The Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Provisional Payments) Act 2020 (Provisional Payments Act) has received Royal Assent and will come into effect on a day to be proclaimed (expected to be 1 July 2021) or at the latest, 1 January 2022.
The Provisional Payments Act is a response from the Victorian Government to improve support for Victorian workers by introducing provisional payments for work-related mental injuries.
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Regardless of if the worker’s claim is subsequently rejected on the basis that there was no injury, they will still have access to up to 13 weeks of payments (medical and like).
As part of the amendments, employers will be required to provide early notification of mental injury claims to their Agent within three business days of receiving the claim. Agents will then need to determine if the claim is eligible to receive provisional payments within two business days. The claimant should be able to receive payments for medical and like services after five business days of lodging their mental injury claim. Self-insurers will have five business days to determine a provisional payments claim.
Information about the Provisional Payments Act is available on the Victorian Legislation website.