NSW CTP Psychology Statistics: Motor Accident Psychological Injury Data
Last updated: July 2026 · Data fetched this build
This page compiles third-party published statistics. It does not generate new data. All figures are attributed to named sources; figures from different sources are not blended. See the methodology section below.
Key figures at a glance
- 69,111 statutory benefits claims filed under the NSW CTP scheme between December 2017 and June 2024 (SIRA, via greenslips4earth.com.au)
- Around 97% of statutory benefits claims are accepted (SIRA scheme data, via greenslips.com.au)
- 90% of claimants access funded treatment within 2 weeks of lodging a claim (SIRA, via greenslips4earth.com.au)
- 72% of CTP claimants are working at 26 weeks after the accident (SIRA, via greenslips.com.au)
- 340 people were killed on NSW roads in 2024 (NSW Government ministerial release, January 2025)
- Australian research: almost one in two traffic injury survivors experience elevated psychological distress; almost one in three are still distressed at 12 months (University of Sydney / Australian Rotary Health, 2018-2021; national data, not NSW-specific)
NSW road crash scale
The NSW Government's ministerial release in January 2025 reported 340 road deaths in NSW during 2024. Data from greenslips.com.au, citing Transport for NSW figures, shows the 12-month total reached 367 deaths, an 18% increase from the 3-year average of 312.3. In the year to March 2025, there were 11,423 serious injuries on NSW roads, a 2% increase on the prior year's 11,199.
Nationally, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reported 66,890 hospitalisations from transport accidents in 2024-25, and estimated the cost to the health system at approximately $1.5 billion in 2023-24.
CTP scheme claim volumes and outcomes
Under the 2017 Motor Accident Injuries Act scheme, which covers accidents from 1 December 2017 onward, most injured people can access statutory benefits (treatment, care, and income support) without needing to prove fault for the first 52 weeks.
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total statutory benefits claims (Dec 2017 to June 2024) | 69,111 | SIRA scheme data, via greenslips4earth.com.au |
| Claim acceptance rate (statutory benefits, year to June 2025) | ~97% | SIRA scheme performance, via greenslips.com.au |
| Claimants receiving pre-claim treatment (2024-25) | 69% | SIRA scheme data, via greenslips4earth.com.au |
| Access to funded treatment within 2 weeks of claiming | 90% | SIRA scheme data, via greenslips4earth.com.au |
| Average weeks to first income payment (insurer average) | 4.6 weeks | SIRA insurer performance data, via greenslips.com.au |
| Working at 26 weeks after the accident (rolling 6-month average) | 72% | SIRA insurer performance data, via greenslips.com.au |
Psychological outcomes: what Australian research shows
CTP scheme performance data tracks claims and treatment access. It does not separately report psychological injury claim rates within the motor accident scheme. For the psychological injury picture, this page draws on independent Australian clinical research.
| Finding | Figure | Source and population |
|---|---|---|
| Elevated psychological distress (traffic injury survivors) | Almost 1 in 2 (38-42%) | Uni of Sydney / Australian Rotary Health, 2018-2021; national Australia, minor-to-moderate injuries |
| Still distressed at 12 months post-injury | Almost 1 in 3 | Same study; national Australia |
| PTSD risk at 6 months post-injury | 16-21% | Same study; national Australia |
| PTSD risk at 12 months post-injury | 17-18% | Same study; national Australia |
| Major depressive disorder risk at 6 months post-injury | 24-26% | Same study; national Australia |
| Major depressive disorder risk at 12 months post-injury | 20-26% | Same study; national Australia |
Note: this research covers national Australian traffic injury survivors with minor-to-moderate injuries assessed between 2018 and 2021. It is not NSW-specific and is not drawn from CTP claims data directly, since the scheme's own performance reporting does not break out psychological injury claim rates.
A non-obvious observation (not a derived statistic)
Caveat: The following compares two independently sourced datasets with different geographies (NSW scheme vs. national Australia) and different time periods (2024-25 scheme data vs. 2018-2021 research). No figure is computed across these sources. This is an observation, not a derived statistic.
The NSW CTP scheme's treatment access rates are high: 90% of claimants access funded treatment within 2 weeks of lodging a claim, and around 97% of claims are accepted. Yet independent Australian research shows that almost one in three traffic injury survivors remain psychologically distressed 12 months after their crash, with PTSD risk that does not fall sharply between 6 and 12 months (16-21% easing only to 17-18%). Taken together, these two bodies of data suggest that early access to treatment may be only part of what determines psychological recovery after a motor accident; the persistence of distress at 12 months points to the importance of sustained psychological care, not just initial access. This observation is based on different populations and cannot be tested directly from the available public data.
Frequently asked questions
How many CTP statutory benefits claims has the NSW scheme received?
SIRA scheme data cited by greenslips4earth.com.au shows there had been 69,111 statutory benefits claims under the 2017 CTP scheme by 30 June 2024, since the scheme began in December 2017.
What is the claim acceptance rate for NSW CTP statutory benefits?
In the year to June 2025, insurers accepted around 97% of statutory benefits claims, based on SIRA scheme performance data reported by greenslips.com.au. The small number of rejections is typically due to claims lodged outside the 90-day window or incidents that do not involve a motor vehicle.
How common is psychological distress after a motor vehicle accident?
Australian research funded by Australian Rotary Health (University of Sydney, 2018-2021) found that almost one in two traffic injury survivors experience elevated risk of psychological distress, and almost one in three continued to be distressed 12 months post-injury. PTSD risk varied between 16 to 21% at 6 months and 17 to 18% at 12 months. This is national Australian research, not NSW-specific.
Where do these statistics come from?
See the methodology section below. CTP scheme figures are from SIRA's published scheme performance data, accessed via greenslips.com.au and greenslips4earth.com.au. Clinical research figures are from Australian Rotary Health / University of Sydney. Road crash data is from the NSW Government and greenslips.com.au (citing Transport for NSW), and national transport-injury figures are from the AIHW.
Methodology and data notes
This page compiles third-party published statistics. It does not generate original data or conduct original research.
- CTP scheme performance data: SIRA publishes CTP scheme performance reports and a quarterly open data portal at sira.nsw.gov.au. On prior builds of this site, direct fetches of SIRA and icare pages have returned HTTP 403 (forbidden) to automated requests. Scheme performance figures on this page are sourced from greenslips.com.au and greenslips4earth.com.au, which explicitly cite SIRA as their data source and publish claim acceptance rates, treatment access timing, and return-to-work outcomes. Users wanting primary-source verification should access sira.nsw.gov.au directly.
- Road crash statistics: NSW road fatality figures are from a NSW Government ministerial release dated January 2025. Serious injury and 12-month road death trend figures are from greenslips.com.au, which cites Transport for NSW data. National hospitalisation and cost data is from the AIHW's "Injury in Australia: Transport Accidents" report.
- Clinical research: Psychological outcome statistics are from Australian Rotary Health / University of Sydney research (Dr Ilaria Pozzato, 2018-2021), covering national Australian traffic injury survivors with minor-to-moderate injuries. A prior build of this page also cited two PubMed Central studies; both are dropped from this build because pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov is blocked by an automated JS challenge at gate time and could not be re-verified live.
- No cross-source blending: Statistics from different sources are not combined into composite claims. Where sources differ in geography, population, or time period, this is flagged in the table or surrounding text.
- Scope: This page covers the 2017 Motor Accident Injuries Act (MAIA) scheme, which applies to accidents from 1 December 2017 onward. It does not cover the prior (pre-2017) scheme, WorkCover / workers compensation (a separate SIRA scheme), or non-NSW jurisdictions.
Sources (fetched July 2026)
- SIRA CTP scheme performance data (via greenslips.com.au): greenslips.com.au/insurer-claims-performance.html
- CTP green slip insurance statistics (via greenslips4earth.com.au, citing SIRA): greenslips4earth.com.au/ctp-green-slip-insurance-statistics/
- NSW road toll 2024 (NSW Government ministerial release, January 2025): nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/safer-driving-new-years-resolution-nsw-needs-to-lower-road-toll
- NSW road crash deaths and serious injury data (greenslips.com.au, citing Transport for NSW): greenslips.com.au/interesting-statistics.html
- Injury in Australia: Transport Accidents (AIHW): aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/transport-accidents
- The psychological impact of road traffic injuries (Australian Rotary Health / University of Sydney, 2018-2021): australianrotaryhealth.org.au/research/the-psychological-impact-of-road-traffic-injuries/
This page is produced by Motor Accident Psychology NSW, an independent directory and general-information resource. It is not a psychology practice, a legal service, or a crisis service, and it is not affiliated with SIRA, icare, or any provider listed on this site. If you are in crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or 000 in an emergency.