On workers comp? Check what your super holds

A workers compensation (workers comp) claim and the insurance inside your superannuation (super) are separate things. They can run side by side. Many people on a workers comp claim have never been told to check what their super holds.

This page explains what can sit inside super, how it connects to the clock your workers comp claim runs on, and how to find out what you hold. It explains how things generally work. It cannot tell you whether you have a claim.

Two systems, two sets of rules

Workers comp is a scheme. Safe Work Australia says Australia has 11 main workers compensation schemes: one for each state and territory, and three Commonwealth schemes. Each is governed by different laws. Depending on the injury, workers compensation may cover some of your wages while you are away from work, medical and hospital costs, rehabilitation, and in some cases a lump sum for permanent impairment (Safe Work Australia, Workers' compensation).

Insurance inside super is something else. It is governed by your super fund and the insurance policy attached to your account. It sits there whether or not anyone has looked at it.

Being on one does not decide the other, in either direction.

What can sit inside super

Moneysmart, the Australian Government's money guidance service, says most super funds, other than self-managed super funds, offer three types of insurance (Moneysmart, Insurance through super):

• Life cover pays a lump sum or income stream to your beneficiaries when you die or have a terminal illness.
• Total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance pays a benefit if you become seriously disabled and are unlikely to work again.
• Income protection (IP) insurance pays you a regular income for a set time if you cannot work due to illness or injury. Moneysmart gives 2 years, 5 years or up to a certain age as examples.

Moneysmart says most funds automatically give life cover and TPD to members aged 25 or over, and some funds automatically give income protection too. Insurance inside super, explained covers all three.

Each insurer defines total and permanent disability in its own way. Moneysmart describes two common types. "Own occupation" means you cannot work again in the job you had before. "Any occupation" means you cannot ever work again in any job suited to your education, training or experience. Moneysmart says own occupation cover is usually only available outside super (Moneysmart, TPD insurance). So the wording of your policy matters more than any general rule. TPD cover in your super goes further.

A detail worth knowing: age 25 and $6,000

Moneysmart says insurance through super does not start automatically if you are a new member under 25, or if your balance is under $6,000.

So if you were 25 or older, with $6,000 or more in super, there is a reasonable chance your fund switched cover on. That is not a promise that cover was there. Every fund is different. It is a reason to check rather than assume.

How the scheme clock connects to your super

Workers comp runs on a timetable. Weekly payments change at set points, and the points differ by scheme.

• Victoria. WorkSafe pays one rate for the first 13 weeks and a lower rate for weeks 14 to 130. Payments continue past 130 weeks only if set criteria are met (WorkSafe Victoria, Weekly payments information).
• Comcare. Payments are calculated differently after the first 45 weeks of incapacity. Those weeks are counted cumulatively, not consecutively (Comcare, Income support).
• New South Wales runs its own schedule.

Each pathway page sets out one scheme's timetable, with the sections you can check yourself: Victoria, New South Wales and Comcare.

Your super does not run on that timetable. Three things connect the two.

The TPD side does not have to wait

Under many group policies inside super, a TPD claim is assessed once you have been unable to work for the policy's waiting period. That is often three consecutive months, and six under some policies.

UniSuper, for example, says that in most cases you need to have been disabled for at least three consecutive months before it can assess you for a TPD benefit, and that the wait can be waived for some defined medical conditions (UniSuper, TPD cover). Your fund's insurance guide sets the rule for your policy.

So the TPD side can run alongside a workers comp claim. It does not have to come after it.

Contributions, and the 16 month rule

Moneysmart says that by law, super funds cancel insurance on accounts with no contributions for at least 16 months. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) explains that the 16 months must be continuous, that rollovers count as well as contributions, and that a member can elect in writing to keep their cover (Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, section 68AAA).

Contributions usually come with wages. When wages stop, contributions can stop too. Whether a workers comp scheme pays super contributions depends on the scheme. WorkSafe Victoria says super contributions start after 52 weeks of weekly payments, and that criteria apply. The pathway pages cover the other schemes.

Cover being switched off later does not by itself mean the cover in place when you stopped work stops mattering. That depends on the policy. What helps is knowing the dates: when contributions last arrived, and what cover applied when you stopped work.

The two can affect each other

Whether an IP policy takes workers comp payments into account is a term of that policy. On the scheme side, schemes have their own rules about insurance payments received for the same injury. The Victorian pathway page sets out that state's rules, including a requirement to give notice. How the two would work together in your situation is a question for a specialist.

A scheme decision does not decide the super side

A workers comp decision is made under that scheme's test. A letter ending weekly payments, or an impairment percentage, is a decision about the scheme. A TPD policy is assessed under its own definition, set out in the policy document, not under a scheme's whole person impairment percentage.

That runs both ways. A scheme decision going against you does not close the super side. It also does not mean a claim exists. How the systems fit together shows the wider map.

You would not be unusual

In a January 2018 report for the Department of Social Services, Monash University researchers recorded that people working in life insurance estimated approximately 30% to 50% of people making TPD claims had already been in contact with a workers or motor accident compensation system during the same episode of work incapacity (The Cross Sector Project, final report, page 8). That is an estimate from interviews, not measured data. It does show the overlap is a familiar one.

How to check what you hold

You can do all of this yourself, at no cost. The step-by-step guide to finding what you hold goes into more detail.

1. Find every account. Through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) online services in myGov, you can check your super, search for lost super and combine accounts (myGov, Managing your super). Accounts from past jobs count.
2. Hold off on combining. Moneysmart's advice is to check your insurance before changing super funds or closing an account.
3. Look at each account. Moneysmart says you can check your insurance by calling your fund, logging in to your account online, or checking your annual statement and the product disclosure statement (PDS).
4. Know what to look for. Moneysmart lists what type of cover you have, how much cover you have, how much you are paying in premiums, and when your cover ends or can be cancelled.

Questions for the fund

Have your member number if you can find it. "I'm not sure" is a fine answer to anything they ask.

• What insurance is attached to this account: TPD, income protection, or life cover?
• Is the cover active now? Has it ever lapsed or been switched off?
• What cover applied on the date I stopped work?
• When did contributions or rollovers last arrive?
• Can you send me the insurance guide and policy wording that applied then?
• Are there any time limits for making a claim?

Your super fund is not the insurer. Which insurer underwrites each fund's cover lists them.

Keep everything they send you. Write down three dates: the day you stopped work, the day weekly payments started, and the date of any letter changing them.

Where ClaimGuide fits

If the fund tells you there is TPD or income protection cover, the next questions are about the policy, and they are questions for a specialist. We can introduce you to a firm on the ClaimGuide panel that handles claims on insurance inside super. That introduction is about the cover in your super. It is not about your workers comp claim. How we get paid sets out our fee model in full.

ClaimGuide does not run claims or assess anyone's entitlements. We explain how the system works, in plain English, and connect people with specialist firms when that would help.

If you want to talk it through, get in touch.

Sources

• Moneysmart, Insurance through super, last updated 17 September 2026.
• Moneysmart, Total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance, last updated 26 October 2026.
• Safe Work Australia, Workers' compensation.
• WorkSafe Victoria, Weekly payments information, reviewed 30 June 2026.
• Comcare, Income support.
• UniSuper, TPD cover.
• APRA, Protecting your super package frequently asked questions.
• Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth), section 68AAA.
• myGov, Managing your super.
• Collie, A., Iles, R. and Di Donato, M.F., The Cross Sector Project: Mapping Australian Systems of Income Support for People with Health-Related Work Incapacity, final report, Monash University, January 2018, page 8.