Emerging Issues from COVID-19 in the Australian Workplace

This article addresses a range of workplace issues, with a focus on workers' compensation and return to work, and employment law and related medical issues after the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 in Australia since 2020. It will briefly address some changes to the insurance industry generally and then consider the sometimes complex issues arising from workers' compensation claims, which have changed behaviours in claims and injury management. It concludes the theme emerging from decided cases to date that employers, insurers, and rehabilitation providers must adopt a reasonable approach to the consultation and implementation of workplace changes affecting injured workers subject to return-to-work programs.