Permanent impairment assessors
This information is for permanent impairment assessors to help assess an injured person’s permanent impairment in the workers compensation system.
SIRA maintains a list of permanent impairment assessors that work in the NSW workers compensation system. SIRA does not appoint, approve, or otherwise endorse these permanent impairment assessors. It is a matter for individual workers, referrers, and their representatives to review the list and identify the assessor they consider most appropriate based on their own individual circumstances. A practitioners registration details on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) website may assist in informing their selection.
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Workers compensation
A permanent impairment assessor is a registered medical practitioner trained to assess a worker's permanent impairment as a result of a work related injury or illness.
Guidelines for the provision of relevant services have been published
SIRA has published the Guidelines for the Provision of Relevant Services (Health and Related Services), which apply to relevant service providers providing services in the NSW workers compensation and CTP schemes.
The following sections of the guidelines apply to permanent impairment assessors providing relevant services in the workers compensation scheme:
- Part 5: Billing requirements for the provision of relevant services under the workers compensation legislation (except 5.1(b) and 5.1(d))
- Part 6: Invoicing requirements for relevant services under the workers compensation legislation (excluding pharmaceutical services)
This webpage has been updated to include content from the Guidelines and the associated legislation.
In brief
A permanent impairment assessor is a registered medical practitioner recognised as a specialist with qualifications, training and experience relevant to the specific body system or systems being assessed.
SIRA maintains a list of permanent impairment assessors that work in the NSW workers compensation system. SIRA does not appoint, approve, or otherwise endorse these permanent impairment assessors. It is a matter for individual workers, referrers, and their representatives to review the list and identify the assessor they consider most appropriate based on their own individual circumstances. A practitioner’s registration details on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) website may assist in informing their selection.
To provide services within the NSW workers compensation system, you must be a trained assessor of permanent impairment for each body system you intend to assess and be listed for each body system on the SIRA workers compensation website. You may be one of the worker’s treating specialists or you may be engaged on behalf of the worker, employer or insurer for the purposes of assessing the level of permanent impairment.
A permanent impairment assessment is used to measure how much permanent change has happened to the worker’s body because of their injury.
In assessing permanent impairment, the assessor must determine:
- whether the worker's condition has resulted in impairment
- whether the condition has reached maximum medical improvement
- whether the impairment is permanent
- the degree of permanent impairment that results from the injury
- the proportion of permanent impairment due to any previous injury, pre-existing condition or abnormality.
Refer to the Guidelines for the Provision of Relevant Services (Health and Related Services) for the requirements that medico-legal providers, including permanent impairment assessors, must comply with.
How do I become a permanent impairment assessor?
In order to become a permanent impairment assessor you are required to:
- meet certain eligibility criteria
- satisfactorily complete training in the evaluation of permanent impairment, and
- submit an application and be listed on the website.
Listing as an assessor of permanent impairment explains the process and requirements to become listed as an assessor of permanent impairment. Applicants may apply to be listed using the assessor of permanent impairment application.
You can use our online search tool to find a permanent assessor (or to see who's listed).
Training in the evaluation of permanent impairment
Australian Medical Association (AMA) Victoria’s education business unit, AMA Training has partnered with AMA NSW to provide training in the evaluation of permanent impairment in the NSW workers compensation system.
For more information on the course, refer to our Training and workshops page.
To register, contact AMA Training on (03) 9280 8722 or email [email protected].
Publications you might need
These documents also provide additional information:
- Guidelines for the Provision of Relevant Services (Health and Related Services)
- Guidelines for the evaluation of permanent impairment (effective 1 April 2016)
- Clarification to interpret and apply 'Table 4.2 - Modifiers for DRE categories following surgery'
- Summary of changes to permanent impairment guidelines
- Workers compensation guidelines
- Workers compensation guide for medical practitioners
- Workers compensation medical dispute assessment guidelines 2019
Fees and invoicing
The fees orders set out the rates payable to assessors of permanent impairment. Find these and other Fees Orders below:
Current health-related fees
These are the
and rates orders.- Ambulance service fees order (effective 7 August 2023)
- Public hospital rates order (effective 7 August 2023)
- Surgeon and Orthopaedic Surgeon Fees Order (effective 1 February 2024)
- SIRA telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners (effective 1 February 2024)
- Psychology and counselling fees & practice requirements (effective 1 February 2024)
- Private Hospital Maximum Rates Order (effective 1 February 2024)
- Physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy fees & practice requirements (effective 1 February 2024)
- Medical Practitioner Fees Order (effective 1 February 2024)
- Medical Examinations and Reports Fees Order (effective 1 February 2024)
- Massage Therapy Fees Order (effective 1 March 2024)
- Injury Management Consultant Fees Order (effective 1 February 2024)
- Independent Consultant Fees Order (effective 1 February 2024)
- Hearing Aid fees & practice requirements (effective 1 February 2024)
- General practitioner rates (effective 1 Feb 2024)
- Accredited exercise physiology fees & practice requirements (effective 1 February 2024)
Historical health-related fees
These are the historical health related fees and rates orders.
Fees and rates orders 2023
- General practitioner rates effective 1 February 2023
- Telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners effective 1 February 2023
- General practitioner rates effective 9 March 2023
- Telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners effective 9 March 2023
- General practitioner rates effective 6 July 2023
- Telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners effective 6 July 2023
- Accredited exercise physiology fees and practice requirements (effective 1 February 2023)
- General practitioner rates (effective 1 November 2023)
- Hearing aid fees and practice requirements (effective 1 February 2023)
- Independent consultant fees order (effective 1 February 2023)
- Injury management consultant fees order (effective 1 February 2023)
- Massage therapy fees order (effective 1 February 2023)
- Medical examinations and reports fees order (effective 1 February 2023)
- Medical practitioners fees order (effective 1 February 2023)
- Physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy fees and practice requirements (effective 1 February 2023)
- Psychology and counselling fees and practice requirements (effective 1 February 2023)
- Private hospital maximum rates order (effective 7 November 2022)
- Surgeon and orthopaedic surgeon fees order (effective 1 February 2023)
- Telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners (effective 1 November 2023)
Fees and rates orders 2022
- Accredited exercise physiology and practice requirements (effective 1 August 2022)
- General practitioner rates (effective 1 July 2022)
- General practitioner rates (effective 1 November 2022)
- Hearing aid fees and practice requirements (effective 1 January 2022)
- Independent consultant fees order (effective 1 January 2022)
- Injury management consultant fees order (effective 1 January 2022)
- Massage therapy fees order (effective 1 January 2022)
- Medical examinations and reports fees order (effective 1 January 2022)
- Medical practitioners fees order (effective 1 July 2022)
- Physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy fees and practice requirements (effective 1 January 2022)
- Physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy fees and practice requirements (effective 1 August 2022)
- Psychology and counselling fees and practice requirements (effective 1 January 2022)
- Surgeon and orthopaedic surgeon fees order (effective 1 July 2022)
- Telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners (effective 1 July 2022)
- Telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners (effective 1 November 2022)
- Public hospital rates order (effective 22 July 2022)
- Ambulance service fees order (effective 22 July 2022)
Fees and rates orders 2021
- Ambulance service fees order (effective 6 August 2021)
- General practitioner rates (effective 1 December 2021)
- General practitioner rates (effective 1 January 2021)
- Hearing Aid fees and practice requirements (effective 1 January 2021)
- Independent Consultant fees order (effective 1 March 2021)
- Injury Management Consultant fees order (effective 1 March 2021)
- Massage Therapy fees order (effective 1 January 2021)
- Medical Examinations and Reports fees order (effective 1 March 2021)
- Medical Practitioners fees order (effective 1 December 2021)
- Medical Practitioners fees order (effective 1 January 2021)
- Orthopaedic Surgeon fees order (effective 1 December 2021)
- Orthopaedic Surgeon fees order (effective 1 January 2021)
- Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Osteopathy fees and practice requirements (effective 1 January 2022)
- Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Osteopathy fees and practice requirements (effective 1 January 2021)
- Psychology and Counselling fees and practice requirements (effective 1 January 2021)
- Public hospital rates order (effective 6 August 2021)
- Surgeon fees order (effective 1 December 2021)
- Surgeon fees order (effective 1 January 2021)
- Telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners (effective 1 December 2021)
- Telehealth item numbers for medical practitioners (effective 1 January 2021)
Fees and rates orders 2020
- Accredited Exercise Physiology
- Accredited Exercise Physiology No 2
- Accredited Exercise Physiology fees order No 3 (effective 17 April 2020)
- Ambulance service fees order (effective 11 September 2020)
- General Practitioners rates (effective 17 April 2020)
- Hearing Aid fees order (effective 1 January 2020)
- Hearing Aid fees order No 2 (effective 17 April 2020)
- Independent Consultant fees order
- Independent Consultant fees order No 2
- Independent Consultant fees order No 3 (effective 17 April 2020)
- Injury Management Consultant fees order
- Injury Management Consultant fees order No 2 (effective 17 April 2020)
- Massage Therapy fees order
- Medical Examinations and Reports fees order
- Medical Examinations and Reports fees order No 2 (effective 17 April 2020)
- Medical Practitioners fees order
- Medical Practitioners fees order No 2
- Medical Practitioners fees order No 3 (effective 17 April 2020)
- Orthopaedic Surgeon fees order
- Orthopaedic Surgeon fees order No 2 (effective 17 April 2020)
- Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Osteopathy
- Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Osteopathy No 2
- Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Osteopathy No 3 (effective 17 April 2020)
- Psychology and Counselling fees order
- Psychology and Counselling fees order No 2
- Psychology and Counselling fees order No 3 (effective 17 April 2020)
- Private Hospital Maximum rates order (effective 17 March 2020)
- Public Hospital fees schedule (effective 1 July 2020)
- Public Hospital rates order (effective 1 July 2020)
- Surgeon fees order
- Surgeon fees order No 2 (effective 17 April 2020)
Fees and rates orders 2019
- Accredited Exercise Physiology
- General practitioners rates
- Hearing Aid fees order
- Independent Consultant
- Injury Management Consultant
- Massage Therapy fees order
- Medical Examinations and Reports
- Medical Examinations and Reports No 2
- Medical Practitioners fees order
- Orthopaedic Surgeon fees order
- Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Osteopathy
- Private Hospital fee schedule
- Private Hospital rates order
- Psychology and Counselling
- Public Hospital fee schedule
- Public Hospital rates order
- Surgeon fees order
Fees and rates orders 2018
- Ambulance fees schedule
- Ambulance services fee order
- Accredited exercise physiology
- General practitioner rates
- Hearing aid fees order
- Independent consultants
- Injury management consultants
- Massage Therapy fees order
- Medical examinations and reports
- Medical practitioner fees order
- Orthopaedic Surgeon fees order
- Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Osteopathy fees order
- Psychology and counselling
- Private Hospital fees schedule
- Private Hospital rates order
- Public Hospital fees schedule
- Public hospital rates order
- Surgeon fees order
Fees and rates orders 2017
- Ambulance services fees order
- Ambulance services fees order no2
- Accredited exercise physiology
- General practitioner rates
- Hearing aid fees order
- Independent consultants
- Injury management consultants
- Massage Therapy fees order
- Medical examinations and reports
- Medical practitioner fees order
- Orthopaedic Surgeon fees order
- Physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy fees order
- Private Hospital rates order fees order
- Psychology and counselling
- Public Hospital rates order
- Public Hospital rates order no2
- Surgeon fees order
What your invoices will need to include
SIRA requires medical practitioners and other service providers to provide itemised invoices before payment can be made by the insurer.
Invoices for relevant services rendered must include:
- the injured worker’s first and last name, and claim number
- payee name, address, telephone number and email address
- payee Australian Business Number (ABN)
- name of the relevant service provider who delivered the relevant service
- in the case of medical practitioner services, the provider’s:
- Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) number, and
- Medicare provider number (unless not registered with Medicare).
- relevant SIRA payment classification code
- service cost for each SIRA payment classification code
- date of service
- date of invoice (must be on the day of or after last date of service listed on the invoice).
Invoices must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the service being provided.