Workplace Injuries and Commuting: Understanding Employer Liability

When an employee is injured at or around work, one of the first questions you’ll face as an employer is whether you’re legally responsible.

It’s usually straightforward if the injury happens during work. But what about commuting - travelling to and from work, driving to a client site, or heading to a training session? That’s where things can get murky.

In this guide, we’ll walk through how commuting injuries are treated in Australia, when employer liability might arise, and practical steps you can take to manage risk. We’ll also cover the key documents and policies that help you stay compliant and protect your business.

What Counts As A Workplace Injury - And Does Commuting Count?

In Australia, “workplace injury” is broadly understood as an injury or illness that arises out of or in the course of employment. If an employee is injured while doing their job, the connection to work is usually clear.

Commuting is more complicated. The general rule is that ordinary commuting (home to your usual workplace and back) isn’t considered part of employment. However, there are important exceptions where a commute can be work-related.

Common Scenarios Where Travel Is Work-Related

• Travel between job sites during the day: If an employee moves from one work location to another as part of their duties, that travel is typically part of their employment.
• Employer-directed travel: Trips to training, offsite meetings, or events required by the employer are generally work-related.
• On-call or urgent call-outs: Depending on the arrangement, travel for an urgent call-out may be considered in the course of employment.
• Provided transport: If you provide transport (e.g. a bus from a depot) or require employees to meet and travel together, that travel may have a closer connection to work.
• Remote or field roles: For mobile workers (e.g. sales, home care, construction) the “workday” can start when they depart for their first job and end after the last job, depending on the role and directions.

The key idea is whether the travel has a sufficient connection to employment - is it something the employer requires or benefits from as part of the job?

Journey Claims Vary By State And Territory

Workers compensation is a state and territory system, and each jurisdiction treats “journey” injuries differently. Some limit cover for ordinary commutes while others recognise certain journey claims if conditions are met (for example, no significant deviation from the normal route).

The details matter, so it’s important to understand how your local workers compensation scheme applies. As an employer, you still have overarching health and safety duties to manage foreseeable risks connected to work, including travel your business requires. Your duty of care is about doing what’s reasonably practicable to keep people safe - and that can include risks associated with work-related travel.

When Can Employers Be Liable For Commuting Incidents?

Employer liability can arise under a few legal pathways, depending on the situation. Here are the main ones to understand.

Workers Compensation (No-Fault Cover)

Workers compensation provides no-fault benefits for eligible work-related injuries. If a commuting injury qualifies under your state or territory scheme, the claim is typically handled through your workers compensation insurer. The threshold question will be whether the travel sits “in the course of” employment.

WHS Duties (Safe Systems For Work-Related Travel)

Under work health and safety (WHS) laws, you must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers while they are at work. If your operations require travel (e.g. visiting clients or moving between sites), your safety system should cover the way that travel is planned and undertaken - think fatigue management, scheduling, vehicle safety and emergency procedures. Failure to implement a safe system can lead to regulatory action regardless of any compensation claim.

Vicarious Liability (Negligence Claims)

Employers can be vicariously liable for negligent acts of employees committed in the course of employment. If an employee injures a third party while driving for work (for example, travelling to a client meeting during the day), your business could face civil liability. Clear directions, training and a documented policy for work-related driving reduce this risk and demonstrate you’ve taken reasonable steps.

Industrial Instruments And Travel Time

Awards and enterprise agreements sometimes address travel time, allowances, or when travel counts as work. This won’t decide liability for injuries, but it can influence whether the travel is “work” for payment and rostering - and that can be relevant when assessing the overall connection to employment.

Practical Steps To Manage Commuting Risk

You can’t prevent every incident, but a well-designed safety and HR framework will materially reduce risk and help you respond effectively if something goes wrong.

1) Set Clear Rules For Work-Related Travel

• Define when travel is part of work, when it isn’t, and who can approve trips.
• Cover acceptable use of vehicles, mobile phones and in-vehicle tech while driving.
• Spell out fatigue limits (e.g. maximum hours, breaks, and overnight stays if distances are long). This should align with maximum working hours and your rostering practices.

2) Manage Fatigue And Scheduling

• Avoid rosters that push employees over safe limits before long drives.
• Build in realistic travel time and rest breaks for daytime site visits.
• Use your scheduling tools to flag back-to-back shifts that increase fatigue risk, and ensure your approach aligns with your workplace break obligations.

3) Keep Vehicles Safe And Suitable

• If you supply vehicles, maintain them regularly and keep a maintenance log.
• If employees use their own cars for work, set minimum safety standards (e.g. roadworthy certificates, insurance, and vehicle age/condition).
• Issue a simple, tailored company vehicle agreement that captures responsibilities for care, fuel, tolls, fines and incident reporting.

4) Train For Road And Travel Risks

• Provide induction training on your travel policy, incident response and reporting.
• Consider refresher training or toolbox talks for teams that drive frequently.
• Include guidance for night driving, rural roads and weather contingencies.

5) Have A Simple Incident Response Plan

• Make sure staff know what to do after an incident: get to safety, seek medical help, contact emergency services, report to their manager and record details.
• Set out how to preserve evidence (photos, dashcam footage, witness details) and when to notify your insurer and regulator, if required.
• Confirm who leads your internal investigation and how findings are fed back into improvements.

What Documents And Policies Should You Have In Place?

Good documents don’t replace safety practices - they support them. Here are the core items most employers should consider.

• Employment Contract: Clarifies the role, place of work, and obligations around travel, expenses, hours and reporting. A clear Employment Contract helps you set expectations from day one.
• Workplace Travel or Driving Policy: Defines when travel is work, approval processes, prohibited conduct (like phone use), fatigue rules, vehicle standards and incident reporting. A tailored Workplace Policy is the best place to house these rules.
• Company Vehicle Agreement: If you supply cars, a short-form agreement can allocate responsibilities, restrict personal use and outline who pays for what - link it to your travel policy and your motor fleet insurer’s requirements.
• Privacy Policy And Collection Notices: Incident reporting often involves collecting personal and health information. Ensure you have a compliant Privacy Policy and clear collection notices, so staff know how their data will be used.
• Safety Induction Materials: Keep travel risks front and centre with brief, practical training notes and acknowledgement forms.
• Disciplinary And Performance Procedures: If unsafe driving or policy breaches occur, having a fair, documented process matters. If you need to separate an employee after a serious breach, use the process set out in your HR suite and consider seeking legal advice.

If travel is a big part of your operations, keep your documents short, practical and easy to follow. Long and complex policies tend to gather dust; concise guidance gets used.

Investigations, Privacy And Evidence After An Incident

If an incident occurs, a fair and prompt response will protect people and your business. Here’s a simple approach that aligns with WHS duties and HR best practice.

Immediate Care And Notifications

• Support the injured worker and ensure medical care is arranged quickly.
• Notify emergency services if required, and follow any legal reporting steps in your jurisdiction if a notifiable incident threshold is met.
• Log the incident internally and notify your insurer without delay.

Preserving And Using Evidence Lawfully

• Collect photos, dashcam or CCTV footage, and witness details where safe and appropriate.
• If you rely on workplace cameras, make sure they comply with CCTV laws in Australia and your staff have been informed through your policy and notices.
• If any audio or call recordings are relevant, check your state’s recording laws before using or sharing them.

Managing The Employment Relationship

Sometimes it’s appropriate to remove a worker from driving duties while you assess what happened. If there’s a serious allegation (for example, dangerous driving in breach of policy), consider whether a temporary suspension is needed while you investigate. A fair process - including a clear allegation, an opportunity to respond and reasoned findings - is essential. For more serious matters, employers sometimes consider standing down an employee pending investigation, which should only be done in line with your contracts, policies and applicable industrial instruments.

Where conduct issues are established, apply your disciplinary procedures consistently and proportionately. Where the incident is linked to fatigue, workload or systems, focus on fixing the root cause so it isn’t repeated.

Balancing Risk: Insurance, Systems And Culture

Legal compliance and policies are critical, but they’re more powerful when combined with practical risk management and a safety-first culture.

• Insurance: Confirm your workers compensation coverage and how your policy treats travel-related claims. Review motor fleet or hired vehicle insurance and ensure drivers are authorised, licensed and trained.
• Consultation: Engage with workers about travel risks. They often see issues before management does - routes that are tight on time, unsafe parking areas, or heavy equipment that needs two people to load.
• Continuous improvement: After any incident or near miss, capture lessons learned and update your guidelines and training. Share short summaries with teams so improvements stick.
• Technology: Consider simple tools - route planning, text-to-voice messaging, journey management check-ins - that support safer travel without distracting drivers.

Most importantly, model the behaviours you expect. If leaders prioritise getting there safely over arriving fast, teams will follow.

Key Takeaways

• Ordinary home-to-work commuting is generally not covered, but travel connected to work (between sites, employer-directed trips, on-call call-outs) can be in the course of employment.
• Employer exposure arises through workers compensation, WHS duties and potential vicarious liability - your systems for managing travel risk matter.
• Set clear expectations in your Employment Contract and a practical Workplace Policy that covers driving, fatigue, approvals and incident reporting.
• Use a focused company vehicle agreement and maintain vehicles to defined standards; if staff use their own cars, set minimum requirements.
• After an incident, prioritise care, preserve evidence lawfully (mindful of CCTV laws and privacy), and follow a fair investigation process - including considering a stand down only where appropriate.
• A safety-first culture, training, and ongoing improvement will reduce risk and show you’re meeting your duty of care.

If you’d like a consultation on managing employer liability for workplace and commuting injuries in your business, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.