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

Road crash data for the Kempsey Shire, 2020 to 2024

Transport for NSW's 2020 to 2024 crash data puts the Pacific Highway at the top of the roads where the shire's casualty crashes were recorded, with Armidale Road second, then Crescent Head Road and the Macleay Valley Way. Close to two in three crashes were in country town areas, many of them around West Kempsey, Kempsey and South Kempsey. Motorcyclists were involved in about one in five, and around one in four happened in darkness, hours that overlap with early starts on farms and late finishes in hospitality. Heavy vehicles appeared in a small share, about one in twenty, but those crashes matter to anyone whose job is driving a truck up the valley or along the highway.

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 279 crashes where someone was hurt from 2020 to 2024, motorcycles were involved in about 19%, pedestrians in about 6%, bicycles in about 3% and heavy vehicles in about 5%. Of those crashes, about 36% happened in speed zones of 90 km/h or more. By light and road conditions, about 26% happened in darkness, about 5% 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 Kempsey Shire

Work in the Kempsey Shire leans on agriculture, hospitality, 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

• Back injury from lifting and vehicle jolt →Bale lifting, long tractor days and uneven paddock driving.
• Burns from oil, steam and ovens →Deep fryers, salamander grills and coffee steam wands.
• Shoulder injury from shearing and stock handling →Shearing posture, yard work and livestock restraint.
• Knife and hand lacerations →Prep cuts, tendon injuries and infected lacerations.
• 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 Kempsey Shire: first steps

Right after a crash, make sure everyone is safe and phone 000 if anyone is hurt. If police didn't attend, report it to them, and note the other driver's details, rego and insurer. Photograph the scene, including any trailer, load or work vehicle involved. A parcel run on the Pacific Highway or carting feed up Armidale Road is often part of the job, so tell your employer too, as it may decide which scheme covers you. See a doctor promptly so your injuries are documented. For a CTP claim, the insurer is whoever covers the vehicle at fault.

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

Lots of work in the shire puts people on the road: farm runs up the valley, driving between job sites on the coast, or home visits for aged care. Should a crash interrupt one of those drives, workers compensation usually leads, though CTP can sit alongside it where another motorist was to blame. Our doctors ask why you were on the road before deciding which paperwork comes first. Under workers compensation, a first visit can yield a Certificate of Capacity and safe farm, kitchen or trade duties. On the CTP side, it can deliver the Certificate of Fitness and a plan of care for the motor insurer. Local industries shape what our clinicians see: back and shoulder strain from farm work, slips and burns in coastal kitchens, and higher-speed crash injuries from the highway and valley roads. Legal questions, like who caused a highway crash, sit with 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 Kempsey Shire

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

• Kempsey
• West Kempsey
• South West Rocks
• South Kempsey
• Crescent Head
• Frederickton
• Aldavilla
• East Kempsey
• Yarravel
• Stuarts Point
• Greenhill
• Collombatti
• Smithtown
• Kundabung
• Arakoon
• Gladstone
• Hat Head
• Bellbrook
• Kinchela
• Willawarrin
• Jerseyville

Main roads

The main roads through the council area include the Pacific Highway, Macleay Valley Way, Armidale Road, South West Rocks Road and Crescent Head Road.

Getting around

• The Pacific Highway bypass of Kempsey, including the 3.2 km Macleay River Bridge, opened in 2013
• Kempsey station on the North Coast railway line links the town with Sydney and Brisbane
• Kempsey Airport at Aldavilla, west of the town, is used for private and charter flights, aeromedical services and aerial firefighting

Neighbouring council areas: Nambucca Valley, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Armidale and Walcha.

Questions from people in the Kempsey 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: Kempsey Shire
• Wikipedia: Kempsey, New South Wales
• Wikipedia: Kundabung, New South Wales
• 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.