Amendments to regulations
The Governor in Executive Council recently made the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Amendment Regulations 2026 (the amendment regulations) which make minor amendments to the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Regulations 2024.
Coverage of fishing crew
Effective 4pm Tuesday 30 June 2026, any person engaged as part of a fishing crew that is defined as a ‘worker’ in the Act will be covered in the WA workers compensation scheme.
Any employer engaging fishing crew workers will therefore be required to insure them as part of their worker compensation insurance policy with a licensed insurer, from 4.00pm 30 June 2026.
The regulatory amendment commences at 4pm on 30 June 2026 to align with workers compensation insurance policy renewals, minimising disruption for employers, brokers and insurers.
To assist fishing vessel owners and operators better understand their obligations WorkCover WA has published the Coverage of Fishing Crew Fact Sheet. The fact sheet clarifies changes to regulations and the impact they will have on fishing crew, vessel owners and operators.
Eligibility requirements to provide allied health treatment services
From 1 April 2026, the amendment regulations clarify that AHPRA registered health service providers must hold general registration in order to provide health treatment services in the scheme.
It was never the intention of the regulations to allow health practitioners with ‘provisional’ or ‘limited’ AHPRA registration to provide treatment services in the WA workers compensation scheme and the amendment regulations make this clear.
Other amendment regulations
The amendment regulations also provide:
- A minor amendment, to come into operation on 1 July 2027, to the way CPI is calculated for annual indexation of workers compensation benefits. The change accounts for changes to how ABS publishes CPI data.
- Clarity on the circumstances in which WorkCover WA must make a noisy employer determination with respect to claims for noise induced hearing loss when a worker is no longer employed.
The amendment regulations can be accessed via this link.
