WorkCover Queensland accepted 4,110 primary mental injury claims in 2025–26, an increase of 13.1 per cent on the previous financial year, according to the insurer's annual report. The figure refers to accepted primary mental injury claims, not every claim involving a psychological condition.
The report says these claims accounted for 16 per cent of statutory payments, or $334 million, during the year. It puts the average annual paid time away from work at 123 days for primary mental injury claims, compared with 47.1 days for physical injury claims. WorkCover reports a 71.4 per cent return-to-work rate for the former group and 93.2 per cent for workers with a primary physical injury.
WorkCover says it is expanding early intervention and specialist support. A separate independent review of Queensland's workers' compensation legislation was expected to be finalised in the second half of 2026, but the annual report does not establish what, if any, policy changes will follow. ABC News reported on 10 October that unions and lawyers have raised concerns about potential restrictions; those concerns are not an announced government decision.
Source: WorkCover Queensland 2025–2026 Annual Report, especially the statutory claims and mental injury sections.
Illustration disclosure: The accompanying AI-generated editorial image is a generic workplace and data graphic. It does not depict actual WorkCover records, staff or claimants, and its decorative chart is not the report's data.
