Certificates of capacity
A certificate lands in your inbox. It has a diagnosis you may not recognise, a capacity box ticked, a few lines of restrictions and a review date. Nothing on it tells you what to do on Monday. This page is written for the person holding that document — how to read it, what your scheme calls it, how to turn it into a roster, and what your options actually are if you think it is wrong.
The four fields that decide your week
- Diagnosis
- What is injured, and how confidently
- Capacity
- Full, partial, or none
- Restrictions
- The limits you roster around
- Review date
- When the picture is reassessed
Each field is explained below against the regulator's own guidance. We provide clinical assessment and documentation — liability sits with the insurer.
What a certificate of capacity actually is
It is a treating practitioner's written opinion about function. SIRA describes itas setting out the type of injury or illness and the date it occurred, the treatment plan, the impact of the injury on the worker's ability to perform usual activities including work, and the details of the practitioner who issued it. WorkSafe Queensland describes the equivalent certificate as carrying the diagnosis, work capacity, rehabilitation information to inform a return-to-work plan and suitable duties program, and timeframes for when treatment is likely to be complete.
The distinction that matters most to an employer is the one buried in the fine print of the South Australian form: “Certification based on your functional ability, not available duties.” The doctor is not deciding what your business can offer. They are describing what this person can safely do — at home, at work, and in between — and it is then your job to find work inside that envelope. A certificate that says “suitable duties” without listing them is not incomplete. It is doing exactly what it was designed to do.
Equally, a certificate is not a claim decision. WorkCover WA tells employers directly that it is not their decision to accept liability — the insurer assesses the claim and must advise the employer and the worker in writing within 14 days of receiving it. Treat the certificate as clinical evidence that starts the injury management clock, not as a verdict on the claim.
What your state calls it, and which form applies
Eight schemes, eight sets of rules. The name changes, who may issue the certificate changes, and — the part that catches national employers out — the maximum period a single certificate can cover changes too. If you operate across borders, the certificate for a Perth worker follows different rules from the one for a worker in Melbourne.
Certificate of capacity
SIRAstates the first certificate is typically completed by the worker's nominated treating doctor, and that a certificate cannot be issued for more than 28 days without specific reasons, under section 44B(4)(a) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987. Second and subsequent certificates may be issued by SIRA-approved treating physiotherapists or psychologists for injuries within their area of expertise, on the designated form.
Certificate of capacity
WorkSafe Victoria allows only a medical practitioner to issue the first certificate, for a maximum of 14 days unless special reasons apply. Subsequent certificates may be issued by a medical practitioner, physiotherapist, chiropractor or osteopath, for up to 28 days unless special reasons exist.
Work capacity certificate (Form 132M)
WorkSafe Queenslandstates a claim application is not valid without a completed work capacity certificate, and that only an AHPRA-registered doctor, nurse practitioner (minor injury) or dentist (oral injury) can issue one — an insurer will not accept one completed by an allied health provider. Submitting it is the worker's responsibility.
First, progress and final certificate of capacity
The First Certificate of Capacity is WorkCover WA approved form CC1, made under section 169(1)(a) of the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023. A clinical reason must be given where a worker is certified as having no capacity beyond 14 days, the review date should not exceed 14 days on a first certificate without recorded clinical reasoning, and the certificate must not be back-dated.
Work capacity certificate
ReturnToWorkSA requires a medical practitioner to complete the certificate, and encourages the electronic Work Capacity Certificate as the preferred method. A nurse practitioner version used at hospital emergency departments can certify capacity for a maximum of seven calendar days.
Workers Compensation Certificate of Capacity
WorkSafe Tasmaniarequires the certificate for a valid claim, and it must be completed and signed by a person registered in the medical profession under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, or authorised to carry out equivalent functions under another country's laws.
Medical certificate of capacity — first, progress, final
NT WorkSafe states the first certificate must follow the format provided by the Authority and should not cover more than 14 days, with progress certificates recommended to cover no more than 28 days. Workers in remote areas without ready access to a doctor may supply a certificate from a registered nurse, enrolled nurse or registered Aboriginal health worker, subject to time limits in regulation 12 of the Return to Work Regulations 1986.
Certificate of capacity
WorkSafe ACTstates the form comes from the worker's nominated treating doctor, and that where a worker is incapacitated for seven days or more they must give the claim form and certificate to the employer or insurer within seven days. The employer then sends the claim form to their insurer within seven days of receiving it, and the employer, worker and nominated treating doctor must all take part in injury management.
How to read one
Diagnosis
Look for specificity, and do not be alarmed by the word “provisional”. SIRA asks practitioners to record a provisional diagnosis where the diagnosis is unclear pending investigation, and to update it once confirmed. Vagueness on a psychological claim is the real problem: WorkCover WA's explanatory notes state that for psychological conditions, terms such as “stress” are not specific enough and may affect the timeliness of the worker's claim being processed. A vague diagnosis slows the insurer down, and that delay lands back on your desk.
Capacity
Every scheme uses three broad settings. SIRA describes them as capable of pre-injury duties, capable of some type of work, or currently unable to work in any capacity; WorkCover WA words the same three as full capacity, some capacity, or no capacity for any work. “Some capacity” is the setting that carries the obligation: it means work exists that this person can do, and it is your task to find it. In WA a clinical reason must be provided where a worker is certified as having no capacity beyond 14 days on a first certificate — so a blanket “unfit” is not the path of least resistance it looks like.
Restrictions
This is the operationally useful part, and it should read like instructions. WorkCover WA's worked examples are the standard to hold a certificate to — “lift up to 5kg, 5 times per hour and maximum 20 times per shift”, “repetitive movement limited to 30 minutes”, or on the psychosocial side, “has difficulty concentrating — requires extra time to complete work, consider temporary relocation to a quieter work area”. Restrictions can be cognitive as well as physical: the South Australian certificate records mental health function — attention and concentration, memory, judgement — alongside the physical grid, and flags where prescribed medication could affect what the person can safely do. If you roster a medicated worker onto machinery because you only read the lifting line, that is a real safety exposure.
Review date
The review date is a scheduling constraint, not a formality — every scheme caps how long one certificate can run (the state cards above give the limits), so diarise the expiry the day it arrives. Two further details govern what happens at the edges: in NSW, where a later certificate overlaps an earlier one, the later takes precedence for the whole period it covers, and in Queensland, backdating is only considered in defined circumstances, where a certificate is issued after a consultation for the same injury and the prior consultation's date and details are recorded. Neither is intuitive, and both decide whether a period is covered.
Turning restrictions into a suitable duties plan
Queensland publishes the clearest template of any scheme, and it works as a checklist anywhere. WorkSafe Queensland states that a suitable duties program should record how long suitable duties will be performed — matching the work capacity certificate or approved by a treating doctor — the limits, restrictions and workplace changes set out in the certificate, days and hours of work, whether training is needed, tasks that will change gradually as the worker recovers, and a date to review and update the program. It also states that everyone involved must approve and sign it: the worker, the rehabilitation and return to work coordinator, the work supervisor and the treating doctor.
The sign-off step is the one most often skipped, and it is the one that protects you. In South Australia, ReturnToWorkSA states that identified duties should be discussed and signed off by the treating doctor before the worker commences them. A plan the doctor has endorsed is a plan you can defend.
Build the plan from the restrictions, not from the vacancy you happen to have. Take each limit in turn, note which tasks in the real role breach it, and remove or modify those. What is left is the starting duty set — and the review date tells you when to upgrade it.
When you disagree with a certificate
Start by assuming the certificate was written without full information about the job. That is usually true, and it is the cheapest thing to fix. SIRA's guidance to treating practitioners says in terms that an employer may provide information about the patient's work, whether modifications to existing work are possible, and whether alternative work is available. A one-page summary of the real duties, with weights, durations and shift patterns, changes more certificates than any dispute process.
If that does not resolve it, the next step runs through the insurer, not the doctor. In WA, WorkCover WA tells employers that a second opinion is requested as a medical review through the insurer. In NSW, the insurer can refer to an injury management consultant — a SIRA-approved doctor experienced in occupational injury who works with the nominated treating doctor to unblock a return-to-work issue. SIRA states that a referral may occur where a specific return-to-work or injury management issue has been identified, or where referral has been requested by the worker, employer, nominated treating doctor or another treating practitioner, and that an injury management consultant does not give an opinion on causation or liability.
Know the limits on examinations, because they are enforced. WorkCover WA states that an injured worker cannot be required to attend medical appointments arranged by the employer or insurer more than once every two weeks and only during reasonable hours, cannot be required to see more than three medical practitioners specialising in the same field, and that an employer cannot insist on being present at a worker's medical appointment. Pressing past those lines damages the relationship you need for the return to work, and it will not change the certificate.
Can a certificate be issued by telehealth?
This is where employers get the most contradictory advice, because the two largest schemes take opposite positions.
New South Wales permits it. SIRA states that where appropriate a certificate can be issued via a telehealth consultation, by either video conference or telephone conference. The same guidance notes that the injured person's consent section of the certificate does not need to be completed by the patient during a telehealth consultation, though consent to share the certificate with another party — including the insurer — is still required and can be given verbally or by email. Practitioners must consider the appropriateness of the mode case by case, and the initial certificate must still be issued by a medical practitioner.
Victoria does not, as a default. WorkSafe Victoria's telehealth policy states that certificates of capacity should not be provided to workers via telehealth, that prior approval by the agent may be sought in exceptional circumstances, and that where a certificate is approved and provided via telehealth the appointment must be audio-visual, not audio only. For a Victorian worker, assume face-to-face unless the agent has approved otherwise.
In the other jurisdictions, the certificate guidance linked above sets who may issue a certificate and what it must contain rather than prescribing the mode of consultation. Where the scheme is silent, the practitioner's professional obligations govern. The Medical Board of Australia's telehealth guidelines state that telehealth is not appropriate for all consultations and should not be considered a routine substitute for in-person care, that video is preferable to telephone where practical, and that the standard of care must be safe and as far as possible meet the same standard as an in-person consultation. If a claim is running outside NSW and a remote consultation is the practical option, confirm the position with the insurer or agent before relying on the certificate.
How we issue certificates, and what you receive
- Clinical triage of a new employer referral — same-day or next-business-day triage
- Certificates prepared on the approved form for the jurisdiction the claim sits in
- A diagnosis stated in recognised medical terminology, recorded as provisional where investigations are still pending
- Capacity certified against the actual physical and cognitive demands of the role, not a generic job title
- Restrictions written so a supervisor can roster from them — limits, durations and workplace modifications
- A review date set deliberately, with the clinical reasoning recorded where the scheme requires it
- Face-to-face or telehealth consultation, chosen against the scheme's rules and what the presentation needs
- A plain-language employer summary alongside the certificate, and progress updates at agreed intervals
We aim for same-day or next-business-day triage where clinically appropriate and capacity allows.
What we do not do
We provide clinical assessment, treatment and documentation. We do not determine liability, provide legal advice, or guarantee any claim outcome — those sit with the insurer, the regulator and, where relevant, a lawyer. Nor will we certify to order: a certificate records what the assessment supports, which is the only thing that makes it useful to you when the claim is examined later. Where a scheme requires the certificate to come from the nominated treating doctor or a specified practitioner type, that applies to us as it does to anyone else.
Common questions from employers
- We just received a certificate of capacity. What is the first thing to do?
- Send it on. In NSW you must tell your insurer within 48 hours of being made aware of the injury. In Victoria you must forward the claim form and any WorkSafe certificates of capacity to your agent no later than 10 calendar days after receiving the claim. In WA you have seven days to pass the claim form and first certificate to your insurer. Keep a copy, then start planning duties against the restrictions rather than waiting for the claim decision.
- The certificate says “suitable duties” but does not say which duties. Is that an oversight?
- No — it is how the certificate is meant to work. ReturnToWorkSA's guidance tells doctors to document what the patient can do safely irrespective of whether suitable duties currently exist at their employer, and states that it is the role of the employer to accommodate that level of function in the workplace. The doctor supplies function. You supply the job.
- Can we ask the doctor to change a certificate we think is wrong?
- You can give the doctor information; you cannot direct the clinical opinion. SIRA's guidanceto medical practitioners expressly contemplates an employer providing information about the worker's job, whether modifications to existing work are possible, and whether alternative work is available. If the disagreement survives that, the route is the insurer — in WA, WorkCover WA tells employers that if they would like a second opinion they can request a medical review through their insurer.
- Can a certificate of capacity be issued over telehealth?
- It depends on the scheme, and NSW and Victoria sit at opposite ends. SIRA states that where appropriate a certificate can be issued via a telehealth consultation, by video or telephone conference. WorkSafe Victoria's telehealth policy states that certificates of capacity should not be provided to workers via telehealth, that prior approval may be sought from the agent in exceptional circumstances, and that an approved telehealth certificate appointment must be audio-visual, not audio only. Confirm the position for a specific claim before relying on it: the SIRA guidance linked above sits on a page framed around COVID-19 arrangements and last updated in 2023, and SIRA has flagged a 2026 review of the certificate itself.
- The certificate expires next week and the worker has not been rebooked. What happens?
- A gap between certificates is the most common avoidable disruption to a claim. Certificate periods are capped — NSW certificates cannot exceed 28 days without specific reasons, Victorian first certificates run to a maximum of 14 days and subsequent ones to 28, and the NT first certificate should not cover more than 14 days. Diarise the expiry the day the certificate arrives rather than the day it lapses.
More answers are on our employer FAQ. These answers are general and do not replace advice for a specific claim. Scheme rules change — check the regulator's page before relying on a timeframe.