescribed noisy workplace have  hearing tests
• provides a dispute resolution service to resolve disputed workers’ compensation matters
• registers agreements where parties agree to settle a claim for compensation or determination of the level of a worker's impairment prior to civil action

Funding

WorkCover WA is funded through an annual levy on premiums paid by employers to insurers approved to underwrite workers’ compensation insurance in Western Australia, and also by approved self-insurers.

Legislation Administered

The legislation WorkCover WA administers includes:

• The Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981;
• The Employers’ Indemnity Supplementation Fund Act 1980;
• The Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management (Acts of Terrorism) Act 2001;
• The Waterfront Workers’ (Compensation for Asbestos Related Diseases) Act 1986; and
• The Employers’ Indemnity Policies (Premium Rates) Act 1990.

The functions and powers of WorkCover WA are outlined in Section 100 and 101 respectively of the Act.

For a full list of the legislation WorkCover WA administers go to the State Law Publisher website.