SIRA’s 2025 Workplace Rehabilitation Provider Evaluation identified that 76% of people who engaged with a workplace rehabilitation provider achieved a durable return to work outcome. View the SIRA report .
For over 40 years, IOH has helped injured workers, employers and insurers achieve safe, practical and sustainable return to work outcomes.
We know that recovery does not always happen before a person returns to work. With the right plan, support and workplace adjustments, work itself can be an important part of recovery.
IOH provides workplace rehabilitation services focused on clear goals, practical strategies and staged return to work planning. Our experienced consultants understand injury management, workplace dynamics, rehabilitation options, procedures and legislation. Each brings specialist expertise across areas such as physical rehabilitation, psychological support, stress management, job placement and counselling.
We help make the return to work process easier to understand and easier to manage — providing accessible guidance, coordinated support and a clear pathway toward the best possible outcome.
Same Employer - Recover at Work
IOH's Same Employer Rehabilitation Team will be engaged when there is a risk of a delayed return to work, or if the worker is not progressing as expected in their recovery at work. IOH consultants become the expert facilitator of the return to work and recover at work process, communicating clearly and frequently with the worker and all stakeholders [employer, treating doctor, scheme agent, family and others] to develop a clear and collaborative action plan. If any new barriers are identified IOH will ensure stakeholders are involved in the new strategies that are being considered.
New Employer Rehabilitation - Return to Work Redeployment
Unfortunately sometimes an injury procludes a worker from returning to work in their prior workplace or role. This is where our New Employer Team come in. They are tasked with assisting the worker unpack their skills and experience, to put the pieces together to form a strong job seeking strategy. The New Employer Team then assist the worker implement that plan, assisting them with the job search and interview stages until they find that perfect new position. Our team greatly exceed the outcomes of other rehabilitation providers, with our clients having almost 50% higher likelihood of finding that next role.
Workplace Rehabilitation and Return to Work Support in NSW
Workplace rehabilitation helps an injured or unwell worker recover at work or return to safe, suitable employment. The goal is not just to “get back to work” quickly, but to build a practical, medically informed plan that supports recovery, reduces the risk of re-injury and keeps everyone aligned.
At IOH Health, our workplace rehabilitation consultants work with the worker, employer, treating doctor, insurer and other stakeholders to identify barriers, clarify capacity and develop a staged pathway back to work. This may involve returning to pre-injury duties, temporary suitable duties, modified hours, workplace adjustments, or, where return to the same employer is not possible, support to find suitable work with a new employer.
IOH is an accredited workplace rehabilitation provider for SIRA NSW and Comcare schemes, supporting workers compensation and CTP matters across NSW.
When should a workplace rehabilitation provider be involved?
A workplace rehabilitation provider can assist when a worker’s recovery or return to work is not progressing as expected, or when extra support is needed to coordinate the process.
Common reasons for referral include:
- difficulty identifying safe and suitable duties
- complex physical or psychological injury
- delayed recovery or uncertainty about work capacity
- communication issues between the worker, employer, doctor or insurer
- the need for a workplace assessment, functional capacity evaluation or vocational assessment
- barriers to returning to the same role, workplace or employer
- support required for redeployment or new employer rehabilitation
Early referral can help clarify the worker’s capacity, identify practical options and reduce delays in the recover-at-work process.
What does workplace rehabilitation involve?
Every claim is different, so workplace rehabilitation should be tailored to the worker’s injury, capacity, workplace and recovery goals. IOH may assist with:
Workplace assessments and suitable duties
A workplace assessment reviews the worker’s duties, work environment and available suitable work options. This helps determine whether duties can be modified safely through changes to tasks, hours, equipment, work practices or supervision.
Suitable duties may include parts of the worker’s usual role, reduced hours, modified duties, alternate tasks, training opportunities or work at a different site, depending on medical certification and workplace availability.
Recover-at-work and return-to-work planning
A recover-at-work plan provides a clear, staged pathway for increasing duties or hours in line with medical capacity. IOH consultants help ensure the plan is practical, understood by all parties and reviewed as recovery progresses.
Functional Capacity Evaluations
A Functional Capacity Evaluation, or FCE, assesses a worker’s physical capacity against specific work demands. This can help clarify what duties are currently safe, what restrictions apply and what supports may be required.
Psychological injury rehabilitation
Psychological injury claims often require careful coordination, clear communication and sensitivity to workplace, interpersonal and psychosocial barriers. IOH supports recovery-focused planning that considers both the worker’s health needs and the practical realities of the workplace.
Vocational assessment and new employer rehabilitation
If the worker cannot safely return to their pre-injury employer or role, IOH can assist with vocational assessment, transferable skills review, labour market research, job-seeking strategy and new employer placement support.
Same employer vs new employer rehabilitation
Same employer rehabilitation focuses on helping the worker recover at work or return to work with their pre-injury employer. This may involve workplace assessment, suitable duties planning, stakeholder meetings and graded upgrades.
New employer rehabilitation applies when returning to the same employer is no longer suitable or realistic. IOH helps the worker identify transferable skills, explore suitable job options, prepare for job seeking and move toward sustainable employment with a new employer.
Why choose IOH Health?
IOH has supported workplace injury recovery since 1984. We are an independent Australian health provider, not owned by an insurance broker, claims intermediary or private equity group. That independence matters.
In the workers compensation market, some rehabilitation providers sit within broader broker-owned or investor-owned groups. In those models, a broker may recommend a rehabilitation provider that is part of its own corporate family. Even where that is disclosed and managed appropriately, it can create a perceived conflict of interest: is the referral being made because the provider is the best fit for the worker and employer, or because the work stays inside the same group?
IOH offers a clear alternative. We are not a broker-owned rehabilitation subsidiary and we do not rely on internal referral pathways from a parent company. Referrals to IOH are earned through performance, responsiveness, communication and outcomes.
Our team brings together rehabilitation consultants and allied health professionals with experience across physical injury, psychological injury, workplace assessment, vocational rehabilitation and recover-at-work planning.
Workplace rehabilitation FAQs
Workplace rehabilitation is a coordinated process that helps an injured or unwell worker recover at work or return to suitable employment. It may include assessment, planning, workplace modification, suitable duties, case conferences and vocational support.
In workers compensation matters, workplace rehabilitation services are generally funded by the insurer when they are reasonably necessary and approved as part of the claim.
In NSW SIRA Scheme, workers can be involved in the choice of workplace rehabilitation provider. The provider should be suitable for the worker’s needs, location, injury type and recovery goals.
A recover-at-work plan outlines the worker’s duties, hours, restrictions, goals and review points. It helps the worker, employer, doctor, insurer and rehabilitation provider stay aligned during recovery. It is newer terminology for return-to-work plan with the language focusing on returning and recovering at work.
Suitable duties are work tasks matched to the worker’s current medical capacity. They may be temporary or modified and should support recovery without placing the worker at risk of further injury.
New employer rehabilitation may be needed when the worker cannot safely or sustainably return to their pre-injury employer or role. It focuses on identifying realistic employment options and supporting the worker into suitable new work.
IOH is a participating member in the Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association (ARPA). ARPA fosters communication in the rehabilitation industry to promote and advance recovery, restoration, return to work and return to independence of people with injuries and diseases. Our involvement with ARPA is our commitment to providing our clients with best practice workplace rehabilitation.
