Workers Compensation Doctor Canberra
Hurt at work and need a doctor? We'll get you in. In both of Canberra's schemes the certificate of capacity is a doctor's document, and we book you with a doctor who writes them routinely. Certificate appointments are booked in person in Canberra. Reviews and treatment can run in person or by telehealth, and we help with the referrals and claim paperwork either way.
Need a Certificate? We Get You to the Right Doctor
Every claim in Canberra runs on a doctor's certificate, and the right form depends on who you work for. Canberra has two workers compensation schemes, each with its own certificate and its own rules about who can sign it. You don't have to work any of that out: tell us your employer and we book you with a doctor who completes the correct one. Here's what each one involves.
If you work for the Commonwealth, the ACT Government or a national licensee
Certificate of Capacity for Work
- The Comcare form (updated February 2026) used across the SRC Act scheme: Commonwealth agencies, the ACT Government (via EML) and national self-insured licensees.
- Only a legally qualified medical practitioner may complete it: a GP, or a specialist such as a psychiatrist.
- A psychologist can never certify incapacity. The certificate is a doctor's document at every stage of an SRC Act claim.
- For psychological claims the doctor also writes the referral and directive that make psychology fundable treatment.
If you work for a Canberra private employer
The Medical Certificate
- The statutory 'medical certificate' — operationally the Certificate of Capacity on the approved form — carries every private-sector claim in the territory.
- Any AHPRA-registered doctor in Australia can complete it, at every stage of the claim (initial and ongoing).
- You can nominate a whole medical practice, not just one doctor, as your nominated treating doctor.
- Claims are decided by the employer's licensed insurer: Allianz, Guild, QBE, CGU or GIO. WorkSafe ACT regulates the scheme but makes no claim decisions.
Not sure which certificate is yours? It follows your employer, not your suburb. Our which-scheme guide for Canberra workers settles it in one question.
The Deadlines We Keep Ahead Of, So You Don't Have To
Your claim runs on strict timeframes. Both schemes are built on them, and every one assumes a doctor's certificate is in place. Here's what the clocks mean for you; making sure the certificate stays ahead of them is our job.
If you work for a Canberra private employer
On notice
Weekly payments must start when you give your employer notice of the injury, before any claim or liability decision.
48 hours
Your employer must give its insurer notice of the injury within 48 hours of becoming aware of it.
7 days
Lodge the claim within 7 days of the injury to keep those automatic payments running.
28 days
The insurer must decide liability within 28 days. Silence is deemed acceptance.
If you work for the Commonwealth, the ACT Government or a licensee
20 days
Statutory determination window for injury claims (calendar days).
60 days
Determination window for disease claims, the category psychological claims fall into.
30 days
Window to request reconsideration of a determination by an independent officer.
60 days
Window to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal (no application fee for workers compensation matters).
The scheme-by-scheme detail lives on our workers compensation hub for Canberra and the ACT and our Comcare workers compensation guide.
A Psychological Injury? We Line Up the Doctor and the Psychologist Together.
If your injury is psychological, you don't have to organise any of this yourself: we line up the doctor and the psychologist together, so the referral, the directive and the certificate move in step.
Behind that sits the detail we handle for you. Under the SRC Act — Comcare, the ACT Government and the national licensees — psychology only becomes funded treatment after a doctor's referral with a written directive covering the form, frequency and duration of treatment, and the certificate itself must come from a GP or a specialist. Under the ACT private scheme, psychology is a listed head of compensable medical treatment, but the claim still runs on a doctor's certificate. Our page on workers compensation psychologists in Canberra covers the treatment side; see the Comcare psychologist page for the SRC Act mechanics in full.
Why Injured Workers in Canberra Come to Us
In person in Canberra, or telehealth
We book doctors who see Canberra patients face to face and by video. Where a certificate is part of the appointment, we book you in person.
Certificates done properly
Current, specific and consistent with treatment: the difference between a claim that moves and one that stalls.
Doctors, psychologists, physios
Lined up by one team. Referrals, directives and certificate updates kept in step, not couriered between practices by you.
Both schemes covered
Comcare and ACT private-sector claims follow different rulebooks. We work in both.
Around the certificate, we line up the rest of the care: a psychologist where the injury is psychological, a physiotherapist where it is physical, and orthopaedic and other specialist opinions where the diagnosis needs one — in person in Canberra or by telehealth. If an operation is ever on the table, where it happens is worked out with you and turns on your insurer's approval, not on anything we'd settle on a web page.
Canberra Certificate FAQs
Doctors for Injured Workers Across Canberra's Districts
The scheme rules are the same city-wide. What changes district to district is the work people do, and the injuries that come with it. Here is the capital as we see it.
Belconnen
Public service offices around the town centre (including the ABS headquarters), health and education campuses in Bruce, plus retail and trades across the district.
Gungahlin
APS commuters heading into Civic each morning, retail staff around the Marketplace, and the construction trades building out the district's newest suburbs.
Inner North
Civic office workers and public servants, ANU staff, and the hospitality and retail workforce along Braddon's Lonsdale Street and the Dickson precinct.
Inner South
Departmental headquarters in Barton and Parkes, hospitality across Kingston and Manuka, and trades and warehousing in Fyshwick.
Woden Valley
The main hospital campus's clinical and support workforce (ACT Government employees), Commonwealth office staff in Phillip, and retail across Westfield Woden.
Weston Creek
Local retail and services around Cooleman Court, school and clinic staff, and a large base of commuters into Woden and the Parliamentary Triangle.
Tuggeranong
Thousands of APS staff at the Caroline Chisholm Centre in Greenway, retail workers around South.Point, and trades servicing the valley's suburbs.
Molonglo Valley
The construction workforce building the district itself, alongside new residents who mostly commute to APS and office jobs in Civic, Woden and the Parliamentary Triangle.
Wherever you work in the capital or the surrounding region, the appointment is the same one. Certificate appointments are in person; reviews and treatment can be either. Call (02) 7238 7379 and we'll sort the rest.
Hurt at Work? We'll Get You In With a Doctor
In person across Canberra and by telehealth. The doctor completes your certificate of capacity in person, and we help keep it current as treatment progresses, whichever of Canberra's schemes your claim runs under.
Call (02) 7238 7379