Yes. The State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) explicitly permits medical practitioners to issue Certificates of Capacity via telehealth in New South Wales. This is not a grey area, not a loophole, and not a temporary COVID-era arrangement. It is a permanent, codified provision backed by gazetted regulations, dedicated billing codes, and clear clinical guidelines.
Despite this, misinformation continues to circulate online suggesting that WorkCover certificates cannot be issued via telehealth. This article sets the record straight with direct citations from the regulatory instruments that govern workers compensation medical services in NSW.
If you're an injured worker, employer, lawyer, or medical practitioner wondering whether a telehealth-issued Certificate of Capacity is valid in NSW, here is what the regulations actually say.
SIRA's Workers Compensation Guide for Medical Practitioners — the primary reference document for doctors providing workers compensation services in NSW — states:
"Where appropriate, a certificate can be issued via a telehealth consultation, which occurs by either video conference or telephone conference."
This guidance is unambiguous. The initial Certificate of Capacity for a work-related injury or condition must be issued by a medical practitioner, but SIRA expressly permits that consultation to occur via telehealth.
The regulatory framework underpinning this provision is the Guidelines for the Provision of Relevant Services (Health and Related Services), which took effect on 8 December 2023. These Guidelines were made under Section 26E of the State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015, which empowers SIRA to issue binding guidelines for the provision of relevant services by health practitioners in both the workers compensation and CTP schemes.
Part 2 of the Guidelines specifically addresses telehealth service delivery and defines telehealth as services that use videoconferencing or telephone as an alternative to an in-person consultation. These are not transitional COVID provisions — they are permanent, gazetted regulatory instruments.
Two conditions must be met for a telehealth Certificate of Capacity consultation:
The clinical appropriateness determination rests with the treating doctor — not with a blanket policy, not with the insurer, and not with an online article.
If SIRA's written guidance were not clear enough, consider the billing infrastructure. SIRA has created and maintains a comprehensive schedule of dedicated telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners in the workers compensation scheme. These telehealth item numbers mirror the standard AMA Fees List item numbers used for face-to-face consultations, with the addition of a "T" suffix (for example, AA020T for a Level B telehealth consultation versus AA020 for the equivalent face-to-face consultation).
The Workers Compensation (Medical Practitioner Fees) Order 2026, gazetted in the NSW Government Gazette and effective from 1 February 2026, confirms that the fee payable for a telehealth consultation is the same as for a face-to-face consultation. No reduction. No surcharge. Identical reimbursement.
SIRA publishes and regularly updates its SIRA Telehealth Item Numbers for Medical Practitioners document, with versions released in November 2022, February 2023, July 2023, February 2024, February 2025, November 2025, and most recently for 2026. You do not create, maintain, and repeatedly update a dedicated billing schedule for a service you do not want practitioners to provide.
Some online sources claim that WorkCover certificates "cannot be issued via telehealth" or that an in-person physical examination is always required. This is incorrect for NSW.
These claims typically arise from one or more of the following errors:
Conflating rules from other states with NSW. Victoria, Queensland, and other states each have their own workers compensation regulatory frameworks with different rules around telehealth. NSW is governed by SIRA under the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 and the State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015. What applies in Victoria does not automatically apply in New South Wales.
Assuming a physical examination is always necessary. Many workers compensation assessments — particularly for psychological injuries, certificate renewals, and follow-up consultations — do not require a hands-on physical examination. SIRA recognises this, which is precisely why it permits telehealth. The determination of whether a physical assessment is required is a clinical judgement made by the treating practitioner, not a blanket regulatory prohibition.
Relying on outdated information. The regulatory landscape has changed substantially since 2020. What may have been a temporary or contested provision during COVID has since been formally codified in permanent guidelines and fees orders. Any source that does not reference the December 2023 Guidelines or the current Fees Orders is likely working from outdated information.
SIRA does not prescribe a rigid list of conditions that can or cannot be assessed via telehealth. Instead, it entrusts the treating medical practitioner with making a case-by-case clinical appropriateness determination. In practice, telehealth is commonly appropriate for:
Telehealth may not be appropriate when the injury requires a hands-on physical examination that cannot be replicated visually — for example, assessing joint laxity, deep palpation of an abdominal injury, or certain neurological examinations. The treating doctor makes this call. If a physical examination is clinically necessary, a responsible practitioner will arrange an in-person consultation.
Telehealth for workers compensation in NSW did not appear overnight. It evolved through a clear regulatory progression from emergency measure to permanent infrastructure:
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| 20 March 2020 | SIRA publishes amended Fees Orders in the NSW Government Gazette, introducing telehealth provisions for workers compensation medical services in response to COVID-19. Telephone consultations added alongside video. |
| 1 January 2022 | The Australian Government makes Medicare telehealth permanent, retaining 211 telehealth MBS item numbers as a permanent feature of the health system. |
| 1 September 2023 | The Medical Board of Australia's revised Guidelines: Telehealth Consultations with Patients take effect, establishing national standards for telehealth practice. |
| 8 December 2023 | SIRA's Guidelines for the Provision of Relevant Services (Health and Related Services) take effect — made under s 26E of the State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015. Part 2 codifies permanent telehealth requirements for workers compensation and CTP schemes. |
| 1 February 2026 | The current Workers Compensation (Medical Practitioner Fees) Order 2026 commences, including the full schedule of telehealth item numbers with identical fee parity to face-to-face consultations. |
This is not a temporary arrangement. It is a mature, regulated, permanently embedded feature of the NSW workers compensation system.
The position that telehealth is a valid and appropriate mode of delivering workers compensation medical services is supported by the key regulatory and professional bodies governing medical practice in Australia:
Medical Board of Australia — The Board's revised Guidelines: Telehealth Consultations with Patients (effective 1 September 2023) establish that telehealth is an accepted mode of healthcare delivery, provided the standard of care is safe and meets the same standards as an in-person consultation. The guidelines complement Good Medical Practice: A Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) — The RACGP's position statement on The Use of Telehealth in General Practice (October 2023) affirms that telehealth is a legitimate mode of healthcare delivery when deemed appropriate by the treating GP. The RACGP recognises telehealth's particular value for rural and remote access, chronic disease management, and patient convenience.
Medical Council of NSW — The Council's guidance aligns with the Medical Board of Australia's national telehealth standards and supports the responsible use of telehealth by registered medical practitioners in New South Wales.
At Claims Doctor, our telehealth WorkCover consultations follow a straightforward, SIRA-compliant process:
All consultations are billed directly to the workers compensation insurer using SIRA-approved telehealth item numbers. There is $0 out-of-pocket cost for injured workers with a valid claim number.
Our process complies with Part 2 of the Guidelines for the Provision of Relevant Services, the current Workers Compensation (Medical Practitioner Fees) Order 2026, and the Medical Board of Australia's Guidelines: Telehealth Consultations with Patients.
Yes. SIRA's Workers Compensation Guide for Medical Practitioners explicitly states that a Certificate of Capacity can be issued via a telehealth consultation conducted by video conference or telephone conference, provided the injured worker consents and the practitioner determines the consultation is clinically appropriate.
Yes. Telehealth for workers compensation services in NSW is governed by the Guidelines for the Provision of Relevant Services (Health and Related Services), made under Section 26E of the State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015 and effective from 8 December 2023. These are binding regulatory guidelines, not informal advice.
Not necessarily. SIRA permits initial Certificates of Capacity to be issued via telehealth where the treating medical practitioner determines it is clinically appropriate. Many injury types — particularly psychological injuries, soft tissue injuries with clear mechanisms, and conditions that can be adequately assessed through history and visual observation — are appropriate for an initial telehealth assessment.
Yes. Psychological injury assessments — including work-related stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and bullying — are primarily history-based and are well-suited to telehealth consultations. SIRA's telehealth framework does not exclude any injury type; the clinical appropriateness determination is made by the treating practitioner on a case-by-case basis.
Yes. A Certificate of Capacity issued via a SIRA-compliant telehealth consultation has the same regulatory standing as one issued following an in-person consultation. Insurers process these certificates in the same way, using the dedicated telehealth item numbers published by SIRA. Employers are required to accept valid Certificates of Capacity regardless of whether the consultation was conducted in person or via telehealth.
Yes. SIRA not only recognises telehealth but has built dedicated infrastructure to support it, including published telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners, fee parity with face-to-face consultations in the gazetted Fees Orders, and detailed guidance in both the Medical Practitioners Guide and the Guidelines for the Provision of Relevant Services.
Yes. Follow-up and renewal consultations are particularly well-suited to telehealth, as the injury has typically already been examined and the focus of the consultation is on recovery progress, treatment planning, and work capacity assessment. SIRA's telehealth framework fully supports these consultations.
No. The Workers Compensation (Medical Practitioner Fees) Order 2026 prescribes the same fee for telehealth and face-to-face consultations. The telehealth item numbers (denoted by a "T" suffix) carry identical reimbursement rates to their in-person equivalents. For injured workers with a valid claim number, the consultation is fully insurer-funded with no out-of-pocket cost regardless of the consultation mode.