Changes to the SIRA Surveillance Rules for NSW Workers’ Compensation Insurers

At the start of December, the NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), have made some modifications to their surveillance Standard of Practice (SoP), on the back of a review of these SoPs. This blog will take you through these SIRA surveillance changes and what this will mean for NSW workers’ compensation insurers.

What is Surveillance?

SIRA’s SoPs are utilised to appoint expectations and assist workers compensation insurers with managing their claims. There have been some new inquiries into the Standard requesting clarification, therefore, SIRA has conducted a review and made changes to the Standard. The SoP for surveillance is a part of “SIRA’s framework of standards, regulatory instruments, and supervision and compliance activities” that are used to create expectations for workers’ compensation insurers (Libatique, 2025). Specifically, this states how insurers should manage and oversee claims that involve employees, but also involve employers, carers, families and other participants.

What are the Changes?

There are four minor changes that have been made to SIRA surveillance rules. According to the update posted on the NSW SIRA Website, these changes clearly state that:

• “Surveillance activity needs to be conducted in a lawful and ethical manner
• Surveillance is only performed on a worker under investigation and should not identify other individuals unnecessarily
• Any surveillance information obtained is shared securely only with a relevant third party
• Particular care should be taken when deciding to undertake surveillance for workers with a psychological injury. Insurers urged to exercise particular caution when deciding whether surveillance is appropriate in those cases” (NSW Government, 2025).

These SIRA surveillance changes come off the back of the SIRA 2024-25 annual report, which outlines SIRA’s regulatory activities for “injured workers, road users, and homeowners, and its oversight of insurer conduct and scheme performance within its statutory remit” (NSW Government, 2025).

What does this mean for NSW Workers Compensation Insurers?

These changes to SIRA surveillance have been described as a stepping stone into specifically clarifying what is expected of insurers when it comes to surveillance, and the role it plays in NSW workers compensation. As this is just a start, there will be a larger review of all Standards in 2026 to ensure that they are refined further and remain suitable for the scheme. This review will involve a variety of steps and different engagements. For example, “broad consultation with insurers, employer groups, worker representatives, and other stakeholders” (Libatique, 2025). This is to ensure that the Standards will continue to meet the prerequisites of the scheme.