Workers compensation

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 (for accidents on or after 1 December 2017) schemes.

The following sections of the guidelines apply to massage therapists providing relevant services in the workers compensation scheme:

This webpage has been updated to include content from the Guidelines and the associated legislation.

In brief

All massage therapists providing services to workers should read this information on the Allied Health Recovery Request before you use this form for the first time. Massage therapists must seek pre-approval for treatment services. The AHRR is the form massage therapists should use to seek pre-approval from the insurer.

A workers compensation guide for allied health practitioners provides essential information regarding the delivery of treatment services in the NSW workers compensation system. We also strongly recommend you view our 15 minute webinar on the Allied Health Practitioner Framework.

The massage therapy fees and practice requirements provides additional information on how the claims process works, and what type of payments and expenses may be available.

Refer to the Guidelines for the Provision of Relevant Services (Health and Related Services) for the specific provisions that allied health providers, including massage therapists, must comply with.

Forms you might need

Allied health recovery request (interactive version) is used to request treatment services
Allied health recovery request (static version) if your computer can't open up the interactive version

Publications you might need

Fees and invoicing

Get treatment approval first

If the insurer denies liability, or declines a treatment request because it does not meet 'reasonably necessary' criteria, the insurer is not responsible for payment of accounts.

So before treating your patient please confirm they have submitted a workers compensation claim, and that you have approval from the insurer to start treatment.

The fees orders provide a maximum fee for services provided to a worker. You can't exceed the maximum fees stated in the Fees Order.

All fees you can charge are listed in the relevant fee order below:

Current health-related fees

These are the current health related fees and rates orders.

Historical health-related fees

These are the historical health related fees and rates orders.

Fees and rates orders 2024

Massage Therapy Fees Order (effective 1 February 2024)

Fees and rates orders 2023

Fees and rates orders 2022

Fees and rates orders 2021

Fees and rates orders 2020

Fees and rates orders 2019

Fees and rates orders 2018

Fees and rates orders 2017

When invoicing, we have a payment system that requires itemised invoices. This system enables consistent data collection from service providers and insurers and ensures accurate payments.

What your invoices will need to include

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
the massage therapist’s professional association accreditation/membership number
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.

Send your invoices to the worker’s insurer.

Do I need a SIRA provider number?

We undertook a review of the allied health practitioner management framework. The purpose of the review was to:

increase focus on recovery at work
improve consistency across the various allied health practitioner groups
reduce red tape.

As a result, massage therapists no longer need to be approved by us to deliver services in the NSW workers compensation system but the Massage Therapy Fees Order remains in place.

This change took effect from 1 January 2016.

Further information

Independent consultants (peer reviews)

Independent consultants are approved by us to provide independent peer review of, and advice, to allied health practitioners regarding injury management.

If you would like the assistance of an independent consultant visit independent consultants.

Where required, you must participate in a review by an independent consultant as outlined in the guideline for approval of treating allied health practitioners.