Do I need a referral to start physiotherapy?

Not under Comcare — it states as much on its own guidance for injured workers. Under the ACT private scheme, your insurer approves physiotherapy as compensable medical treatment case by case; a referral is not the gate, the insurer's approval is. The one qualifier: if you are also claiming time off work, that part needs a doctor's certificate, and a physiotherapist cannot write one at any stage in either scheme.

I work for the ACT Government and only want physio, no time off. What do I lodge?

The ACT Government's own guidance lists, among the documents needed to lodge, a certificate from your treating practitioner where you are claiming for chiropractic, physiotherapy, dentistry or osteopathic treatment and not for time off work. That is worth stating narrowly, because it is narrow. It covers those four services only, it does not extend to psychology, and any claim that includes time off work still needs a doctor's certificate. It is agency guidance about what to lodge rather than a rule in the statute, so we confirm it with EML on your claim rather than assume it.

How much will the payer actually cover?

For Comcare-scheme claims, Comcare publishes ACT physiotherapy rates, which are state and territory based rather than national like its psychology rates. They were aligned to the New South Wales rates from 1 July 2025 and now update when the NSW rates do, on 1 February. Those figures are upper limits and claims managers are expressly not bound by them, so treat them as guidance. The ACT private scheme has no fee schedule at all, so the insurer pays against customary charges rather than a published rate. We confirm arrangements with the payer before you start, and tell you if a gap is likely.

Can I do physiotherapy by telehealth?

For Comcare-scheme claims, yes. Its ACT physiotherapy table prices a telehealth consultation and its in-person equivalent identically, so the funding does not push you one way or the other. Hands-on treatment still happens in person; telehealth is best for reviews, exercise progression, load management and education between visits. For ACT private-sector claims the scheme's rules say nothing about how treatment is delivered, so we confirm with your insurer rather than assume.

Can my physio certify time off work?

No, at no stage in either Canberra scheme. Certification is a doctor's document, and it is the one part of a physiotherapy claim that cannot start without one. Our doctors write certificates at in-person appointments across Canberra, and they work from the same file as our physiotherapists, so the two sides of the claim stay in step.

Can I claim travel and lost wages for attending appointments?

In the ACT private scheme, yes, and most people never do. The cost of medical treatment expressly includes the wages you lose attending the appointment, the cost of getting there and back at the ATO per-kilometre rate for a private car, and accommodation and meals at ATO reasonable-allowance amounts where they apply. Keep your records. The claim is made the same way as the treatment cost itself.

Workers Compensation Physiotherapist Canberra

Hurt at work and need a physio? Our physiotherapists treat work injuries in person across Canberra, with telehealth for reviews and exercise progression. You can start without a referral, and we handle the funding paperwork behind it.

Physiotherapy treatment for a work-related musculoskeletal injury

Before You Book

What You Can Start Now, and What Needs a Doctor

Physiotherapy is the one thing in either Canberra scheme you can begin without anyone's referral. Certification is the one thing it can never cover.

Our physiotherapists can start this

Assessment and hands-on treatment of the injury, in person across Canberra.
Exercise prescription, load management and education, in person or by video.
Reviews and progression between hands-on visits.
The treatment plan your payer asks for, prepared by the physiotherapist treating you.

These stay with our doctors

Any certificate supporting time off work, at every stage of the claim, in both schemes.
The referral and written directive that make psychology fundable in the Comcare scheme.
A specialist referral where the diagnosis needs one.
Nominating a treating doctor for a personal injury plan in the ACT private scheme.

Both sides sit on one file here, so nothing has to be couriered between practices. Our Canberra doctors book certificate appointments in person, and treatment carries on around them.

How It Works

Starting Treatment, and Who Pays for It

Physiotherapy begins earlier than anything else in either Canberra scheme. The funding catches up behind it.

No Referral Needed to Start

Comcare puts it plainly: it does not ask you to get a medical referral before starting physiotherapy. Under the ACT private scheme, your insurer approves physiotherapy as compensable treatment case by case. One qualifier holds in both. If you are also claiming time off work, that part needs a doctor's certificate, and our doctors write those.

Hands On in Canberra, Telehealth Between Visits

Hands-on treatment happens in person. Telehealth suits the parts that do not need hands: reviews, exercise progression, load management and education between visits. Comcare publishes ACT physiotherapy rates separately from its national psychology rates, and lists ACT telehealth items at the same amounts as the equivalent in-person items.

The Five-Session Mark

Comcare funds an initial course of sessions, after which your physiotherapist submits a Physiotherapy Treatment Plan. A plan is also needed where treatment is expected to run long from the start, where there has been a gap of more than 12 months, or where you move to a new clinic. Comcare pays for completing and submitting it, including a consultation, so preparing it properly costs your claim nothing.

The Outlier

The One Service Both Schemes Let You Start Yourself

Physiotherapy is the outlier in both Canberra schemes, and it falls in your favour. Comcare states plainly that you do not need a referral from a medical practitioner to start physiotherapy — one of a short list of hands-on therapies it treats that way. Under the ACT private scheme, physiotherapy is compensable medical treatment approved by your insurer case by case, apart from the therapies that are only compensable on a doctor's or dentist's referral.

The qualifier is narrow and real. Time off work is certified separately, and a physiotherapist can never sign that certificate in either scheme, at any stage of a claim. Who pays follows your employer rather than your address, and you do not have to work that out before you book.

Want to see where you land before you call? Our which-scheme guide sorts it, and our claims page for Canberra covers the deadlines that follow.

5 sessions

Physiotherapy funded before a treatment plan is needed

Comcare funds an initial five physiotherapy sessions. After that the physiotherapist submits a Physiotherapy Treatment Plan. A plan is also needed where treatment is expected to run past five sessions from the start, where there has been a gap in treatment of more than 12 months, or where the worker moves to a new clinic. Comcare pays for preparing and submitting it.

comcare.gov.au allied health guidance; checked 20 August 2026

Same rate as in person

ACT telehealth physiotherapy, at the in-person amounts

Comcare publishes its ACT telehealth physiotherapy items at the same dollar values as the equivalent in-person items. Published amounts are upper limits rather than a guarantee, and claims managers are expressly not bound by them.

comcare.gov.au treatment-rates page, checked 20 August 2026

3 times a year

How often allied health rates are reviewed

Comcare reviews allied health rates three times a year, effective 1 February, 1 July and 1 November, with July generally the larger update. Publication can lag the effective date by two to four weeks. ACT physiotherapy rates were aligned to the New South Wales rates from 1 July 2025 and now move when the NSW rates do, on 1 February.

comcare.gov.au treatment rates; checked 20 August 2026

No fee schedule

What the scheme sets for treatment rates

The scheme publishes no rates at all. The employer is liable for the cost of treatment reasonably received, at an amount appropriate having regard to the charges customarily made for similar treatment where the treatment is received.

Workers Compensation Act 1951 (ACT) and WorkSafe ACT guidance; checked 20 August 2026

30 days

How long an insurer has to pay a treatment provider

An insurer commits an offence if it fails to pay a provider within 30 days of written notice for payment (s 90).

Workers Compensation Act 1951 (ACT) s 90; checked 20 August 2026

From First Session to a Funded Course of Treatment

Five steps, and the point in each one where the paperwork matters.

Start treatment

No referral is required in either Canberra scheme. If you have not seen a doctor yet and you will be claiming time off work, book that at the same time. The certificate is a separate document and only a doctor can write it.

Tell the payer

In the ACT private scheme you claim the cost by giving your employer written notice stating the amount of compensation sought and reasonable details of the expenses. A failure or defect in that notice does not defeat the claim where the employer is not prejudiced, or where the defect came from a mistake or other reasonable cause. That is a safety net rather than a plan, so we help you get the notice right.

The treatment plan goes in

For Comcare-scheme claims, funding past the initial course turns on clinical justification, whether treatment is likely to be effective and achieve or maintain measurable functional improvement, and whether it moves you toward independence, participation and self-management. Our plans are written to answer those questions directly.

Into the personal injury plan

In the ACT private scheme, physiotherapy written into your personal injury plan can be funded even though no claim has been made, liability has not been accepted, or liability is in dispute. That is the most useful thing to arrange early, and it is arranged through your nominated treating doctor.

What actually gets paid

In the ACT private scheme there is no rate card, so the insurer pays against what is customarily charged for similar treatment rather than against a published schedule. In the Comcare scheme there are published upper-limit ACT rates that claims managers can depart from for a particular claim. We confirm arrangements with the payer before you start, and tell you if a gap is likely.

In its own right

The ACT Act lists physiotherapy as compensable medical treatment, separate from the therapies that need a doctor's referral.

Travel and wages

In the ACT private scheme the cost of treatment includes wages lost attending an appointment and the cost of getting there and back.

A new clinic

Moving clinics is one of the triggers for a fresh Comcare treatment plan, so tell us if you have already started elsewhere.

Across Canberra

Getting to Hands-On Treatment

In-person appointments run across the capital. Here is the ground each district covers, so you can pick the one that fits your week.

Belconnen

Belconnen wraps around Lake Ginninderra in Canberra's north-west, with a town centre that mixes Commonwealth offices, the University of Canberra and the hospital campus in Bruce.

Gungahlin

Gungahlin is Canberra's fastest-growing district, anchored by a town centre at the northern end of the light rail line.

Inner North

The Inner North runs from Civic's office towers up the Northbourne Avenue light rail corridor through Braddon, Turner and Lyneham to Dickson and Watson.

Inner South

The Inner South is where the Commonwealth works: departmental headquarters cluster through Barton and Parkes around the Parliamentary Triangle, while Kingston and Manuka carry the district's cafes, restaurants and shops.

Woden Valley

Woden Valley is built around two big employers: the territory's largest hospital campus in Garran — and the Commonwealth office towers in Phillip, home to the health portfolio among others.

Weston Creek

Weston Creek is a compact, established district centred on Cooleman Court in Weston, with quiet residential suburbs running out to the pine edges of the Murrumbidgee corridor.

Tuggeranong

Tuggeranong is Canberra's southern valley, centred on Greenway beside Lake Tuggeranong — where the Caroline Chisholm Centre houses thousands of Services Australia staff, one of the biggest single workplaces in the territory.

Molonglo Valley

Molonglo Valley is Canberra's newest district, taking shape between Weston Creek and the Molonglo River — Coombs, Wright, Denman Prospect and Whitlam are still growing street by street.

Not sure which district you are closest to? Tell us where you work and we will sort it on the call. Call (02) 7238 7379 or book an appointment online.

FAQs

Physiotherapy Questions from Canberra Workers

Keep Reading

The Rest of the Canberra Picture

Our other Canberra services

Workers compensation GPs in Canberrawhat goes in the certificate, and the clocks that run off it.
Workers compensation orthopaedic specialists in Canberrasurgical opinions, second opinions and the reports a payer asks for.
Workers compensation claims in Canberrawho pays your claim, and the deadlines that follow.
Workers compensation doctors in Canberracertificates in both schemes, and what a treating doctor actually carries.
Workers compensation psychologists in Canberrapsychological injury treatment, in person in Canberra and by telehealth.

Canberra guides

Workers compensation in Canberra and the ACTthe Canberra hub, covering both schemes end to end.
Which workers compensation scheme am I under?Comcare, ACTPS or the ACT private scheme, sorted in one question.
ACT Government (ACTPS) workers compensationthe federal statute, self-insured, with claims run by EML rather than WorkSafe ACT.
Comcare workers compensationhow the federal scheme works, from certificate to tribunal.
Comcare psychologistdoctor-arranged psychology billed direct to Comcare at scheme rates.

Need a Physio for a Work Injury?

You can start without a referral. Hands-on treatment in person across Canberra, telehealth for reviews and progression, for Comcare, ACTPS and ACT private-sector claims.

Call (02) 7238 7379

Book an Appointment