Injured at work or on the road in the Byron Shire?

Road crash data for the Byron Shire, 2020 to 2024

On Transport for NSW's count for 2020 to 2024, no Byron Shire road logged more injury crashes than the Pacific Highway. As part of the M1, it is the shire's main north-south route, and heavy vehicles were involved in roughly one in sixteen crashes across the shire. Away from the highway, Broken Head Road and Coolamon Scenic Drive stand out among the smaller roads. Crash numbers rose noticeably in 2023 and 2024, to more than 100 a year, compared with earlier years. Byron Bay, Mullumbimby and Ewingsdale are the localities that come up most often. For anyone who drives as part of their job, from tradies to delivery drivers, these are the roads they use every day.

These are Transport for NSW’s records of crashes in which someone was killed or injured, counted by where the crash happened. They count crashes, not risk: a busy arterial records more crashes than a quiet street because it carries more traffic.

Casualties are people killed plus people recorded as seriously, moderately or minor/other injured; one crash can injure more than one person. Injury severities are as recorded in this police-reported dataset. Transport for NSW’s hospital-linked serious injury statistics are a different, higher series.

Where people were hurt most often, 2020 to 2024

Of the 427 crashes where someone was hurt from 2020 to 2024, motorcycles were involved in about 13%, pedestrians in about 7%, bicycles in about 15% and heavy vehicles in about 6%. Of those crashes, about 19% happened in speed zones of 90 km/h or more. By light and road conditions, about 21% happened in darkness, about 8% at dawn or dusk and about 21% on wet roads.

Source: Transport for NSW, NSW Road Crash Data 2020 to 2024 (open data). Casualty crashes by LGA of crash. NSW crash data on Transport for NSW Open Data.

Injured at work in the Byron Shire

Work in the Byron Shire leans on hospitality, agriculture, retail and construction. Each brings its own pattern of injuries, and each guide below covers how a claim in that industry usually runs.

Work injuries we see from these industries

• Burns from oil, steam and ovens →Deep fryers, salamander grills and coffee steam wands.
• Back injury from lifting and vehicle jolt →Bale lifting, long tractor days and uneven paddock driving.
• Knife and hand lacerations →Prep cuts, tendon injuries and infected lacerations.
• Shoulder injury from shearing and stock handling →Shearing posture, yard work and livestock restraint.
• Neck injury from scanning and reaching →Repetitive reach, overhead stock and register posture.
• Falls from height →Scaffolding, ladders, edge and roof work.

The first steps on a workers compensation claim

1. Tell your employer as soon as you can, in writing if possible, and note who saw it. The claim should be made within six months of the injury, though a later claim can still be accepted in some circumstances.
2. See a doctor and get the first Certificate of Capacity. It records the injury, the treatment plan and the work you can safely do, and our WorkCover doctors write it in the format insurers expect (see the Certificate of Capacity guide).
3. Your employer notifies its insurer within 48 hours of becoming aware of the injury. If it does not, you can claim with the insurer directly, and our team can prepare the form with you.
4. The insurer responds. It generally has to start provisional weekly payments within seven days of being notified, unless it has a reasonable excuse. For the first 13 weeks they are generally 95% of your pre-injury average weekly earnings, up to a weekly maximum; try the WorkCover payment calculator.

Sources: Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW) ss 44, 261 and 267; Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) s 36 (checked September 2026).

Treatment and getting back to work

On an accepted claim the insurer pays for treatment that is reasonably necessary because of the injury, and our physios, psychologists and rehabilitation providers work from the same file as your doctor. Your employer must provide suitable work so far as reasonably practicable, and cannot dismiss you because you are unfit for work as a result of the injury within six months of first becoming unfit.

Sources: Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) s 60; Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW) ss 49 and 248 (checked September 2026).

The rest of the scheme is in our workers compensation NSW guide. Only just hurt? Start with what to do when you are injured at work.

Road crashes in the Byron Shire: first steps

Move somewhere safe and call for help if anyone is hurt. Record the other vehicle's registration and the driver's details, and photograph the damage. If no officers came, contact Byron Bay or Mullumbimby police for an event number. If you crashed on a work run along Ewingsdale Road, your employer needs to know as well. Get your injuries recorded by one of our doctors or your own GP. A road injury claim sits with the CTP insurer of the vehicle at fault, while an injury on the job is usually a workers compensation claim, even if a car was involved.

Report it, and get the police event number

If police did not attend, report the crash to police as soon as you can. Where anyone is injured, the Road Rules require a driver involved to report it as soon as possible and, except in exceptional circumstances, within 24 hours. If police attended, that is the report. The CTP insurer needs the crash to have been reported to police within 28 days so it can verify your claim, and it will ask for the police event number. You can report through the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or at a police station.

Sources: NSW Road Rules 2014 r 287; SIRA, guide for people injured in a motor vehicle accident (checked September 2026).

Work out which CTP insurer handles the claim

The claim goes to the CTP insurer of the at-fault vehicle where it has been identified, or your own vehicle’s insurer if you were the at-fault driver. NSW has six licensed CTP insurers: AAMI, Allianz, GIO, NRMA, QBE and Youi. If the vehicle was never identified, or was uninsured, the Nominal Defendant handles the claim.

Sources: SIRA, list of licensed CTP insurers; SIRA, Nominal Defendant; Service NSW, apply for personal injury benefits (checked September 2026).

See a doctor, and get the Certificate of Fitness

You can be seen before any claim is made. In the first 28 days the insurer may pay for one GP consultation and up to two allied health sessions, once it knows about the crash and a claim or reference number exists. The first Certificate of Fitness must come from your treating medical practitioner; later ones can come from your physio or psychologist where the injury is within their area of practice, and each generally covers no more than 28 days.

Sources: SIRA, Motor Accident Guidelines 4.68, 4.69, 4.78 and 4.79; Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (NSW) s 3.15(3)(b) (checked September 2026).

The CTP time limits

Sources: SIRA, guide for people injured in a motor vehicle accident; Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (NSW) s 6.13 (checked September 2026).

Treatment and weekly payments are payable whoever was at fault for the first 52 weeks. After that, it depends on whether the injury is a threshold injury and whether you were mostly at fault. Our car accident injury service explains how we run a CTP file.

Source: Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (NSW) ss 3.11 and 3.28 (checked September 2026).

Reading for crashes like the ones in this area

• The first 72 hours after a crash →From the roadside to the first appointment, in order.
• The Certificate of Fitness →The form behind CTP weekly payments, and who signs it.
• CTP treatment approvals →What the insurer pays for, and how requests are decided.
• Motorcycle accident injury →The rider injury mix, and how treatment is funded.
• Pedestrian and cyclist injury →Hit while walking or riding, even by an unidentified vehicle.

When work and the road overlap

The crossover comes up often here, because plenty of local work happens on the road: tradies driving between hinterland jobs, farm workers moving between properties, and delivery drivers and event crews on the M1. When one of those work trips ends in a crash on Bangalow Road, workers compensation through the employer's insurer generally comes first, though CTP can stay relevant, for instance through a damages claim against whoever caused it. Under WorkCover, the first appointment usually ends with a Certificate of Capacity that sets out what work you can do. For a CTP-only claim, the equivalent document is the Certificate of Fitness. Both lead into a treatment plan for your injuries. Local industries shape what our clinics see: kitchen burns and slips in hospitality, back and shoulder strain on building sites and farms, and repetitive strain from long shifts in shops. Legal questions go to partner firms.

Driving for work: workers compensation usually comes first

CTP statutory benefits are not payable where workers compensation is payable for the same injury. The CTP side does not simply close, though: the CTP insurer can only refuse on that ground once you have made a successful workers compensation claim, or have not complied with its request to make one. Tell each insurer about the other claim.

Source: Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (NSW) s 3.35 (checked September 2026).

The commute is a different question

An ordinary drive between home and work is a workers compensation matter only where there is a real and substantial connection between the employment and the accident, such as an errand you were sent on. A plain commute tends to be a CTP matter on its own.

Source: SIRA, work break and journey claims (checked September 2026).

For app-based drivers and riders, whether you count as a worker is decided on the facts of the arrangement rather than the label in the app’s terms. More on car accidents at work in NSW and rideshare and delivery driver accidents.

Places in the Byron Shire

The council area takes in the places below, and we help people from all of them.

• Byron Bay
• Ocean Shores
• Suffolk Park
• Mullumbimby
• Bangalow
• Brunswick Heads
• Myocum
• Ewingsdale
• South Golden Beach
• Federal
• Main Arm
• Mullumbimby Creek
• Coorabell
• Wilsons Creek
• Goonengerry
• Broken Head
• New Brighton
• Eureka
• Billinudgel
• Tyagarah

Main roads

The main roads through the council area include the Pacific Highway (M1), the Pacific Motorway (M1), Ewingsdale Road, Bangalow Road, Mullumbimby Road, Coolamon Scenic Drive, Hinterland Way and Lismore Road.

Getting around

• There is no regular passenger rail service; the Casino-Murwillumbah railway closed in 2004
• Long-distance coaches between Sydney and Brisbane stop at Byron Bay
• Ballina Byron Gateway Airport, in neighbouring Ballina Shire, and Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta are the nearest airports

Neighbouring council areas: Lismore, Ballina and Tweed.

Questions from people in the Byron Shire

Source: Transport for NSW, NSW Road Crash Data 2020 to 2024 (open data). Casualty crashes by LGA of crash. NSW crash data on Transport for NSW Open Data.

Sources

Crash figures are Transport for NSW open data (CC BY 4.0). Scheme rules come from the legislation and guidance below.

• Transport for NSW, NSW Road Crash Data 2020 to 2024 (CRASH table, open data), retrieved 2 October 2026.
• Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (NSW), ss 3.11, 3.15, 3.28, 3.35 and 6.13
• Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), ss 36 and 60
• Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW), ss 44, 49, 248, 261 and 267
• SIRA, Motor Accident Guidelines Part 4 (claims), paragraphs 4.68, 4.69, 4.78 and 4.79
• SIRA, guide for people injured in a motor vehicle accident
• SIRA, list of CTP insurers
• SIRA, Nominal Defendant
• SIRA, work break and journey claims
• Service NSW, apply for personal injury benefits (motor vehicle accident)
• NSW Road Rules 2014, r 287

Place details, population and area:

• Wikipedia: Byron Shire
• ABS 2021 Census QuickStats
• Wikipedia: Byron Bay
• Wikipedia: Pacific Motorway (Brisbane–Brunswick Heads)
• Wikipedia: Pacific Highway (Australia)

This page is general information about the NSW workers compensation and CTP schemes, not legal or medical advice about your situation. Scheme rules were checked in September 2026. For advice about your own injury, speak to a treating clinician.