About us

Our mission

Return to Work Innovations (RTWI) was established in 2024 following a Victorian Government commitment of $50 million to partner with others to pilot and trial new initiatives to improve return to work outcomes.

Each year, thousands of Victorians are injured at work. Although around 70% recover and return to work within six months, more than 20% remain off work for over a year. This has wide-reaching implications – not just for the injured workers themselves, but for their families, workplaces, communities and the economy. As part of the new five-year WorkSafe Victoria strategy, WorkSafe will work with others to drive improvements in safety and supports and improve return to work rates by 10%.

Our program strategy

RTWI is a key strategic priority for WorkSafe. Our program is a key action defined in the ‘Support’ pillar of the five-year WorkSafe Victoria strategy:

‘Establish new partnerships and expand existing partnerships to deliver return to work innovations through a $50 million investment.’

In particular, our program supports key objectives outlined in the strategy, including to improve return to work rates by 10% and to work with others to drive improvements in Safety and Support.

Summary - Key program objectives

1. Partner with the best and brightest innovators from diverse backgrounds on new initiatives to improve return to work outcomes
2. Deliver capability uplift to employers, providers and return to work advocates to achieve return to work best practice
3. Promote impact of the RTWI initiatives to key stakeholders to showcase the value of the program

What we fund

We fund initiatives through three streams of deliverables: grants, pilots and projects. Each has a specific theme and area of focus, but across all our investments, we fund initiatives that demonstrate innovative, collaborative approaches to supporting injured workers to get back to work as soon as it’s safe to do so.

Our focus is on key enablers, including:

• Removing barriers to a worker’s recovery.
• Creating capability uplift for workers and managers.
• Adopting new technologies, systems and processes to support recovery through work.
• Applying a holistic approach to workers’ needs.
• Trialing new support services and programs that promote recovery through work.
• Forging collaborations and partnerships to drive innovation and best-practice approaches.

Please note, at this stage we are not set up to fund:

• Research.
• Surgical and medical interventions.
• Services currently available to injured workers on the scheme.
• Activities solely focussed on prevention.
• Solutions for injured workers who have exited the scheme.

Eligibility (in brief)

NB - Each funding opportunity will provide more specific and detailed eligibility criteria, but in general, to be eligible for RTWI funding, you need to:

• Target an industry or injury type as specified by the particular funding round.
• Demonstrate evidence of return to work outcomes and alignment to investment principles (see below).
• Show value for money.
• Deliver benefits for workers in Victoria.
• Demonstrate sustainability beyond the funding.

Additionally, the applicant must:

• Be from the organisation where the proposed initiative will be implemented and the return to work outcomes are being realised, OR be partnered with an organisation(s) where the proposed initiative will be implemented and the return to work outcomes are being realised.
• Be registered for GST and have an active ABN.
• Provide relevant supporting evidence.
• Maintain or obtain the appropriate type and level of insurance(s)

Our investment principles

Funding is underpinned by the following investment principles:

1. Innovation
2. Evidence based
3. Potential for scaling (relevant to Pilot initiatives only)
4. Inclusivity and accessibility
5. Capability uplift and knowledge sharing
6. Collaboration