Fee schedule
WorkCover QLD occupational therapy table of costs 2026-27
From 1 July 2026 WorkCover Queensland pays $137 (GST not included) for an occupational therapy initial consultation (item 600015) and $108 for a subsequent consultation (600016). Activities of daily living assessments and driving assessments pay $231 an hour and are billed only when the insurer requests them, under item numbers shared with physiotherapy and osteopathy.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
- Payer
- WorkCover Queensland
- Effective from
- 1 Jul 2026
- Official schedule
- Source document
What changed this year
- The Occupational Therapy Services Table of Costs effective 1 July 2026 sets the initial consultation (600015) at $137 and the subsequent consultation (600016) at $108, matching physiotherapy's and osteopathy's standard consultation fees exactly.
- Mental health occupational therapy, delivered by an OT endorsed under the OTA Mental Health Endorsement Program, is billed separately under the Mental Health Services Table of Costs rather than this table, at a different hourly rate.
- The Modified Barthel Index component of an activities of daily living assessment (300159) can only be completed by a registered occupational therapist, not by another allied health discipline that also uses this shared item number.
- The first five consultations, including the initial, are pre-approved for a new injury or condition. Treatment beyond that needs a Provider Management Plan.
All 8 occupational therapy items
| Item | Description | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 600015 | Initial consultation, no prior approval required | $137 |
| 600016 | Subsequent consultation, insurer approval required | $108 |
| 600055 | Reassessment or program review | $137 |
| 600170 | Specific occupational therapy assessment, maximum 1 hour | $231 per hour, pro-rata |
| 600292 | Specific occupational therapy consultation, maximum 1 hour | $231 per hour, pro-rata |
| 600226 | Independent case review, requested by the insurer only | $288 per hour, pro-rata |
| 300159 | Activities of daily living assessment, including Modified Barthel Index, requested by the insurer | $231 per hour, pro-rata |
| 300161 | Driving assessment, requested by the insurer | $231 per hour, pro-rata |
What WorkCover Queensland pays for occupational therapy in 2026-27
WorkCover Queensland's Occupational Therapy Services Table of Costs, effective 1 July 2026, sets the initial consultation (600015) at $137 and the subsequent consultation (600016) at $108, GST not included, the same figures as physiotherapy and osteopathy. Neither fee depends on how long the consultation runs. A reassessment or program review (600055) is billed at the same $137 as an initial consultation and is used when the worker has been in active rehabilitation for at least six weeks and further treatment is likely, or there are new clinical findings.
A provider cannot bill for multiple initial consultations or multiple subsequent consultations for the same worker on the same day, and cannot claim an initial and a subsequent on the same day unless the insurer approves an exception.
Assessments that only the insurer can request
Three items only exist because the insurer specifically asks for them, and cannot be initiated by the treating occupational therapist. An independent case review (600226) pays $288 an hour and provides an assessment and recommendations when treatment falls outside the expected plan. An activities of daily living assessment (300159) pays $231 an hour, generally takes one to two hours including the report, and is the only item that can include a Modified Barthel Index for registered occupational therapists. A driving assessment (300161) also pays $231 an hour and covers off-road and on-road testing of a worker's cognitive, psychological and physical fitness to drive.
These three item numbers, 300159 and 300161 in particular, are shared with the physiotherapy table of costs, so an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist billing the same code are working from the same fee.
Specific assessments and mental health work sit elsewhere
A specific occupational therapy assessment (600170) or consultation (600292) exists for conditions too complex for a standard initial consultation, such as extensive burns, acquired brain injuries or multiple orthopaedic fractures, and pays $231 an hour capped at one hour. Each can only be used once per work related injury.
Occupational therapists endorsed under the OTA Mental Health Endorsement Program can deliver focused psychological services to a worker, but those services are billed under the separate Mental Health Services Table of Costs rather than this one, at that table's own hourly rate. A practice that does both general occupational therapy and mental health OT work needs billable items from both schedules.
Claiming notes
- Prior approval: the initial consultation (600015) needs no prior approval. The subsequent consultation, reassessment, and both specific assessment and consultation items need insurer approval before billing.
- One consultation per worker per day: a provider cannot bill for multiple initial consultations or multiple subsequent consultations for the same worker on the same day, and cannot claim an initial and subsequent consultation on the same day unless the insurer approves an exception.
- Provider Management Plan: once the pre-approved consultations are used, submit a PMP covering expected functional gains, transition to self-management and treatment timeframes. WorkCover Queensland does not pay a separate fee for completing the PMP.
- Activities of daily living assessments (300159) generally take one to two hours including the report. The occupational therapist must get the insurer's prior approval before an assessment runs longer than two hours.
- Driving assessments (300161) can include off-road and on-road components. If a driving instructor is also needed for the on-road component, that is billed separately from the occupational therapist's fee.
- All fees in the table exclude GST. Check with the Australian Taxation Office or your accountant on whether GST applies to a particular item.
Load these fees into your practice software
- Cliniko's Data import tool (Settings, then Data imports) can create billable items in bulk from a CSV rather than adding all eight items one at a time. Choose Billable items and click Import.
- Build a CSV with columns for the item code, a name staff will recognise (for example "WorkCover QLD 600015 OT initial consultation"), the price excluding tax, whether tax applies, and the item type (service). Cliniko matches your Tax Amount column to its Taxable field during the import.
- WorkCover Queensland states its fees exclude GST but does not mark individual occupational therapy items as GST-free or taxable, so confirm the correct GST treatment with your accountant before setting the Taxable field.
- For the hourly items (600170, 600292, 600226, 300159, 300161), import the full hourly rate and adjust the quantity or price on each invoice to reflect the time actually billed.
- When WorkCover Queensland republishes the table each 1 July, export your existing billable items from Data exports, edit only the price column against the matching item codes, keep the original export as a backup, then re-import and enable just the price field.
Sources
- From 1 July 2026 WorkCover Queensland pays $137 for an occupational therapy initial consultation (item 600015) and $108 for a subsequent consultation (item 600016), GST not included. WorkCover Queensland, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- An activities of daily living assessment (item 300159) pays $231 an hour, and its Modified Barthel Index component can only be completed by a registered occupational therapist. WorkCover Queensland, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Mental Health Occupational Therapy Services are billed under the separate Mental Health Services Table of Costs, not the Occupational Therapy Services Table of Costs. WorkCover Queensland, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- The first five consultations for an occupational therapy claim, including the initial consultation, are pre-approved provided the injury has not previously been treated by an allied health provider. WorkCover Queensland, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Cliniko's data import tool can create billable items in bulk from a CSV with columns for item code, name, price, tax and item type, matched during the import. Cliniko, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Cliniko can update billable item prices in bulk each year by exporting billable items, editing only the price column against the item ID, and re-importing with only the price field enabled. Cliniko, checked 25 Sep 2026.