After the first medical certificate is issued by a medical practitioner, ongoing Certificates of Capacity (subsequent certificates) can be signed by a:
The practitioners must be registered to practise in their profession (other than as a student) under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.
For the purposes of a certificate of capacity, electronic signatures (including a typed name) can be accepted by Agents.
If there is a change in a signatory on a certificate, especially after a long period of incapacity, Agents need to be satisfied with the reasons for the change.
The reason may be straightforward, for example:
If there is an unexplained reason, Agents should enquire why the former practitioner is no longer certifying the worker as incapacitated for work.
Agents should also consider this if the worker travels long distances from their home to receive a Certificate of Capacity.
Certificates must specify the nature of the worker's injury or disease and a bodily location. For mental injuries sustained on or after 31 March 2024, the diagnosis must be in accordance with the latest version of the DSM.
The diagnosis section specifies the practitioner’s opinion as to diagnosis of the worker’s injury/condition. It is also intended to clarify whether other medical conditions exist which may impact on appropriate treatment, return to work and whether the worker’s medical status has returned to that before the injury.
Any subsequent changes to the worker's diagnosis needs to be reviewed.
In some cases the bodily location does not need to be specified because it can reasonably be determined from the nature of the injury or disease, for example: myocardial infarction, emphysema.
Symptoms of injuries or conditions that do not specify the nature of the worker's injury or disease are not acceptable, for example: sore arm, back pain, etc. Mental injury diagnoses not made in accordance with the latest version of the DSM are also invalid.
If the diagnosis changes, Agents should check that the new diagnosis is related to the compensable injury and should take appropriate claims management action if required.
The certificate may include further injuries and Agents should consider if they are medically proximal to the claimed injuries.
If the new injury is not medically proximal to the injuries claimed, the worker should be requested to submit a new claim to have these further injuries assessed.
Proximal means: nearest to or situated near, the point of attachment or origin.
For example if the original injury was to the worker’s hand, an injury to the wrist is medically proximal. However, if the further injury was to the shoulder, this is not proximal.
A diagnosis is more likely to change in the early stages of a claim as the nature of the injury becomes clearer after tests and/or specialist referral.
