Our doctors assess people hurt in crashes from Minnamurra to Gerroa by telehealth, complete the Certificate of Fitness and plan treatment.
Illawarra
Car accident doctor for the Kiama area: CTP injury care
Last updated , 9 min read
After a crash around Kiama, our doctors can assess you over a telehealth call, so you needn't drive while sore, whether you're on a farm near Jerrara or in Kiama Downs. Some injuries, like a knee or shoulder hurt in a motorbike fall on the escarpment, are better examined face to face, and we arrange that when needed. During the consultation, our doctor records each injury, completes the Certificate of Fitness for the CTP insurer and sets out a plan that might involve a physio, a psychologist or an exercise physiologist. We also explain how that treatment is funded under CTP.
Getting around the municipality mostly means the Princes Highway along the coast, Jamberoo Road into the valley, or Jamberoo Mountain Road up the escarpment towards the Southern Highlands. Holiday traffic, local drivers and motorcyclists, who feature in many local crashes, all share those roads. That mix shapes the injuries our doctors assess. Car occupants in rear-end crashes often have neck and back strain. Riders who come off a motorbike are more likely to have fractures, shoulder and knee injuries or gravel rash, which often need more than one kind of treatment.
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Local road safety
Where people are hurt on the roads in the Kiama area
On the escarpment roads and the coast highway alike, motorbikes are what set the Kiama area apart in Transport for NSW's 2020 to 2024 crash records. Riders featured in more than one in three of the roughly 140 crashes where someone was injured or killed. Pedestrians and cyclists each appear in about one in twenty, and heavy vehicles only a handful of times. About a third of the people hurt were recorded as seriously injured. Most of these crashes were on the Princes Highway, Jamberoo Road and Jamberoo Mountain Road, and the localities that recur most are Kiama town, Jamberoo, Kiama Heights and Gerringong. In practice, that means rider injuries to limbs, shoulders and chests are as much a part of the picture as the whiplash and lower back pain common after rear-end collisions.
| Year | Crashes where someone was hurt | Killed | Seriously injured | All casualties | All recorded crashes (including tow-away crashes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 34 | 0 | 13 | 41 | 51 |
| 2021 | 22 | 0 | 10 | 24 | 39 |
| 2022 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 26 | 44 |
| 2023 | 28 | 0 | 16 | 34 | 40 |
| 2024 | 36 | 2 | 15 | 42 | 50 |
| 2020 to 2024 | 142 | 2 | 59 | 167 | 224 |
Roads and streets with the most crashes where someone was hurt
- 1.Princes Highway47 crashes
- 2.Jamberoo Road28 crashes
- 3.Jamberoo Mountain Road19 crashes
- 4.Fern Street5 crashes
- 5.Crooked River Road3 crashes
Localities where people were hurt most often
Localities as recorded by Transport for NSW. A crash near the council boundary can carry the name of a locality next door.
- 1.Kiama30 crashes
- 2.Jamberoo26 crashes
- 3.Kiama Heights24 crashes
- 4.Gerringong20 crashes
- 5.Croom8 crashes
Road-user mix. Of the 142 crashes where someone was hurt in 2020 to 2024, 35% involved a motorcycle, 5% a pedestrian, 5% a bicycle and 2% a heavy vehicle (a crash can involve more than one). Crashes in speed zones of 90 km/h or more made up 10% of the total.
Main roads through the Kiama area
- Princes Highway
- Jamberoo Road
- Jamberoo Mountain Road
- Saddleback Mountain Road
- Terralong Street
Source: Transport for NSW, NSW Road Crash Data 2020 to 2024 (open data). Casualty crashes by LGA of crash. View the dataset (opens in a new tab)
First steps
After a crash in the Kiama area: getting checked and recorded
First make sure everyone is safe, then swap names, phone numbers and registration details with the other driver. Where police didn't come to the scene, ring NSW Police to report it and write down the event number. Get your injuries checked and recorded soon, even if you felt fine on the drive home along Jamberoo Road or the highway, because neck and back pain often builds over the following hours. The CTP insurer of the vehicle most at fault is where your claim will go. Our doctors can start that medical record by telehealth.
Get safe, then get help
Call 000 if anyone is seriously hurt or in danger. For police attendance when it isn't an emergency, the Police Assistance Line is 131 444.
Report it and keep the event number
Report the crash to police if anyone was hurt, a driver left the scene or a car was towed. Keep the event number: the claim form asks for it.
Swap details and take photos
Get names, phone numbers, licence details and registration plates from every driver, and witnesses' details before they leave. Photograph the scene when it's safe.
See a doctor early
Ideally within a day or two, even if you feel fine. Pain often builds over the following days. An early appointment records your injuries and starts your Certificate of Fitness.
Which CTP insurer handles your claim
You claim with the CTP (green slip) insurer of the vehicle most at fault, worked out from its registration. If that vehicle can't be identified, the claim may go to the Nominal Defendant.
Lodge the claim form
The form is the Application for Personal Injury Benefits, backed by your Certificate of Fitness. Our step-by-step lodging guide walks through it.
Time limits
A claim served within 28 days of the accident can have benefits backdated to the accident date. A common reference point for lodging is three months from the accident. Your circumstances can change the dates, so confirm yours with SIRA or a solicitor.
CTP injury care
Car accident injury care for the Kiama area: your first appointment
Seeing a doctor soon after a crash on the highway or the Jamberoo roads matters, because the insurer relies on your medical records to connect your injuries to the crash. A long gap before your first visit makes that harder to show. A first consultation takes in the crash, perhaps a rear-end hit in Kiama Heights, an examination, your Certificate of Fitness and a plan for treatment. With homes spread from Kiama Downs to Gerroa and into the hinterland, telehealth saves the trip, with in-person care where needed. Because riders feature in so many local crashes, the assessment often covers fractures and joint injuries as well as whiplash. The CTP insurer generally pays for treatment that is reasonable and necessary for your accident injuries; it decides what's approved, and its decisions can be reviewed. If your claim runs into a dispute, we can point you to independent legal help.
Our CTP doctors see people injured in motor vehicle accidents across NSW. The first appointment does four jobs, and each one feeds the claim:
A proper assessment
The doctor takes a history of the crash, examines you and records a diagnosis for each injured area, including the ones that seem minor today.
Your Certificate of Fitness
The main medical document in a NSW CTP claim. It records your injuries, your capacity for work and what you can and can't do. The first one must come from a medical practitioner, and each one generally covers up to 28 days, so it's renewed as you recover. See what a Certificate of Fitness should include.
A treatment plan
What you need next, such as physiotherapy, psychology or exercise physiology, with clear reasons the insurer can act on.
The records the insurer asks for
Dated notes, referrals and reports that link your symptoms to the crash. Insurer decisions lean on them, so they need to be specific.
More detail: the CTP medical assessment, and physiotherapy, psychology and exercise physiology under CTP.
CTP injury care
Common injuries after crashes in the Kiama area
Every crash is different, but some injuries come up again and again after car crashes. Many don't show their full extent on the day:
- Whiplash and other neck injuries, common after rear-end collisions.
- Back injuries and other soft-tissue injuries: sprains and strains that stiffen over the following days.
- Fractures: most are obvious, but some in the wrist, foot or ribs are subtle and need imaging to confirm.
- Concussion and headaches, which can happen without a direct blow to the head.
- Psychological injury, such as anxiety about driving, poor sleep or flashbacks.
Our guide to car accident injuries and their symptoms covers the warning signs.
The road-user mix above shows who else gets hurt on the roads in the Kiama area. Each of these groups has its own injury pattern:
Motorcycles
Riders have little protection, so fractures and wrist, knee and ankle injuries are more common. See motorcycle accidents in NSW.
Been in an accident?
Book an appointment with one of our CTP doctors. We coordinate your care and handle the paperwork.
CTP-experienced doctorsCoordinated allied healthOne team
Book an AppointmentCTP benefits
What CTP pays for, and weekly payments
Approved treatment is generally arranged through the CTP scheme rather than paid by you directly. Depending on your injuries, it can include:
- Appointments with our CTP doctors, and specialist care where it's needed.
- Physiotherapy, psychology and exercise physiology with our allied health team.
- X-rays, scans and other imaging when they're clinically justified.
- Medication prescribed for your accident injuries.
- Reasonable travel to approved treatment, where the insurer agrees. Check its process first.
If your injuries stop you working, or cut your hours, weekly payments may be paid where the scheme rules allow. The amount is based on your pre-accident earnings, it steps down at set points, and there's a cap. Your Certificate of Fitness records your capacity for work, so keep it current. Being mostly at fault, or having an injury classified as minor, shortens how long some benefits run. See CTP weekly payments, minor vs non-minor injury and CTP benefits in NSW.
Booking
Telehealth or in person: how to book
Telehealth makes it simpler to see a CTP doctor from the Kiama area without a long drive while you're sore. Where an in-person examination is needed, we'll talk through the options when you book.
Book online or call
Use the booking form or call (02) 7238 7379.
We confirm by phone
We call to confirm the time, whether it's telehealth or in person, and what to bring.
Bring what you have
Photo ID, the police event number, a claim number if you already have one, any scans or hospital letters, and a list of your medications.
New to telehealth? Here's what to expect from a telehealth CTP appointment.
Around the area
Suburbs and towns across the Kiama area
These are some of the suburbs and towns in the Kiama area. We see people from all of them. Where we have a local page, the name is linked.
- Kiama
- Kiama Downs
- Gerringong
- Jamberoo
- Kiama Heights
- Minnamurra
- Gerroa
- Werri Beach
- Curramore
- Bombo
- Foxground
- Jerrara
- Toolijooa
- Rose Valley
- Willow Vale
- Saddleback Mountain
- Knights Hill
- Carrington Falls
Across the wider area: CTP doctors in Wollongong and the Illawarra
Neighbouring council areas: Shellharbour, Wingecarribee, Shoalhaven.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Pedestrians hit by a car often have leg, hip, wrist or head injuries, and some need a scan. Our doctors assess and record each injury, complete the Certificate of Fitness and plan treatment, such as physio. If you went to hospital first, bring your discharge papers so we can build on that record. A pedestrian's claim usually rests with the car's CTP insurer, even when the driver was a holidaymaker passing through town. That insurer decides what treatment it approves, and those decisions can be reviewed.
You can usually start from home. Our doctors consult by telehealth, which suits people in Gerringong, Gerroa, Werri Beach and on the farms around Foxground who would otherwise face a drive up the highway while injured. On the call, the doctor hears how the crash happened, checks each injury as far as a screen allows, and deals with your Certificate of Fitness and first treatment steps. If an injury needs to be examined in person, or you need imaging, we arrange that where appropriate.
Yes. Stiffness from a shunt in Fern Street traffic often isn't obvious at the scene and shows itself later, once the adrenaline wears off. Having it examined promptly puts the injury on record and ties it to that particular collision. You don't have to come into Kiama for it: one of our doctors can assess your neck over telehealth, fill in the Certificate of Fitness and map out treatment. Claim time limits do apply, so it's better not to wait.
No. You can book before you've lodged a claim. The Certificate of Fitness from your first appointment is one of the documents your claim needs, so the appointment often comes first.
Sources
- Transport for NSW: NSW Road Crash Data (open data) (opens in a new tab)
- SIRA: Motor accidents and CTP (green slip) information (opens in a new tab)
- SIRA: Certificates of fitness for motor crash injuries (opens in a new tab)
- SIRA: What you can claim, medical expenses (opens in a new tab)
- NSW Legislation: Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (opens in a new tab)
About the area
- Wikipedia: Municipality of Kiama (opens in a new tab)
- ABS 2021 Census QuickStats (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Kiama, New South Wales (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Gerringong (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Kiama railway station (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: South Coast railway line, New South Wales (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Princes Highway (opens in a new tab)
Last checked:
General information, not legal advice. CTP Doctor is a medical clinic, not a law firm or an insurer, and this page isn't medical advice for your situation. For the scheme rules, see SIRA.
Keep reading
Guides for every stage of a CTP claim
CTP claims
Who can claim, how to lodge, and what happens after — in plain English.
Read the guide
CTP treatment
Our doctors assess you, write the Certificate of Fitness and plan the rest of your care.
Read the guide
Car accident injuries
What's common, what can show up days later, and when to get checked.
Read the guide
CTP benefits
The kinds of support the scheme provides, and what they depend on.
Read the guide
Legal help & disputes
When the claim gets difficult — and how to get independent legal advice.
Read the guide
Next step
See a CTP doctor after a crash in the Kiama area
Often seen within the week. Telehealth across NSW, or in person where appropriate. No claim number needed to start.