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

Road crash data for the Coonamble Shire, 2020 to 2024

Most injury crashes here happen on the open road. Transport for NSW crash data for 2020 to 2024 puts about six in ten in high-speed zones, with the Castlereagh Highway the most common location and Coonamble town the biggest cluster. Heavy vehicles featured in about one in five crashes, which fits a shire where grain and livestock move by truck, and motorcyclists appear in a similar share. Smaller numbers were recorded on Baradine Road, Gulargambone Road and Back Gular Road, and around Quambone and Tooloon. When the vehicle is part of the job, such as a farm ute, a stock truck or a work car, a crash can bring in workers compensation as well as CTP.

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 39 crashes where someone was hurt from 2020 to 2024, motorcycles were involved in 7, pedestrians in 2 and heavy vehicles in 8. Of those crashes, 24 happened in speed zones of 90 km/h or more. By light and road conditions, 11 happened in darkness, 2 at dawn or dusk and 5 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 Coonamble Shire

The Coonamble Shire is a farming shire built on wheat, sheep and wool, along with cattle, centred on the town of Coonamble and the smaller towns of Gulargambone and Quambone. Whatever the job here, a NSW workers compensation claim starts the same way: a doctor, a certificate and a notification to the insurer. The industry guides below cover the injuries each kind of work tends to bring.

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 Coonamble Shire: first steps

Get clear of traffic if it's safe, and call 000 for anyone injured. If no police came out, let them know about the crash afterwards so it's on record. Note the other driver's details, plate and insurer, and take photos of the vehicles and the road, whether it's highway or gravel. Get a doctor to check and record your injuries early, even minor ones. For CTP, the insurer of the vehicle at fault handles the claim. Carting grain or checking stock for an employer when it happened means telling them as well, because workers compensation generally applies first.

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.
• Whiplash treatment →How whiplash is graded and treated.

When work and the road overlap

In a shire where grain and stock move by truck, work and road injuries can overlap. If you crash while driving for work, carting grain, moving stock or travelling between properties, workers compensation usually comes first, and a CTP claim may still be in play, particularly if another driver caused the crash. At a WorkCover appointment, our doctor assesses you and issues a Certificate of Capacity, which sets out the work you can safely do. At a CTP consultation, the doctor issues a Certificate of Fitness for the CTP insurer. We'll work out with you which scheme applies at the first visit. Local industries shape the injuries our clinicians treat: shoulder and back strain from shearing and lifting, crush and fall injuries around machinery and yards, and neck injuries from highway crashes. Where legal advice is needed, one of our partner firms can help.

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 Coonamble Shire

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

• Coonamble
• Gulargambone
• Quambone
• Gilgooma
• Bourbah
• Tooloon
• Billeroy
• Conimbia
• Combara
• Wingadee
• Teridgerie
• Mount Tenandra

Main roads

The main roads through the council area include the Castlereagh Highway, Pilliga Road, Baradine Road, Tooraweenah Road, Quambone Road and Carinda Road.

Getting around

• NSW TrainLink coaches between Dubbo and Lightning Ridge run along the Castlereagh Highway, stopping at Gulargambone and Coonamble
• There is no passenger rail in the shire; the Coonamble line now carries freight only, and the nearest passenger trains are at Dubbo

Neighbouring council areas: Walgett, Warren, Gilgandra, Warrumbungle and Narrabri.

Questions from people in the Coonamble Shire

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: Coonamble Shire
• Wikipedia: Coonamble
• Wikipedia: Gulargambone
• Wikipedia: Castlereagh Highway
• Wikipedia: Coonamble railway station
• Wikipedia: Coonamble railway line
• ABS 2021 Census QuickStats

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.