Can I claim treatment travel expenses in NSW workers compensation?

Many injured workers pay for petrol, parking, public transport, taxis, rideshare, or longer regional trips without realising those costs may belong on the claim file. Others assume every journey will automatically be reimbursed. Both approaches can cause problems. The safest position is to treat travel as part of the medical-expense evidence stream: claim it early, document it clearly, and keep it connected to the accepted injury and the treatment purpose.

This guide is deliberately narrow. It does not repeat the full section 60 medical expenses guide. It focuses on the travel evidence that tends to be missed when a worker is attending treatment, rehabilitation, scans, medical reviews, or insurer-arranged appointments.

What treatment travel can count?

SIRA describes medical, hospital and rehabilitation expenses as including travel to attend those appointments. Section 60 also refers to related travel expenses connected with medical, hospital and rehabilitation treatment or services. In practical terms, the travel usually needs to be for something that is itself connected to the compensable work injury.

Do not assume the label on the appointment is enough. A physiotherapy visit for the accepted back injury is easier to explain than a general health appointment. A specialist review arranged because of the work injury is easier to explain than a visit where the records do not say what condition was discussed. If the insurer later questions the expense, the appointment purpose often matters as much as the dollar amount.

Evidence checklist for travel reimbursement

A strong treatment travel claim is usually a simple paper trail, not a long legal argument. Keep a running spreadsheet or note and attach supporting documents before the amounts become hard to reconstruct.

• Appointment date, time, provider name, address, and purpose of the visit.
• Referral, treatment plan, certificate of capacity, or insurer request showing why the attendance related to the accepted work injury.
• Kilometres travelled, route, parking receipts, taxi or rideshare receipts, public transport records, or other fare evidence.
• Written reason if you could not use ordinary transport, needed an escort, or needed a more expensive travel option.
• Copies of each reimbursement request and the insurer response, including any delay or refusal reasons.

If you drive, record the return distance for each appointment and the suburb or clinic address. If you use public transport, keep Opal or card records where available. If you pay for taxis or rideshare because driving is unsafe, painful, or medically unsuitable, ask the treating doctor to record why that transport method is needed. If parking or tolls are significant, keep receipts instead of relying on memory.

Do you need insurer approval before travelling?

The answer depends on what the travel is for. If the underlying treatment needs approval, the travel issue should usually be kept with that approval request. For example, if the insurer is deciding whether physiotherapy, psychology, surgery review, or a rehabilitation service is reasonably necessary, the travel expense may rise or fall with that treatment decision.

Some treatment and service categories may be available without pre-approval under SIRA guidance, depending on the provider type, timing and facts. That does not mean travel records can be loose. It means the worker should still be able to show the appointment was injury-related, reasonable, and properly documented. If the trip is unusual, expensive, interstate, needs accommodation, or needs an escort, get the insurer position in writing before relying on reimbursement.

What about an escort, taxi, rideshare, or long-distance travel?

Section 60 refers to circumstances where a worker is not reasonably able to travel unescorted and the escort expenses are necessarily and reasonably incurred so the worker can receive the treatment or service. The cautious way to use that rule is to obtain medical support and give practical reasons, such as medication effects, mobility limits, post-surgery restrictions, cognitive symptoms, psychological symptoms, or inability to safely drive.

For taxis, rideshare, accommodation, flights, or long regional travel, do not assume ordinary reimbursement rules will cover every cost. Ask the insurer to confirm the position before the expense is incurred where possible. If the appointment is urgent and there is no time, keep the urgency evidence, appointment notice, travel options considered, and the reason the chosen option was necessary.

What if the insurer refuses to pay travel expenses?

Start by asking for written reasons. A refusal might be about the underlying treatment, the connection to the work injury, missing receipts, distance, transport method, lack of prior approval, or whether an escort was necessary. Each reason needs a different response.

If the insurer has refused the treatment itself, read the treatment denial guide and check whether a section 78 notice has been issued. If the refusal follows an insurer-arranged medical report, compare the report with your treating evidence and the unfair IME report guide. Travel expenses can be minor on paper, but a refusal sometimes signals a wider dispute about the accepted injury, capacity, or reasonable necessity of treatment.

Common mistakes that delay travel reimbursement

The most common mistake is waiting too long. After months of appointments, it becomes difficult to remember dates, routes, tolls, parking, and whether each attendance was for the work injury or another health issue. A second mistake is sending receipts without context. The insurer needs to understand the appointment purpose, not just the amount spent.

A third mistake is mixing travel to treatment with travel to ordinary work, social activities, or unrelated medical care. Keep the claim focused. If the appointment was for the work injury, say so and attach proof. If only part of the appointment related to the work injury, be cautious and ask for advice before presenting the cost as fully claim-related.

Finally, do not let unpaid travel become a substitute for challenging the real problem. If treatment is being refused, if the insurer says the injury is no longer causing symptoms, or if rehabilitation is being used to pressure an unsafe return to work, the travel reimbursement issue should be handled alongside the bigger claim pathway.

Source basis and accuracy note

This guide is based on current source checking against SIRA public material for medical, hospital and rehabilitation expenses, SIRA Workers Compensation Guidelines search snippets and benefits-guide material identifying car travel expenses, and section 60 of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), including the wording about medical, hospital and rehabilitation treatment and related travel expenses. It gives general information only and does not assume every travel cost, escort cost, taxi, accommodation expense, or long-distance trip must be paid.