WorkCover WA and workers compensation: a guide for employers

Who sells workers compensation insurance in WA

WA uses a private insurer model. Insurers must be licensed by WorkCover WA to write workers compensation, and you can take out a policy with any of them, compare their quotes, or use a broker to do it for you. At the time of writing WorkCover WA lists seven licensed insurers for private employers.

Large employers that meet WorkCover WA's criteria can instead be approved as self-insurers and manage their own workers' claims, but that is not a realistic option for a small business.

Which workers you must cover

WorkCover WA's rule is simple: you must have workers compensation insurance for anyone you employ who the legislation defines as a worker, and the policy must include cover for claims at common law. There is no small-wages exemption. Full-time, part-time and casual employees are all workers.

Contractors can be workers too. Under the Act's extended definition, a contractor can be treated as your worker if they contracted to do the work themselves, aren't carrying on their own regular trade or business, don't sublet the contract, and, if they employ someone, still do part of the work personally. An ABN doesn't settle the question. If you engage contractors regularly, work through those tests or ask your insurer, because an uninsured worker becomes your liability.

How workers comp premiums are worked out in WA

Each year WorkCover WA publishes a recommended premium rate for every industry class. The classes are Premium Rating Codes based mainly on the ANZSIC 2006 industry classification, so the first step is to make sure your business is in the right class. The 2026/27 rates apply to policies starting from 4pm on 30 June 2026.

The recommended rate is a starting point, not a price. WorkCover WA says insurers aren't required to charge it and may apply discounts or loadings based on your claims experience, and its actuarial report notes insurers can discount or surcharge the recommended rate by any amount. Your premium is essentially your declared wages multiplied by the rate your insurer applies. WorkCover WA also sets a recommended minimum premium, which is $325 for 2026/27.

The average recommended rate across all industries is 1.931% of wages for 2026/27, up from 1.823% in 2025/26. As an illustration of the method only: at exactly the average rate, every $100,000 of wages would attract about $1,931 of premium. Your own industry rate may be well above or below the average, and your insurer's adjustment moves it again, so get quotes rather than relying on the average.

WorkCover WA recommended premium rates 2026/27

WorkCover WA sets a recommended rate for every industry class, called a Premium Rating Code, for policies starting from 4pm on 30 June 2026. These are the rates for common small-business industries. Insurers can discount or load them for your claims experience, so treat them as a starting point when you compare quotes.

What counts as wages for your premium

Your premium is worked out on the remuneration you declare, and WorkCover WA's Remuneration Guidelines set out what that includes. The current edition is the second, issued in May 2025 and in effect from 4pm on 30 June 2025.

Declare the full amount when the policy starts and your actual figure at the end of it, because the premium is adjusted to your actual wages. The main inclusions and exclusions:

• Included: wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, overtime and allowances.
• Included: super contributions other than those made by force of law, so salary sacrifice counts but compulsory super guarantee doesn't.
• Included: the grossed-up value of fringe benefits, and payments in lieu of leave, including rostered days off and time off in lieu.
• Included: the labour component of payments to contractors who meet the definition of a worker, and payments to working directors you've declared to the insurer.
• Excluded: termination payments (other than accrued leave), redundancy pay, payment in lieu of notice, pensions, golden handshakes and income compensation payments.

Sole traders, partners and working directors

WorkCover WA says individual workers generally can't cover themselves for workers compensation, even if they're self-employed with an ABN. If you're a sole trader or partner, the scheme won't pay for your own injury; look at personal accident and illness or income protection cover instead (see insurance for sole traders).

The exception is a working director. If your business is a company, it can choose to cover its working directors under its workers compensation policy. It's optional, so decide deliberately and tell the insurer. Non-working directors and directors of public companies are excluded.

What happens if you don't insure

Running a business with workers and no policy is an offence. WorkCover WA says an uninsured employer can face fines of up to $10,000 per worker, plus an amount equal to the premiums avoided for up to five years back, and continuing uninsured after a conviction is a further offence for every week it continues. If an uninsured worker is injured, the employer is also exposed to the cost of the claim.

Workers compensation in other states and territories

Each state and territory runs its own scheme, and an employer registers where its workers are based. If you employ people in more than one state, check each scheme, or compare workers compensation insurance in every state.