Workers compensation counselling
NSW workers compensation counselling: provider approval and invoicing
Unlike Medicare-style billing, you can't simply invoice once a workers comp claim is accepted — provider approval comes first. Here's what SIRA requires, and how payment actually works once you're approved.
Getting approved
A SIRA provider number is mandatory
To bill NSW workers compensation for psychological injury, you need a SIRA provider number — available to full PACFA clinical members, AASW mental-health-accredited social workers, or ACA level 3/4 members (SIRA maintains a searchable public register). Before treating, providers typically submit an Allied Health Treatment Request (AHTR) for pre-approval — you generally can't see the worker and bill afterward without it.
Who pays, and how
The insurer pays you directly
The insurer (icare, or a Claims Service Provider such as EML, QBE, GIO, Allianz or Gallagher Bassett) pays the provider directly — the worker is never billed. Invoicing commonly runs through Tyro Health or HICAPS digital invoicing, or directly to the claims service provider, and needs specific detail most generic invoices don't carry by default: the worker's name, claim number, service approval/purchase order number, the SIRA payment classification code, service date and duration, and your ABN.
Paid invoices are typically settled within about 10 days once complete. Rates are fixed by a SIRA gazetted fee order — insurers won't pay above the gazetted maximum, and counsellor/social worker line-item rates are generally lower than the psychologist rate. Pull the current figure from the gazetted fee order directly rather than relying on a quoted number anywhere, including here.
This is NSW-specific (icare/SIRA). Other states run separate schemes — WorkSafe Victoria, WorkCover Queensland and so on — with their own provider-approval and fee-schedule rules. Don't assume NSW's mechanics apply elsewhere.
What Zenvia supports today
Invoicing for approved providers
Zenvia supports NSW workers compensation billing for practitioners with an active SIRA approval on file — invoice the insurer as the funder, linked to the right catalogue item, tracked against the client file. It doesn't (yet) push invoices through Tyro Health or HICAPS directly, so check with your insurer or claims service provider on their preferred invoicing channel.
Run your workers comp billing through Zenvia
Invoiced, tracked, and ready for your accountant.
Billing another funder? See Medicare, NDIS, EAP, Victims Services NSW, Victoria's FAS, DVA and Open Arms, or private health fund rebates. Not sure which registration you need? See PACFA vs ACA vs AHPRA.