PIAWE calculation and weekly payments

Updated on September 06, 2023 | Published on June 18, 2019

By Matthew Garling

PIAWE (pre-injury average weekly earnings) should be a fairly simple calculation however insurers regularly get it wrong.

The recent Workers Compensation Amendment Regulation 2018 (Amendment Regulation) has amended the Workers Compensation Act to make significant changes to the calculation of pre-injury average weekly earnings (PIAWE). PIAWE is defined as;

“The weekly average of the gross pre-injury earnings received by the worker during the period of 52 weeks before the injury in any employment in which the worker was engaged at the time of injury.”

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If you disagree with the amount calculated by the insurer, you can challenge it.

How is it calculated?

Based on the definition of PIAWE, the insurer is required to obtain a copy of the pay slips for the 52 weeks immediately prior to the injury and calculated the average gross weekly earnings received by the worker during that period.

This should be a fairly simple calculation however insurers regularly get it wrong.

It includes the calculation of “pre-injury average weekly earnings” and includes the workers ordinary earnings as well as any overtime and/or shift allowance payment.

The insurer must make a decision in writing in relation to the PIAWE rate and notify the worker of this decision.

What if I disagree?

If you disagree with the amount calculated by the insurer, this can be challenged through the Workers Compensation Commission and you should discuss this with a lawyer.

The recent changes

The significant change that has been made by the amending regulations is that for those that are injured on or after 26 October 2018, overtime and shift allowances are no longer excluded from the calculation of the PIAWE rate after receiving 52 weeks of weekly compensation payments.

For anyone injured prior to 26 October 2018, the PIAWE is recalculated after you have received 52 weeks of weekly compensation benefits to reduce the PIAWE rate by excluding any overtime or shift allowance from the calculation.

This often resulted in a significant reduction in the weekly amount of compensation entitled to an injured worker. Often workers rely heavily on receiving overtime and shift allowance in their weekly wage.

This has been recognised by the government and changes made to the calculation of the PIAWE rate but only for people injured on or after 26 October 2018.

The 4 systems for determining the PIAWE rate

There are therefore 4 different systems for determining the PIAWE rate, depending on the date and circumstances of your injury.

Coal Miners have a different method of calculating average weekly earnings.
Exempt workers under the Workers Compensation Act (such as emergency workers) have a different method of calculating average weekly earnings.
Those workers injured before 26 October 2018 as noted above.
Those workers now injured on or after 26 October 2018 as noted above.

The government has simplified the calculation of weekly payments and made it much fairer by allowing a worker to receive essentially 80% of their pre-injury average weekly earnings including overtime and shift allowance.

If you have any questions in relation to the calculation of the PIAWE rate please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss further.

Matthew Garling

Matthew Garling is an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law approved by New South Wales Law Society. He is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of NSW and the High Court of Australia. Matthew is also a member of...

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I engaged with Garling and Co to assist me for my weekly payment dispute with the insurance. I was upset with Natasha, as she didn't prepare me to the worse outcome or told me about the kind of... negotiation in the hearing. I assumed that as a Lawyer she should have an experience with the process or the way to solve the case. Even though I asked her what should I do or what would be happened in the hearing a week before but she didn't mentioned anything, and told me not do anything. But in the hearing she and the Barrister only gave me less than 5 minutes to make decision and pushed me to accept the disappointed outcome and what she said in the hearing totally different with what she said earlier. I don't trust her at all, her words is not consistent.I would like to express my appreciation to Matthew Garling who had stepped in to handle my weekly payment issue with the insurance. He is very professional, knowledgeable, easy to talk to and very humble. My disappointment earlier has melted away by his kindness and caring to resolve my issue which has came out the great outcome. Now I am satisfied with his expertise therefore I would not hesitate to let him to handle the case I might have in the future.As I said before I would not hesitate to let my other claim to be handled by a professional as Matthew Garling. I would like to thank him for his time and effort to settle my case smoothly and I trusted him to give me the best outcome. Also I appreciated his support and his patience to answer my questions from the time I signed the agreement up to the day before the mediation. He did not promise the unrealistic outcome but what ever he promised that what the result was according to his experiences. And I would not forget to Alison, Nathan who also have assisted this matters, by gathering all documents and answering my questions.Also my appreciation to a Barrister Mr Dallas Morgan.So, in summary I am really grateful to have Garling and Co as my lawyer to handle my damaged claim.read more

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