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.
Written by Steve Daniel, founder of Zenvia — GAICD · MBA · Master of IT · Author, Cybersecurity for Australian Not-for-Profits · Last reviewed October 2026
Getting approved
A SIRA provider number is mandatory
To bill NSW workers compensation for psychological injury, you need a SIRA (State Insurance Regulatory Authority) 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 — the current one, the Workers Compensation (Psychology and Counselling Fees) Order 2026, took effect 1 February 2026 with fees indexed up 4.57% on the prior order (SIRA, NSW Government Gazette No. 20, 23 January 2026) — and insurers won't pay above the gazetted maximum. Counsellor/social worker line-item rates are generally lower than the psychologist rate. Pull the current dollar figures from SIRA's published fee order directly rather than relying on a quoted number anywhere, including here — fee orders are indexed roughly annually.
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.
A worked example
An 8-session treatment course, start to finish
Say a worker is referred to you for psychological injury and their claim is already accepted. Here's roughly how the approval-to-payment cycle runs:
- Before session 1: you (or the referring party) submit an Allied Health Treatment Request to the insurer, typically proposing a course of sessions rather than approval one session at a time. Turnaround for an initial AHTR response is commonly around 2–5 business days, though insurers vary.
- Each session: you deliver and document the session as usual, then raise an invoice citing the worker's name, claim number, the AHTR/purchase order number, the SIRA payment classification code for the service, the session date and duration, and your ABN. Missing any one of these is the single most common reason an invoice gets kicked back for correction rather than paid.
- Submission: invoice through Tyro Health or HICAPS digital invoicing if the insurer supports it, or directly to the claims service provider if not — check which channel your specific insurer uses before the first session, not after.
- Payment: a complete, correctly coded invoice is typically settled within about 10 business days. Across an 8-session course invoiced weekly, that means the first payment usually lands before the course is halfway done, assuming each invoice goes in promptly and cleanly.
- Mid-course: if clinical need extends beyond the originally approved number of sessions, a further AHTR is needed before billing for the additional sessions — treating first and seeking approval afterward risks a declined invoice.
The exact per-session dollar rate for counsellors (as distinct from psychologists) sits in SIRA's gazetted fee order, indexed periodically — pull the current counsellor-specific line item from SIRA's own fees page rather than relying on a quoted figure anywhere, including this page.
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.
Want the full picture? See all our funder and practice guides. 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.