SA Police workers comp
the 104-week rule and what's on top

SAPOL officers are covered by South Australia's general scheme, the Return to Work Act 2014 (SA). There's no separate police compensation Act. What's different for police is who runs the claim, and an extra layer of benefits for some injuries, covered below.

Under section 130, the Crown and its agencies are taken to be registered as self-insured employers. SAPOL's 2024-25 annual report says SAPOL "is responsible for the management of workers rehabilitation and compensation and is directly responsible for meeting the cost". So your case manager works for SAPOL, not a ReturnToWorkSA claims agent.

SAPOL's injury management area can be contacted at sapol.ims@police.sa.gov.au, according to the public sector's injury management contacts list. For how other forces handle injured officers, see our national guide to police workers compensation.

Section 7 sets two different tests. A physical injury must arise out of or in the course of employment, with employment being a significant contributing cause. A psychiatric injury needs employment to be the significant contributing cause, a deliberately higher bar.

The SA Act expects fast reporting. Section 16 says notice should be given to the employer within 24 hours if practicable, otherwise as soon as practicable, and it can be oral or written.

1. 1

   Tell your supervisor

   Within 24 hours if practicable

   Report the injury and record it through SAPOL's internal safety and injury reporting. Write down dates, job numbers and witnesses.

2. 2

   See a doctor and get a Work Capacity Certificate

   Same week

   Tell the doctor it's a work injury. The claim must be supported by a certificate (s 30).

3. 3

   Lodge the claim form

   Promptly

   Use the approved claim form and lodge it with SAPOL's injury management area. The Act sets a prescribed period; late claims aren't barred if the delay caused no substantial prejudice or had a reasonable cause.

4. 4

   SAPOL decides

   10 business days

   Income support claims should wherever practicable be decided within 10 business days (s 31(4)). If it takes longer, the public sector guide says you'll be offered interim benefits.

5. 5

   Recovery and return to work plan

   Ongoing

   Your case manager, treating doctor and supervisor agree suitable duties and a plan. Get every change to duties or hours in writing.

If you can do some work, suitable duties are usually better for you than staying home: you keep contact with your team, and the Act tops up the gap between what you earn and your notional weekly earnings. If proposed duties don't fit your medical restrictions, say so in writing and ask your treating doctor to comment on the plan before you start.

Weekly payments are based on your notional weekly earnings, defined in section 5 and capped at twice State average weekly earnings. If you have no current work capacity, you get a percentage of those earnings. If you have some capacity, you get a percentage of the gap between them and what you actually earn.

The seriously injured worker test

Section 21 defines a seriously injured worker by whole person impairment (WPI): 30% or more for a psychiatric injury or 35% or more for a physical injury. ReturnToWorkSA says the physical threshold rose from 30% to 35% on 1 January 2023 for workers who hadn't had a final assessment before then. Interim decisions are possible under section 21(3).

For most injured SA officers, the hard date is week 104. Plan your recovery, return to work and any additional scheme claim around it.

Take a Senior Constable on Increment 6 ($117,542 base from 1 January 2026) on the Response Extended Hours Roster with the 23% Response Allowance. On our rough calculation they earn about $2,771 a week. The Act's notional weekly earnings use your actual earnings history, so your figure will differ.

Over the second year, the 80% rate costs this officer about $28,816 before tax. After week 104 the Act pays nothing more unless they're seriously injured, which is why the police additional compensation scheme below matters.

SAPOL's 2024-25 annual report describes an additional compensation scheme that "provides continuing benefits to workers who have suffered eligible work-related injuries and whose entitlements have ceased under the statutory workers compensation scheme". In other words, it can pick up where the Act stops at 104 weeks.

A law firm reports the scheme was introduced through enterprise agreement clauses in 2016. We couldn't confirm the clause wording, because the 2021 SA Police Enterprise Agreement is a scanned document. Ask SAPOL's injury management area and PASA for the current scheme rules in writing before week 104.

In South Australia, the test for a psychological injury is stricter than for a physical one. Employment must be the significant contributing cause, and the injury must not arise "wholly or predominantly" from reasonable management action, such as a transfer, discipline, counselling, a promotion decision or reasonable administrative action (s 7(4)).

There's also no PTSD presumption. The Return to Work (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Amendment Bill 2023 would have presumed PTSD in first responders, including police officers, was work-related. It passed the Legislative Council in April 2024 but didn't pass the House of Assembly, and it's now archived. No replacement bill was before Parliament when we checked; the only current Return to Work bill concerns firefighters.

Reasonable medical and related costs are covered while you're entitled to weekly payments. The entitlement ends once there's been no entitlement to weekly payments for a continuous 12 months (s 33(20)), with exceptions in section 33(21). If you never received income support, the public sector guide says cover runs for up to a year from the date of injury.

Seriously injured workers can elect a lump sum instead of ongoing weekly payments (s 56A). That's a major, usually irreversible decision, so get independent legal advice first.

Medical retirement and workers comp are separate decisions. What you get from super depends on your scheme. Members of the pre-1990 Police Pension Scheme have a total and permanent invalidity pension. For Triple S members, injury and income protection for police has long been treated as a "reserved matter" under the enterprise agreement, and we couldn't confirm the current police-specific benefit.

1. 1

   Accepted workers comp claim

   Years 1-2

   Weekly payments for up to 104 weeks, with treatment and a return-to-work plan.

2. 2

   Check the additional scheme

   Before week 104

   If your injury came from a criminal or dangerous situation, ask whether continuing benefits apply after week 104.

3. 3

   Medical retirement considered

   Get advice

   If you can't return to policing, ask what your super scheme and any insurance will pay before you agree to retire.

4. 4

   Seriously injured status

   s 21, s 41

   If an assessment puts you at 30% (psychiatric) or 35% (physical) WPI or more, weekly payments can continue to retirement age.

Our SA Police medical retirement guide covers the process and the super schemes in more detail. Speak to Super SA and PASA before you sign anything.

If your claim is rejected, payments are cut or treatment is refused, the South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET) is where disputes go. The time limit is short.

Free help is available. The SA Unions Workers' Compensation Service gives government-funded advocacy to eligible workers, and the Legal Services Commission gives advice (not representation) on Return to Work matters. The Police Association of South Australia is your first call as a member. Complaints about a self-insurer's service standards can go to the Ombudsman SA.

These services are confirmed on official or provider websites.

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000.

PASA sees these claims regularly. Take this list to your first conversation.

For pay context, see our SA Police salary guide and SA Police leave guide. Comparing forces? Read how Tasmania, the NT and the AFP treat injured officers.