Executives fund a single page with the detail behind it. This template gives you that page: the recommendation at the top, your numbers, the five arguments, the options, how you’ll measure it and who signs it off. The second page explains how to fill in each section.
Download the template
Choose Word to fill it in on screen, or PDF to print and write on.
What are the six parts of the template?
The sections follow the order state treasury business cases use, compressed to one page.
Recommendation and decision needed
One sentence: what, for whom, cost, funding source and the date you need a decision. Write it last and put it first.
Why we must act: our duty and our numbers
The values case in a line, then your incidents, seclusion and restraint, claims and days lost, premium and backfill for the last two years.
The five arguments
Avoided cost, workforce and lost days, WHS compliance, hidden risk and clinical evidence, one or two lines each.
Options
Do nothing, one-off training, the recommended program and a pilot, each with cost, benefit and risk.
How we will know it worked
Baseline, 90-day and 12-month measures, each with an owner.
Funding source and sign-off
The budget or fund that will pay, and signatures from the executive sponsor, CFO, Director of Nursing and WHS.
How do I fill it in well?
Start with your own figures, keep every claim honest, and make the ask easy to say yes to.
- Lead with the duty, then the numbers. Staff have a right to a safe workplace, and the organisation has the duty to provide one. Part 1 sets out the values case.
- Use your own numbers. Your network’s published workers’ compensation cost is on our open data page, and your state guide says where to find the rest.
- Make the arguments in each reader’s terms. Part 2 explains who each of the five arguments persuades.
- Include doing nothing as an option. Put its cost in numbers. A pilot with a decision point is often the easiest yes.
- Name the money. Part 3 lists the budgets and funds in each state, and how to frame the request for each.
- Get people on side before the meeting. Part 4 covers who decides, when to submit and how to present it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the business case template free?
Yes. Download it in Word or PDF, use it and adapt it for your service. There is no sign-up.
Why a one-page business case?
Executives decide from a single page and read the detail only if they need it. The one page carries the recommendation, the numbers and the ask; attach the detail behind it.
What should I not claim in a business case for Safewards?
Don't claim that Safewards alone has been proven to cut workers' compensation claims, or that it has a proven return on investment: no study has measured either. Say that Safewards reduces conflict and containment, that restraint is where staff get hurt, and that you will measure the result.