Participants travelling overseas guideline

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View our individual guidelines to focus on the topics that matter to you. These are also available in plain language versions which are easier to understand (called MyGuides).

Participants travelling overseas guideline (PDF, 277KB)

MyGuide12: overseas travel (PDF, 154KB)

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  • Defined terms are shown throughout in bold underlined text when they first appear.

    CTP claim means a claim for damages defined under section 4 of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994, but excludes a claim where liability has been denied by an insurer or where it has been decided by a court that the insurer is liable for a participant’s accepted injury.

    Eligibility review means the review conducted by the NIISQ Agency of an interim participant’s participation in the NIISQ.

    Information notice means a notice containing:

    • the decision made by the NIISQ Agency
    • the reasons for the decision made by the NIISQ Agency
    • the day the decision has effect, and how a person can apply for review of the decision.

    Information request means a request seeking additional information to enable the NIISQ Agency to respond to a service request.

    Interim participant means a participant who has been accepted into the NIISQ for the participation period of two years.

    MyPlan means a support plan prepared by the NIISQ Agency and approved under the National Injury Insurance Scheme Act (Queensland) Act 2016.

    Participation period is the period of two years.

    Payment request means a request made under section 35 of the National Injury Insurance Scheme (Queensland) Act 2016 for payment for treatment, care and support.

    Registered service provider means a provider of treatment, care and support that is required to be registered under the National Injury Insurance Scheme (Queensland) Act 2016 and includes:

    • providers of attendant care and support
    • home modifications providers
    • services for the coordination of treatment, care and support.

    Service request means a request made under section 28 of the National Injury Insurance Scheme (Queensland) Act 2016 for particular treatment, care and support.

    Temporary absence means an absence of three months or less.

  • Participants may travel overseas temporarily or permanently. For example, a participant may go on a holiday to a different country, or to return to live in their home country.

    There is a plain language version of this guideline which is shorter and uses simpler words. To access it, view MyGuide 12 – Overseas travel.

    If a participant intends to travel overseas for any period of time, they must notify the NIISQ Agency of their intention to travel overseas to ensure that a participant is supported to the extent possible during the absence, as well as to assist the NIISQ Agency to amend or reschedule appointments related to the participant’s absence from Australia. The NIISQ Agency will require the following information:

    1. the day the participant intends to leave Australia
    2. if the participant intends to return to live in Australia, the day the participant intends to return
    3. the participant’s address while outside Australia
    4. any treatment, care and support that the participant wants the NIISQ Agency to fund that is intended to be provided outside Australia (including details of medical and allied health support providers).

    This information must be provided to the NIISQ Agency at least one month before the participant’s departure from Australia. The participant may provide notification of their intention to travel either in writing, via email or during a telephone discussion with the NIISQ Agency.

    If a participant or other person makes a service request for treatment, care and support to be provided during the participant’s absence from Australia, the NIISQ Agency will treat the service request as a notification to travel overseas and will require the participant to provide the NIISQ Agency with all the required information (see a) to d) above).

    If the participant does not provide the NIISQ Agency with the required information, the NIISQ Agency may suspend their participation in the NIISQ.

  • When a person is suspended from participation, they are no longer a ‘participant’ for the purposes of the National Injury Insurance Scheme (Queensland) Act 2016. This means they will not have:

    • their needs for treatment, care and support assessed by the NIISQ Agency
    • a MyPlan
    • the ability to make a service request for treatment, care and support
    • any entitlements to payments or reimbursements for treatment, care and support under a payment request.

    If a person is suspended from participation while they are an interim participant, and the NIISQ Agency is unable to conduct an eligibility review of their participation, then their participation in the NIISQ may end after the participation period.

    Similarly, if a participant has a claim and they are suspended, their rights to preserve, and receive treatment, care and support damages paid by the NIISQ Agency, may be affected. If a participant has a claim and is legally represented, they should seek advice from their solicitor about the potential impact of suspension on their rights and entitlements.

  • Participants will generally be supported by the NIISQ Agency for temporary absences from Australia. This could include travel for recreational, family or personal purposes. Temporary absences are for periods of less than three months. The scope of this support is described under What the NIISQ Agency will fund for temporary absences and What the NIISQ Agency will not fund for temporary absences.

    After receiving notification of a participant’s intention to travel overseas, the NIISQ Agency will amend the participant’s MyPlan to remove or reschedule treatment, care and support intended to be provided in Australia during the absence, and include any necessary and reasonable treatment, care and support which the participant will require during their absence from Australia.

    The NIISQ Agency can also seek clarification of any service requests which were approved before the NIISQ Agency received notification of a participant’s intention to travel overseas, unless a service request was made by a participant specifically for the period of absence from Australia.

    If the NIISQ Agency amends the participant’s MyPlan, it will provide the participant with an amended MyPlan setting out the approved funding for treatment, care and support. If the NIISQ Agency requires additional information in relation to a service request, it will provide the participant with an information request. If the NIISQ Agency’s decision is not to fund the service request or to suspend participation in the NIISQ, it will provide the participant with an information notice containing reasons for the decision and their rights for review.

    The NIISQ Agency will work collaboratively with participants who are intending to depart Australia temporarily to develop their MyPlan.

  • To the extent possible, the NIISQ Agency will decide supports to be provided outside Australia, as though the supports are to be provided within Australia. The NIISQ Agency has published information about how it assesses necessary and reasonable treatment, care and support needs (see: Necessary and reasonable guideline).

    For temporary absences, this may include:

    • attendant care
    • rehabilitation services required to maintain or improve functioning.

    Treatment, care and support services approved for temporary absences will be in Australian dollars and will not exceed the costs that would be incurred if the participant were living in Australia.

    In addition, the NIISQ Agency may decide that brokerage services are required to assist with the administration of the treatment, care and support for the participant while they are overseas.

    While the NIISQ Agency requires certain service providers to be registered service providers, the NIISQ Agency may fund service providers that are not registered having regard to the appropriateness of the provider, as well as any other matter which the NIISQ Agency considers relevant.

    Funding for temporary absences may also be subject to conditions or requirements described in the participant’s MyPlan.

  • The NIISQ Agency will generally not fund:

    • an expense incurred for treatment, care and support that exceeds the cost of a comparable service that can be provided in Queensland or Australia
    • treatment, care and support for home modifications or vehicle modifications for temporary absences
    • travel expenses which are not directly attributable to the participant’s support needs relating to their accepted injury (for example, visa costs, immunisation expenses, flight costs)
    • family members or friends to provide support
    • treatment, care and support that is not necessary and reasonable.

  • If a participant wants to receive support under the NIISQ for an absence longer than three months (which includes participants who have decided to return to their home country to live), they must notify the NIISQ Agency of their intention at least one month prior to their intended departure.

    These requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and there may be circumstances where the NIISQ Agency decides to suspend a person’s participation.

    If a participant has a CTP claim, the NIISQ Agency will not suspend their participation in the NIISQ if they are absent for longer than three months, unless their absence is likely to adversely affect them.

  • The NIISQ Agency will suspend a person’s participation in the NIISQ if their absence will, or is likely to adversely affect their:

    • condition (physical and mental health, or wellbeing) as a result of their accepted injury, or
    • prospects of improvement in relation to their accepted injury, or
    • prospects of rehabilitation from their accepted injury.

  • The NIISQ Agency generally considers that a participant is likely to be adversely affected by their absence from Australia where:

    • the participant has travelled, or intends to travel, to a country that the NIISQ Agency considers dangerous or high risk
    • the participant has travelled, or intends to travel to receive treatment, care or support which is not supported by the NIISQ Agency (for example, but not limited to, experimental or non-evidence- based treatment)
    • where the travel interferes with a treatment plan or program prescribed by a treating health professional
    • where the travel is not supported by the participant’s treating health professionals.

    Example 1: A participant wishes to travel to a country which has an in-effect ‘Do not travel’ advice issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, due to ‘instability and conflict’. The NIISQ Agency decides that there is a real risk that the participant’s condition, prospects of improvement and prospects of rehabilitation will be adversely affected during the period of their absence.

    Example 2: A participant wishes to travel to a different country for the purpose of receiving experimental stem cell therapy, which is not supported by the NIISQ Agency due to an absence of research outcomes demonstrating efficacy, and patient safety. The NIISQ Agency decides that the purpose of the travel is to access treatment which is not supported by the NIISQ Agency and that the participant’s condition is likely to be adversely affected by their absence.

    The NIISQ Agency may require evidence from a medical professional which it has nominated to provide assurance that the participant’s absence is not likely to adversely affect the participant. If this evidence is not received, the NIISQ Agency may not be able to satisfy itself that the travel is appropriate and may suspend the participant’s participation in the NIISQ.

Last updated: July 2024