Benefits for workers

If you can no longer work due to a dust disease contracted in a NSW workplace, you may be eligible for compensation.

Compensation is available through icare dust diseases care to support people living with a disability caused by a work-related dust disease.

To receive compensation, we need to establish:

  1. You have a dust disease covered by our scheme.

  2. Your disease was caused by exposure to hazardous dust while you were employed as a worker in NSW.

  3. You have a disability resulting from that dust disease which has resulted in total or partial incapacity for work.

  4. If you require treatment as a result of your dust disease, that the treatment is reasonably necessary as a result of your dust disease.

What you are eligible to receive will vary according to your level of disability and the portion of exposure that happened in a NSW workplace.

Your payments may continue for the remainder of your life. If the worst should happen, we may also be able to help with funeral expenses.

Calculating your benefit

Your compensation benefit will be reviewed from time to time to make sure you’re receiving the correct fortnightly payment. This means the payment you receive may increase or decrease.

The full benefit can be paid fortnightly if:

  • You are living with a level of disability assessed at 100 per cent due to having contracted a dust disease in a NSW workplace
  • Your exposure that caused the disease happened entirely while you were working in NSW.

The maximum weekly benefit is proportionally reduced if:

  • You are living with a degree of disability assessed as being less than 100 per cent due to having contracted a dust disease in a NSW workplace
  • Only part of the disability you are living with can be medically attributed to the dust disease
  • The exposure that caused your disease did not occur wholly within NSW
  • You are receiving workers compensation payments for your dust disease from someone else, not including a common law lump sum from the Dust Diseases Tribunal
  • If you’re still employed and earning an income.

Allowances for dependants

If you were supporting family members before you stopped working, we may be able to provide you with allowances for these dependants. This benefit will be incorporated into your fortnightly payment.

Dependants include:
  • spouses
  • children aged up to 16 years
  • full-time students aged up to 21 years.

Weekly allowances for dependants

 Dependant type Weekly allowances
 Dependent spouse  $150.30
 One dependent child  $107.40
 Two dependent children  $240.20
 Three dependent children  $397.80
 Four dependent children  $559.60
 For every additional child in excess of 4  $161.40

These figures are current from 1 October 2023.

Receiving other benefits

Receiving a benefit from us may impact what you are eligible to receive through other government benefits, such as Centrelink or the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA).

This is because a Dust Diseases benefit may be considered a form of assessable income.

You are obligated to tell Centrelink or the DVA when you start receiving payments from us.

We recommend that you contact the Centrelink Compensation Recovery Team or the Department of Veterans' Affairs to discuss your individual circumstances.