If you’re receiving weekly payments through NSW workers compensation, one number quietly controls almost everything you’ll be paid: your PIAWE or pre injury average weekly earnings. Get it right and your payments reflect what you genuinely earned. Get it wrong and they often start too low, with the error compounding across months or years of payments.
PIAWE is also one of the most commonly miscalculated figures in the entire scheme usually because overtime, allowances, penalty rates or income from another job is left out. This guide explains how PIAWE is meant to be calculated, the mistakes that quietly reduce it and what to do if yours looks wrong.
This is general information, not legal advice about your own claim. Every matter depends on its own wage records, injury date and individual circumstances.
Why PIAWE matters so much
PIAWE is the baseline the insurer uses to calculate your weekly payments. Those payments are worked out as a percentage of PIAWE, so if the baseline is understated, every payment that follows is also understated.
Broadly, for a worker with no current earnings, weekly payments move through entitlement periods like this: up to 95% of PIAWE for roughly the first 13 weeks, then generally 80% of PIAWE, or 95% if you’re working more than 15 hours each week, up to 130 weeks and 80% of PIAWE after that, subject to the threshold rules that apply beyond 130 and 260 weeks. The exact percentages and caps depend on your circumstances but the point remains the same. An incorrect PIAWE does not just affect one payment. It follows you throughout the life of your claim.
That is why what appears to be a small error in the starting figure can become a significant underpayment over time.
How PIAWE is calculated
The rules changed for workers injured on or after 21 October 2019, making the calculation much simpler. Different rules apply to earlier injuries and to exempt workers such as police, paramedics and firefighters.
For injuries on or after that date, PIAWE is essentially the weekly average of your gross earnings over the 52 weeks before your injury across all employment you held at the time of your injury. In simple terms, add together your relevant gross earnings for the 52 week period before the injury and divide by 52 to calculate your weekly average.
A few important points apply.
The standard period is 52 weeks, but special rules apply if you had been employed for less than 52 weeks or if your earnings or hours changed during that period, such as after a promotion or an increase in working hours. Paid leave counts, while periods of unpaid leave are generally excluded. There is also a prescribed minimum PIAWE, currently $155 per week, together with a statutory maximum weekly compensation amount that is indexed every 1 April and 1 October. This means very high earners are subject to a cap.
There is also an optional pathway where an employer and worker can agree on a PIAWE amount and ask the insurer to approve it, provided the figure is fair and reasonable. If no agreement is reached the insurer calculates the PIAWE.
What should be included in your gross earnings
This is where most underpayments occur so it is worth understanding what should be included. For injuries on or after 21 October 2019, your gross earnings for the PIAWE calculation will generally include income received for work performed in any employment you held at the time of your injury, including base wages, paid leave and loadings, overtime, shift allowances and other allowances, penalty rates, commission, piece rates, and the cash value of certain non monetary fringe benefits that formed part of your pay, such as the use of a work vehicle, where you no longer receive that benefit after your injury.
Two parts of the current rules are particularly important and are often overlooked.
Overtime and shift allowances are included throughout every payment period. Under the older rules that applied to injuries before 21 October 2019, overtime and shift allowances stopped being included after the first 52 weeks. For injuries on or after 21 October 2019, that reduction no longer applies, so these amounts should continue to form part of your PIAWE. If your payments were reduced after 52 weeks because overtime or shift allowances were removed and your injury occurred on or after that date, it is worth investigating.
Income from another job also counts. Because PIAWE is based on earnings across all employment you held at the time of your injury, earnings from another employer should also be included. This is one of the most commonly overlooked parts of the calculation.
What is not included
It is equally important to know what should not be included so you can check whether the figure is accurate.
Compulsory employer superannuation contributions are not counted as earnings, and superannuation is not paid on workers compensation payments. Discretionary payments such as bonuses paid entirely at an employer’s discretion are generally not included. Workers compensation payments themselves are also not treated as earnings.
The mistakes that quietly lower your payments
When the rules are applied incorrectly these are the most common mistakes that reduce PIAWE.
Overtime is left out. If you regularly worked overtime during the year before your injury, leaving it out can substantially cut your figure. For injuries post October 2019, overtime should remain included throughout the life of your claim and not stripped out at 52 weeks.
Allowances and penalty rates missed. Shift loadings, site allowances, weekend rates, public holiday penalties and similar payments all form part of your earnings and should be included.
Second job income ignored. Earnings from additional employment at the time of your injury should be included but insurers cannot include them if they are unaware of that employment.
Commission and piece rates are overlooked. If part of your income came from perfomance based commission or piece rates those amounts generally form part of your earnings, although genuinely discretionary payments usually do not.
Non monetary benefits are not valued. If you lost the use of a work vehicle or another employment benefit after your injury, its cash value may form part of your PIAWE.
The wrong 52 weeks or no adjustment for a change. If your hours or pay increased during the year before your injury, such as after a promotion or moving into full time work the calculation should reflect that change rather than relying on a simple average that understates your true earnings.
Any one of these can make your starting figure too low and because the figure carries through later payment periods the underpayment grows over time.
What to do if your PIAWE looks wrong
If your weekly payments seem lower than they should be, treat your PIAWE as a figure that should be checked rather than simply accepted.
First, ask the insurer to provide its written PIAWE calculation showing exactly how the figure was calculated.
Second, gather your wage records for the 52 weeks before your injury, including payslips, rosters, overtime records, details of allowances and penalty rates, commission statements and payslips from any other employment.
Third, compare your records with the insurer’s calculation to confirm that every relevant payment has been included.
Finally, seek legal advice as early as possible. PIAWE underpayments are usually easier to correct before an incorrect figure has affected many payment periods.
A note on disputes: a decision about your PIAWE can form part of a work capacity decision, and challenging it can be technical. Because the rules around what’s included are detailed and the timing matters, this is an area where early legal advice makes a real difference and for most eligible NSW workers, that advice and the supporting evidence can be funded through IRO/ILARS at no cost to you.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is PIAWE?
PIAWE stands for pre injury average weekly earnings. Broadly speaking, it is the weekly average of your gross earnings over the 52 weeks before your injury for injuries on or after 21 October 2019 and is used to calculate your weekly workers compensation payments.
Does overtime count towards PIAWE?
Yes. For injuries on or after 21 October 2019, overtime and shift allowances remain included throughout every payment period. The older rule that removed them after 52 weeks no longer applies.
Is income from another job included?
It should be. PIAWE is based on earnings from all employment you held at the time of your injury, provided the insurer is aware of those earnings.
Does superannuation count as earnings?
No. Compulsory employer superannuation contributions are not included in PIAWE and superannuation is not paid on workers compensation payments.
My payments dropped after one year. Is that correct?
For injuries on or after 21 October 2019, your payments should not reduce simply because overtime and/or shift allowances have been removed after 52 weeks. That rule no longer applies. Payments can still change for other legitimate reasons, such as moving into a different entitlement period.
How far back can an underpayment be corrected?
If your PIAWE has been understated, correcting it may affect both past and future payments. The sooner the issue is identified the sooner any underpayment can be addressed.
Where Stephen Young Lawyers can help
PIAWE is the foundation of your weekly workers compensation payments and an incorrect starting figure is one of the most common and most expensive errors made in NSW workers compensation claims. The good news is that PIAWE can be checked. By comparing your wage records with the insurer’s calculation, underpayments can often be identified and challenged.
As an Accredited Specialist personal injury law firm based in Sydney CBD with a multilingual team, Stephen Young Lawyers helps injured workers confirm that their PIAWE includes everything it should including overtime, allowances, penalty rates, commission and income from other employment. For eligible workers, legal costs and the cost of obtaining records may be covered through IRO and ILARS funding, allowing your payments to be reviewed at no cost to you.
or call +61 2 9635 0889.
This article provides general information only and is current as at June 2026. It is not legal advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice tailored to your own injury date, wage records, and circumstances. Monetary amounts such as the minimum PIAWE and maximum weekly compensation are set and indexed by SIRA and should be checked for currency. NSW workers compensation law is undergoing significant reform, and some rules are changing. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.