The problem employers face
When a labour-hire worker is injured at your site, the legal employer is often the labour-hire provider, but the work happens in your workplace. Historically, that split created delays, finger-pointing, and poor RTW outcomes because no one was clearly driving suitable/alternative duties on site.
Recent reforms in several states now push hosts to lean in, not stand back, so planning, offering and supervising suitable duties happens earlier and with fewer disputes.
What’s changed (state by state)
Queensland — new host support duty (23 Aug 2024)
Queensland’s 2024 amendments require hosts to support a labour-hire employer’s rehabilitation/RTW obligations for injured labour-hire workers—e.g., participate in planning, discuss duties, remove barriers to alternate/suitable duties. Hosts are not reclassified as the employer, but uncooperative hosts risk regulatory attention. (WorkSafe Queensland, Clayton Utz)
South Australia — host cooperation now mandatory (1 Dec 2024)
SA inserted an explicit duty: a host employer must co-operate with the labour-hire employer, as far as reasonably practicable, including communicating about suitable duties, participating in RTW planning and allowing access to the workplace to perform those duties. (South Australian Legislation, rtwsa.com)
Western Australia — modernised scheme (1 Jul 2024)
WA’s new Act and Regulations require employers to run RTW programs; WorkCover WA guidance emphasises host involvement for labour-hire injuries to the extent reasonable (practically: consult on duties, attend case conferences, implement adjustments at the host site). (WALW, AustLII, WorkCover WA)
Victoria — shared RTW duties (ongoing)
In Victoria, both the labour-hire provider and the host have legal RTW responsibilities and must consult, cooperate and coordinate where they share duties to the same worker. This has been the model others are now moving towards. (www4.worksafe.vic.gov.au, WorkSafe Victoria)
NSW, Tasmania, ACT, NT — no host-specific new laws, but strong expectations
These jurisdictions haven’t recently added QLD/SA-style host duties. However, employers must still run RTW programs (for their own workers), provide suitable duties where possible, and consult where labour-hire is used. Regulators expect practical cooperation between agencies and hosts to deliver suitable duties quickly. (SIRA, worksafe.tas.gov.au, worksafe.act.gov.au)
What this means for hosts (and principals)
Even where the labour-hire company remains the legal employer, you now have a clear role—and in QLD/SA, a legal obligation—to help deliver RTW:
- Consult early and often. Share task lists, inherent requirements, rosters, and hazards to identify safe suitable duties quickly. (www4.worksafe.vic.gov.au)
- Offer suitable/alternative duties on site. Light duties, different work areas, staged hours—document them and align with certificates of capacity. (WorkCover WA)
- Participate in RTW planning & case conferences. Don’t delegate it away—hosts should be in the (virtual) room. (WALW)
- Remove practical barriers. Access cards, inductions for new duties, tool restrictions, supervision, PPE—get the admin sorted so the plan is real.
- Track and review. RTW duties should evolve with recovery; build a cadence (e.g., weekly) to check progress and adjust.
Risk if you don’t: delayed recoveries, higher claim costs passed through pricing, potential regulator scrutiny (especially in QLD/SA), and project disruption. (WorkSafe Queensland, rtwsa.com)
A simple playbook you can roll out now
Step 1 — Map suitable duties.
Create a living register of light/modified duties per site, with physical and psychosocial demands, and the supervision required. (In construction, include duties like spotting/traffic control, plant checks, document control, prefabrication prep, staging.)
Step 2 — Set up a host–agency RTW protocol.
One page that covers: who attends case conferences, response times, how certificates are shared, how changes are signed off, who issues site access/inductions for modified roles.
Step 3 — Pre-induct for recovery.
Add a “recovery at work” module to site inductions so supervisors know how to onboard someone into modified duties same or next shift.
Step 4 — Use allied-health at the coalface.
Bring RTW decision-making on site so restrictions, tasks and hazards are matched in real time.
Where on-site physiotherapy fits (and how we help)
Our on-site physiotherapy service plugs directly into the host’s new expectations:
- Rapid triage & same-day suitable duties at your site, aligned with the certificate of capacity.
- Task-based assessments (lifting limits, reach, kneel, climb) against real tasks to remove guesswork.
- RTW case conferencing with labour-hire providers, treating doctors and insurers so everyone is aligned.
- Supervisor coaching to run safe micro-progressions (hours, tasks, loads) week by week.
- Data & reporting you can hand to auditors/regulators showing offers of duties, participation, and outcomes.
Expanding for industries heavy on contractors (e.g., Building & Construction)
- Pre-build a job dictionaries for common trades (carpentry, formwork, steel fix, electrical, civil) across phases (groundworks → fit-out).
- Mobile clinics roving across sites to keep recovery close to the workfront.
- Program governance: monthly dashboard by site, contractor, and trade; early warning on stalled duties; targeted supervisor refreshers.
Quick compliance snapshot by state (hosts using labour-hire)
- QLD: Must support labour-hire employer’s RTW obligations (cooperate on duties/RTW planning). Not deemed the employer. (WorkSafe Queensland)
- SA: Must co-operate “so far as reasonably practicable” (discuss duties, participate in planning, allow workplace access). (South Australian Legislation)
- WA: Employer runs RTW program; hosts expected to cooperate to a reasonable extent under guidance. (WorkCover WA)
- VIC: Shared legal responsibilities—must consult, cooperate and coordinate. (www4.worksafe.vic.gov.au, WorkSafe Victoria)
- NSW/TAS/ACT/NT: No recent host-specific amendments; regulators expect consultation and practical cooperation; strong employer RTW duties remain. (SIRA, worksafe.tas.gov.au, worksafe.act.gov.au)
