Comcare research and innovation approach

The Strategic Research and Innovation group was created in August 2017 to design and deliver innovative initiatives informed by research. The aim of this group is to use evidence-based research to deliver on Comcare’s strategic focus to prevent harm, promote work health and safety and improve participation and productivity.

Comcare is currently developing a strategic research model to focus future investment on emerging risks and in areas of strategic importance to the jurisdiction.

Current research projects supported by Comcare

Collaborative Partnership to improve Work Participation

Comcare is a founding partner of the Collaborative Partnership to improve work participation. This is a national collaboration between public, private and not-for-profit organisations to improve work participation for people with temporary or permanent physical or mental health conditions that may impact on their ability to work. The Collaborative Partnership is focused on aligning systems and services in workers’ compensation, life insurance, superannuation and disability support and employment services. The current key research projects are:

1. Cross-sector systems project
2. Employer mobilisation project
3. GP support project
4. Employee awareness project

NewAccess; low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy–Australian Public Service (APS) Implementation Trial

Comcare is partnering with beyondblue to trial the NewAccess coaching service in APS workplaces to determine whether the positive outcomes achieved in community-based trials can be replicated in a workplace setting. NewAccess is an evidence-based low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy early intervention program that supports adults to tackle day-to-day pressures. The service offers up to six sessions plus a four week and six-month follow up. Outcomes of this pilot will be shared with Comcare employers to showcase the benefits of prevention initiatives.

Clinical Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of work-related mental health conditions in general practice

Comcare is supporting the development of clinical guidelines for General Practitioners (GPs), in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, to support effective management of work-related mental health issues. Comcare is also a project partner on Monash University’s Implementing work-related Mental Health guidelines in general PRacticeE (IMPRovE) project to facilitate the implementation of the guidelines.

ComPARE Project

Monash University is engaging with Comcare and other state and territory workers’ compensation schemes to determine the impact of workers’ compensation scheme policy on return to work and duration of time-loss. The research aims to identify policies that have positive and negative impacts.

National Return to Work Survey

Comcare contributes to the biennial National Return to Work Survey commissioned by Safe Work Australia (SWA). The survey monitors attitudes, perceptions and experiences of workers on compensation to calculate headline Return to Work measures and identify trends.  
The national headline measures for 2018 are available on the Safe Work Australia website. The results from the 2016 survey for Comcare are available here.

National implementation trial of an evidence-informed workplace sitting reduction intervention

The University of Queensland is leading a collaborative project to nationally trial an evidence-informed intervention to reduce workplace sitting. Comcare is a key partner and is actively engaged in supporting the development of resources and promoting the toolkit to scheme participants. This is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Project.

Collaboration and sharing

Comcare is committed to working collaboratively to translate research and to provide practical resources and guidance for the jurisdiction.

Comcare shares research by presenting at conferences, forums and meetings, via our website and social media, as well as supporting the production of journal articles and reports.

For the latest evidence based research on Comcare’s priority research areas subscribe to Comcare’s Emerging Evidence Alert.