Fee schedule

ReturnToWorkSA exercise physiology fees 2026-27

From 1 July 2026 ReturnToWorkSA pays $188.90 an hour (excluding GST) for an exercise physiology initial assessment, individual session or workplace visit, capped at one hour and at 10 sessions per claim inclusive of the initial assessment. Group sessions pay $31.40 per participant. Cancellation and non-attendance fees are never payable.

Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.

Payer: ReturnToWorkSA
Effective from: 1 Jul 2026
Official schedule: Source document

What changed this year

This is the fee schedule effective 1 July 2026, published in the South Australian Government Gazette. Gazetted fees are the maximum chargeable, excluding GST, and apply to every work injury claim in South Australia, whether insured through ReturnToWorkSA or a self-insured employer.
The 10-session cap on individual sessions (EP102) is inclusive of the initial assessment and any group sessions, not 10 individual sessions on top of the assessment. A practitioner can initiate a new management plan (EPMP) every 10 treatments, which is the natural point to seek approval for further sessions.
ReturnToWorkSA explicitly will not pay non-attendance or cancellation fees for treatment services, a firmer line than most Australian payers, alongside a rule against invoicing more than one assessment or session on the same day.

All 6 exercise physiology items

Search the table

Item	Description	Fee
EP101	Initial assessment: history, planning, education, assessment and prescription of functional exercises, maximum 1 hour	$188.90 per hour
EP102	Individual session: review, planning, education, instruction, supervision and upgrade of exercises, maximum 10 sessions per claim (inclusive of initial assessment and any group sessions), maximum 1 hour	$188.90 per hour
EP103	Group session, including aquatic, maximum 8 participants constantly and directly supervised	$31.40 per participant
EP216	Workplace visit: review of the worker and workplace demands, worker must be present, maximum 1 hour	$188.90 per hour
EPMP	Exercise physiology management plan, submitted on request of the claims manager, or by self-insured employer request	$47.30 flat fee
EP905	Travel time, for a case conference, home, hospital or workplace visit only	$160.40 per hour

What ReturnToWorkSA pays for exercise physiology

ReturnToWorkSA's exercise physiology fee schedule and policy, effective 1 July 2026, sets $188.90 an hour, excluding GST, as the maximum fee for an initial assessment (EP101), an individual session (EP102) or a workplace visit (EP216), each capped at 1 hour. Group sessions, including aquatic sessions, pay $31.40 per participant for a group of up to 8, constantly and directly supervised by the exercise physiologist.

A management plan (EPMP) pays a $47.30 flat fee, a treating exercise physiology report (EP820) pays $188.90 flat, and case conferences (EP870) pay the same $188.90 hourly rate as a treatment session.

The session cap that catches practices out

Individual sessions are capped at 10 per claim, and that cap is inclusive of the initial assessment and any group sessions, not 10 individual sessions added on top of them. A worker who has had an initial assessment and two group sessions has 7 individual sessions left, not 10. The practitioner can submit a new exercise physiology management plan every 10 treatments, which is the natural trigger to request approval for a further course of sessions from the claims manager.

Telehealth versions of the initial assessment (EPTE9) and individual session (EPTE2) exist at the same $188.90 rate and the same 10-session structure, with video consultations preferred over phone where possible.

What ReturnToWorkSA will not pay for

The policy is explicit about what falls outside the schedule: non-attendance or cancellation fees for treatment services are never payable, services cannot be invoiced in advance of delivery, and written communication between a worker's treating practitioners is not billable. More than one assessment or session on the same day will not be paid, and services focused on general fitness or wellbeing rather than the specific work injury fall outside what the insurer will fund.

Travel time is similarly narrow: it is only paid for a case conference, home, hospital or workplace visit, with no charge payable for travel between clinics or to a pool or gymnasium.

Setting these up as billable items in Cliniko

Cliniko's billable item import brings in every ReturnToWorkSA item code and price in one pass, and the bulk price update tool makes re-pricing straightforward whenever a new gazetted schedule takes effect. What Cliniko will not track automatically is the 10-session cap on EP102, so practices billing ReturnToWorkSA claims are better off noting session counts in the treatment note rather than relying on the invoice history alone to catch an approaching limit.

Claiming notes

Providers must be registered by ReturnToWorkSA to deliver these items and accredited with Exercise & Sports Science Australia as an exercise physiologist. ReturnToWorkSA registers a provider automatically on receipt of their first invoice.
Exercise sessions must be billed in accordance with the time actually spent with the worker; a session shorter than the maximum 1 hour is billed proportionately, not at the flat hourly rate regardless of duration.
Travel time (EP905, $160.40 an hour) is only payable for a case conference, home visit, hospital visit or workplace visit, and there is no charge for travel time between clinics or to a pool or gymnasium. Travel expenses for interstate trips, such as airfares and accommodation, are claimed separately with itemised tax invoices.
Unsupervised gym membership is funded for a maximum of 3 months, only where a home-based self-directed program will not achieve the return to work outcome and the claims manager or self-insured employer has approved the program in advance. The exercise physiologist must set a formal written program and review it with the worker every 4 weeks.
Invoices must itemise the date, item number and description, duration rounded to the nearest 6 minutes for hourly-rate services, and total charge, and must be submitted within 4 weeks of the service. Invoices received more than 6 months after the service may not be paid without exceptional circumstances.
Payment terms are 30 days and cannot be shortened by the provider. Claims are managed by Employers Mutual or Gallagher Bassett, EnABLE for severe traumatic injuries, or the self-insured employer directly, and invoices go to whichever of these manages the specific claim.

Load these fees into your practice software

Add each item code (EP101, EP102, EP103, EP216, EPMP, EP905, and the others in the schedule) under Settings, then Billable items in Cliniko, or bulk import a CSV with the columns Item code, Name, Price (ex. tax) and Item type, following Cliniko's billable item import process.
All ReturnToWorkSA fees are quoted excluding GST, with the insurer paying an amount on account of GST in addition where applicable. Set the Taxable field to your GST tax type on import so invoices calculate the GST-inclusive total correctly.
Because EP102 individual sessions are capped at 10 per claim inclusive of the initial assessment, track session counts against the worker's claim in Cliniko's treatment notes so reception has warning before a session would exceed the cap without an updated management plan.
Refresh prices whenever ReturnToWorkSA gazettes a new fee schedule using Cliniko's bulk price update: export billable items, edit the price column, then re-import with only the price field enabled. There is no undo, so keep the original export.
Cliniko's Tyro Health integration processes DVA and Medicare claims from the invoice; its help centre does not describe an equivalent real-time claiming pathway for ReturnToWorkSA. Invoices go by email to the relevant claims agent's address rather than through a live claiming gateway.

Sources

ReturnToWorkSA pays $188.90 per hour, excluding GST, for an exercise physiology initial assessment (EP101), individual session (EP102) or workplace visit (EP216), each capped at 1 hour, effective 1 July 2026. ReturnToWorkSA, checked 25 Sep 2026.
Individual sessions (EP102) are capped at a maximum of 10 sessions per claim, inclusive of the initial assessment and any group sessions. ReturnToWorkSA, checked 25 Sep 2026.
Group exercise physiology sessions (EP103), including aquatic sessions, pay $31.40 per participant for a group of up to 8 participants constantly and directly supervised. ReturnToWorkSA, checked 25 Sep 2026.
ReturnToWorkSA and self-insured employers will not pay non-attendance or cancellation fees for treatment services, will not pay for services invoiced in advance of delivery, and will not pay for more than one assessment or session on the same day. ReturnToWorkSA, checked 25 Sep 2026.
Travel time (EP905, $160.40 per hour) is payable only for a case conference, home visit, hospital visit or workplace visit, with no charge for travel time between clinics or to a pool or gymnasium. ReturnToWorkSA, checked 25 Sep 2026.
Invoices must be submitted within 4 weeks of the date of service, and invoices received more than 6 months after the date of service may not be paid unless exceptional circumstances exist; payment terms are a mandated 30 days. ReturnToWorkSA, checked 25 Sep 2026.
Cliniko's billable item import accepts a CSV with the fields Item code, Name, Price (ex. tax), Taxable and Item type, and its bulk price update tool refreshes existing billable item prices from a re-imported export with no undo. Cliniko, checked 25 Sep 2026.