Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) · CTP & Motor Accident
Functional Capacity Evaluation for CTP and motor accident claims
After a motor accident, a functional capacity evaluation measures what a person can safely do — at work and in daily activity — following their injury. Under the NSW CTP (motor accident) scheme, referral and funding run through the CTP insurer rather than a workers compensation agent, and the injured person may be a worker or a member of the public. Nexus Rehab coordinates the evaluation and reports objective findings; it does not provide medical treatment.
How an FCE works under the CTP scheme
CTP claims sit under the NSW motor accident scheme, not the workers compensation scheme, so referral and funding run through the CTP (green slip) insurer. The injured person may be a worker, but they may also be a passenger, pedestrian or other road user with no workplace claim at all. Once the CTP insurer approves the service, Nexus arranges the evaluation. It is a structured, standardised assessment of function: it measures tolerances such as lifting, carrying, standing, sitting and sustained tasks, and considers both return to work and return to everyday activity. Findings are documented objectively and shared with the person's own treating doctor and the CTP insurer. The evaluation measures capacity; it does not provide treatment or a diagnosis.
Who refers and who funds
For CTP and motor accident claims the referral usually comes through the CTP insurer or their case manager. The person's own treating doctor or their legal representative can also raise the need for an evaluation. Nexus coordinates the assessment once the CTP insurer approves it, and liaises with the person's employer only where there is a role to return to. Make a referral and Nexus confirms scope and approval with the CTP insurer first, so the person is not left chasing an answer on cost. Coverage is all of NSW, metropolitan and regional.
What the report gives you
The report gives the CTP insurer objective evidence of what the person can safely do after the accident — across work tasks and daily activity. It supports the insurer's recovery, return-to-work and return-to-activity planning, and helps set realistic, safe goals where there is a job to return to. Where the person is not employed, the same findings still inform return-to-activity planning and the supports that make it possible.