Key References & Legislation
IRO Approved Specialists
Most disputes regarding weekly payments are eligible for IRO funding. This means you pay nothing for our legal services to audit your payments or challenge a work capacity decision.
Overview of Weekly Payments in NSW
Weekly payments are designed to replace a portion of the income you lose when you are unable to work (either totally or partially) due to a work-related injury. The NSW scheme is built around "step-downs," meaning the amount you receive changes at specific intervals: the 13-week mark and the 130-week mark.
Whether you are a full-time employee, a casual worker, or an apprentice, the rules for calculating your rate are based on your Pre-Injury Average Weekly Earnings (PIAWE).
Quick answers before you dive into the full guide
- Can payments drop after 13 weeks? Yes. For many workers the statutory rate changes at 13 weeks and again later.
- Can payments stop after 130 weeks? They often can, unless eligibility tests continue to be met.
- Can payments end at 260 weeks? Yes, in most cases, unless a statutory exception applies.
- Is PIAWE the only issue? No. Work capacity decisions, treatment disputes, and threshold evidence often drive the outcome.
Answer-first checklist: what most injured workers need to know fast
Check the rate, not just the insurer letter
Compare the insurer rate against your payslips, overtime pattern, allowances, and second-job earnings. If the starting number is wrong, every weekly payment after that can be wrong too.
Treat week 13, week 130, and week 260 as evidence deadlines
These are not just calendar milestones. They are the points where insurers most often reduce, stop, or heavily contest payments. Prepare your medical and earnings material early.
Read every section 78 notice and work-capacity letter closely
The insurer usually tells you what evidence it is relying on. A weak IME report, unrealistic suitable-employment assumption, or missing wage item often appears in those letters.
Do not wait for payments to hit zero before acting
Weekly-payment disputes are often easier to manage when the warning signs are picked up early, before a reduction hardens into a longer fight about capacity or thresholds.
Detailed Weekly Payment Guides
PIAWE Calculation
How your average weekly earnings are calculated and how to identify insurer mistakes.
View Full Guide →Payments Stopped or Reduced
Urgent steps to take when your income is cut off by a work capacity decision.
View Full Guide →Indexation Rules
How payments are adjusted over time to account for economic changes.
View Full Guide →Multiple Jobs & Earnings
Entitlements for workers with more than one employer at the time of injury.
View Full Guide →Recalculation Requests
How to formally request an audit of your pre-injury earnings rate.
View Full Guide →Cash Job and Workers Comp
Whether a cash-in-hand worker can still claim, how the employee test applies, and how to prove PIAWE without clean payroll records.
View Full Guide →The Calculation: Understanding PIAWE
Your payment rate is not a guess; it is governed by Schedule 3 of the 1987 Act. PIAWE is generally the average of your gross earnings in the 52 weeks before your injury.
What is Included in the Average?
- ✓ Base Hourly Rate / Salary
- ✓ Regular Overtime
- ✓ Shift Allowances
- ✓ Commissions / Piece Rates
- ✓ Non-monetary benefits (car, etc)
- ✓ Multiple Employers' income
Insurers often simplify this calculation to their advantage. For example, they may exclude your overtime or fail to include earnings from a second job you were doing at the time of the accident. If you had concurrent employment, review the dedicated multiple jobs and earnings guide to see what should be included.
The Three Key Payment Periods
Your entitlements "step down" as your claim progresses. It is vital to know when these changes occur so you can plan your finances.
Period 1: First 13 Weeks
You generally receive 95% of your PIAWE. If you are working light duties, you receive 95% of your PIAWE minus your actual earnings. For an early-stage underpayment checklist, read the section 36 first-13-weeks guide.
Period 2: Week 14 to Week 130
If you have no capacity for work, the rate drops to 80% of your PIAWE. However, if you are working at least 15 hours per week, you may still be entitled to 95%. For the practical evidence checklist in this window, read the section 37 weekly-rate guide.
Period 3: After 130 Weeks (The 2.5 Year Cliff)
Payments usually cease at 130 weeks unless you have no capacity for work and are likely to continue to have no capacity indefinitely, or you reach a specific impairment threshold. For a practical evidence timeline at this stage, review the section 38 post-130-weeks guide, compare how insurers classify you in the section 41 current-work-capacity guide, and the section 40 no-current-work-capacity test guide.
The 260-Week Limit (Section 39)
In NSW, weekly payments are capped at 5 years (260 weeks) for the vast majority of workers. The only way to continue receiving payments beyond 5 years is to reach a Whole Person Impairment (WPI) rating of more than 20%. Before your claim reaches that cutoff, review the section 39 260-week dispute timeline guide so you can prepare evidence early.
Check your WPI eligibility →Common Reasons Payments are Disputed
Work Capacity Decisions
The insurer assesses that you can work in "suitable employment" (like security or admin) even if you haven't done that work before. This is used to reduce your payments to zero. If this has happened to you, review the work capacity decision dispute guide for next-step options.
Calculation Errors
Missing overtime, bonuses, or indexation increases from the calculation. Many workers are underpaid by $50–$200 every single week. Use the PIAWE indexation guide to check whether your insurer has applied annual increases correctly.
What usually goes wrong before payments are cut
Most weekly-payments disputes do not start with a single dramatic refusal. They usually build through a pattern of insurer decisions that slowly reduce your income, weaken your medical evidence, or push you into an unrealistic return-to-work plan.
PIAWE is set too low at the start
A bad starting rate can underpay you for months before anyone notices. Overtime, shift penalties, allowances, and second-job income are often missed. Start with the PIAWE calculation guide and, if needed, use the recalculation request guide before the underpayment snowballs.
Treatment delays weaken your capacity evidence
If rehab, scans, pain management, psychology, or surgery are delayed, the insurer can later argue your restrictions are unclear or stable. The treatment denial guide and surgery denial guide explain how to stop that evidence gap from being used against you.
IME opinions are used to justify a work-capacity cut
One insurer-arranged examination can suddenly become the basis for saying you can work more hours, do suitable employment, or no longer need treatment. If that report does not match your actual symptoms or treating records, compare it against the unfair IME report guide before the insurer locks in a reduction.
Threshold issues are left too late
Workers approaching 130 weeks or 260 weeks often discover too late that they need better evidence about whole person impairment, ongoing incapacity, or serious-injury status. Review the lump sum WPI pathway and the Section 39 guide well before the cutoff date.
Documents and evidence to gather before you dispute weekly payments
A strong weekly-payments challenge usually depends on getting the factual record in order early. These are the documents we usually want to see before we test the insurer rate or a proposed reduction.
Earnings material
- Payslips for the lead-up to injury
- Group certificates, PAYG summaries, or tax returns
- Rosters, overtime records, and shift details
- Evidence of commissions, allowances, or second-job income
- Bank statements if payroll records are incomplete
Capacity and dispute material
- Certificates of capacity and treating doctor letters
- Section 78 notices and insurer calculations
- Work capacity decisions and rehabilitation plans
- IME reports or file review opinions relied on by the insurer
- Any prior requests for review, recalculation, or treatment approval
If the issue also involves treatment delays, surgery refusals, or IME concerns, it helps to line up those records with the treatment denial guide, the surgery denial guide, and the IME response guide so the payment dispute is not reviewed in isolation.
How weekly-payments disputes are usually triaged
Rate dispute
We test whether the insurer has missed earnings items, misread the statutory formula, or failed to apply indexation. Start with the indexation guide and recalculation pathway.
Capacity dispute
We check whether the insurer is relying on unrealistic suitable employment, weak medical reasoning, or selective evidence. The work capacity dispute guide and section 78 notice guide are the main starting points.
Threshold dispute
Once a matter approaches 130 or 260 weeks, the real issue may become ongoing incapacity, WPI, or serious-injury thresholds. Use the WPI pathway and the seriously injured worker guide to plan evidence early.
Related weekly payments and dispute guides
- Workers Compensation Services (NSW)
- PIAWE Calculation Guide
- Request a PIAWE Recalculation
- Weekly Payments Stopped or Reduced
- Challenge a Work Capacity Decision
- Section 78 Notice Guide
- PIC Disputes Process Guide
- Section 39 260-Week Limit Guide
- Section 32A Seriously Injured Worker Guide
- NSW Workers Compensation Insurer Directory
- Free Claim Check
Audit Your Weekly Payments For Free
General information only. This page does not replace advice on your specific facts, evidence, or deadlines.
Don't leave your financial security in the hands of an insurer. Our specialists can verify your rate, audit PIAWE errors, and challenge unfair work capacity decisions before underpayments compound.