Glossary
Work Capacity Assessment
The insurer's review of an injured worker's ability to return to work and earn, drawing together medical, functional and vocational evidence.
Definition
A work capacity assessment is the insurer's review of an injured worker's ability to return to work and earn, under the NSW workers compensation scheme. It draws together medical evidence, functional and vocational information and the worker's circumstances to build a picture of current and likely future capacity. The assessment informs a work capacity decision about weekly payments and suitable employment. It is a process the insurer conducts over the life of a claim, not a single test, and it may be revisited as the injury and the person's capacity change.
In practice
The assessment pulls together evidence from across a claim, and that is where current, coordinated information helps. Nexus contributes objective inputs — a functional capacity evaluation showing safe work limits, or a vocational assessment of transferable skills and realistic roles — so the picture reflects what the person can actually do now. We keep the parties aligned and the evidence up to date; the assessment itself, and any decision from it, rests with the insurer.