iCare vs SIRA: NSW WorkCover notes (2026)

NSW WorkCover allied health documentation must meet SIRA’s standards while treatment requests go to icare or the insurer on the claim. kitt drafts session notes and AHTR-ready content for you to review and approve; approved treatment plans reach clients through kitt Companion. Clinical data is Australian-hosted under the Privacy Act.

SIRA vs icare: regulator vs insurer

Most NSW allied health clinicians use “iCare” and “SIRA” as if they’re interchangeable. They’re not, and the difference has direct consequences for your documentation.

SIRA, the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, is the NSW government body that regulates the workers-compensation system. SIRA writes the rules: the fee schedules, the reporting requirements, the standards your Allied Health Treatment Request must meet. SIRA doesn’t pay your invoices or approve your treatment requests directly.

icare, Insurance and Care NSW, is the government insurer. It manages and funds most NSW workers-compensation claims through the Nominal Insurer scheme. icare reviews and approves treatment requests and pays for treatment. Some employers self-insure, so icare covers most claims, not all.

	SIRA	icare (Nominal Insurer)
Role	Regulator	Insurer
What it does	Sets rules, standards, fee schedules, reporting requirements	Funds claims, reviews and approves treatment requests, pays for treatment
What it means for you	Your documentation must meet SIRA’s standards	Your AHTR goes to the insurer managing the claim

SIRA writes the rulebook; icare (for most claims) pays the bills.

See kitt pricing for the free plan, Professional at A$69 per clinician per month, and what is included with Companion.

Why the distinction changes how you document

Mixing these two bodies up leads to two errors that stall approval.

First, blaming “iCare’s rules” for what are actually SIRA standards. If a claims officer questions your goal specificity or functional baseline, that’s a SIRA requirement, not icare policy.

Second, submitting a generic Workcover template that misses NSW-specific expectations. SIRA sets particular standards for functional measures, goal specificity, and return-to-work framing. A Queensland or Victorian template often falls short.

What NSW Workcover documentation needs to show

The current form is the Allied Health Treatment Request (AHTR). If your templates still reference the Allied Health Recovery Request (AHRR), update them.

For full progress-report anatomy across states, see Workcover progress reports: what every clinician needs to know. NSW-specific requirements:

Objective, work-relevant functional measures with baseline and current data. A pain score alone won’t cut it. Pair an NPRS or PSFS with functional data: range of motion in degrees, lift capacity in kilograms, standing or sitting tolerance in minutes.

SMART goals tied to return to work. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, referencing your client’s actual work demands. “Reduce pain” doesn’t pass. “Return to full-shift warehouse duties within eight weeks, evidenced by 20 kg lift capacity and eight-hour standing tolerance” is the standard expected.

Functional capacity described in work-relevant terms, without certifying capacity. You can describe what your client tolerates: 20 kg lifting, 60-minute standing blocks. You don’t certify capacity. That’s the treating medical practitioner’s role (or in limited cases a nurse practitioner or dentist).

A specific recommendation. How many sessions, what type, over what timeframe. Vague requests stall.

Where the documentation load actually goes (and how to cut it)

Session-by-session progress notes make the AHTR manageable. When you capture functional data and goal progress after every consult, you summarise a trend instead of reconstructing one. See progress notes: the clinical record that holds your AHTR together for the practical structure.

Kitt is an AI clinical assistant for allied health. It listens to your session and drafts the clinical note and progress-report content from what actually happened in the consult, structured to meet allied-health documentation requirements. For NSW Workcover work, that means the functional, goal-referenced content an AHTR needs starts from the current session rather than a copy-paste of the last period. Notes are ready to review in under 60 seconds; Kitt’s website cites 7+ hours saved per clinician per week.

To be clear on scope: Kitt drafts the clinical content. You review, edit, assemble, and submit the AHTR to the insurer managing the claim. Kitt doesn’t lodge, submit, or bill anything to icare or SIRA. Your professional obligations as a registered practitioner mean you approve everything before it goes anywhere. Kitt syncs with Cliniko and Nookal (integration partners) so the completed note pushes back to your practice management system.

Key Takeaways

• SIRA is the regulator. It sets the documentation standards and reporting requirements for NSW Workcover.
• icare is the insurer for most claims. It reviews your AHTR and funds treatment.
• Document to SIRA’s standards; submit to the insurer managing the claim. These are two different things.
• The AHTR replaced the AHRR. SMART goals tied to return-to-work outcomes and objective functional measures with baseline data are now required.
• Allied health describes functional capacity; it does not certify it. The work capacity certificate belongs to the treating medical practitioner.
• Session-by-session progress notes make the AHTR manageable. Capture functional data each consult and the AHTR becomes a summary, not a reconstruction.

Need a starting point for your next AHTR? See the iCare NSW report template.

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