Workers compensation: Have you declared your wages?

There are practical steps you can take to manage the impact and even reduce what you pay. This resource covers the key changes and what you can do to lower your premium.

What’s changing?

• The minimum premium for a policy will increase from $225 to $240 to align with the 8% average rate increase.  
• From June 2026, to qualify for the Safe Employer Reward (SER), you’ll need to submit your actual wages declaration form within four months of your policy period expiring. 
• If you are a large employer in the Loss Prevention and Recovery (LPR) program, you’ll see an enhanced formula introduced to the LPR minimum premium. This means employers with the best health and safety performance pay lower minimum premiums to better reflect their risk. 

Here are the premium updates for 2025-26.

What can I do to lower my premium?

There are ways you can lower the workers compensation premium for your business:

1. Declare your wages

Declaring actual wages is an important step for ensuring fairness and accuracy in premium calculations. Failure to submit actual wage records may result in a wage audit by icare and/or regulatory action from the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), such as penalty notices, late payment fees or even prosecution. Employers may also face a 30% uplift in estimated wages to future renewals. From June 2026, they may lose eligibility for the SER. Find out more about declaring wages. 

2. Understand your premium rate

Your premium may vary from the 8% average. This is based on your specific industry, claims history, safety performance, and other risk factors. Learn more about your Workers Compensation Industry Classification (WIC) rates.

3. Check your eligibility for a discount

Support is available for businesses and employers looking to lower their premium, with discounts of up to 5% for upfront payment in full. There are also rewards for safer employers of up to a further 7.5%. Find out more from icare.

The above is intended to provide general information in summary form. The content does not constitute specific advice and should not be relied upon as such. Formal advice should be sought by members and customers with respect to particular matters before taking action.