Fewer than 6% of workers assessed above the old threshold would clear the new workers compensation bar, leaving HR to manage the rest
Three months after New South Wales raised the bar for psychological injury compensation, HR leaders are dealing with a workers compensation system that is narrower, slower and still missing key assessment rules, according to Chantille Khoury, principal and workers compensation specialist at Law Partners Injury Lawyers.
The reforms, which took effect on 1 July 2026, lifted the Whole Person Impairment (WPI) threshold – the percentage measure of how much a permanent injury affects a person's overall functioning – from 15% to 25% for workers with a primary psychological injury.
That threshold now governs access to weekly payments beyond 130 weeks and to work injury damages. It is legislated to rise to more than 26% from 1 July 2027 and to at least 28% from 1 July 2029, according to law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer.
Figures supplied by Law Partners Injury Lawyers show how few workers will clear the new bar. Of 1,514 NSW workers with a primary psychological injury assessed at 15% WPI or higher in the 2024–25 accident year, just 88 reached 25% or above – fewer than 6%.
"They have narrowed the scope upon which you can lodge an acceptable workers' comp claim," Khoury said.
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