SmartRTW enters its next phase.

Project SmartRTW is moving into its next phase of development.

Murdoch University has commenced work on the project’s AI model and the secure platform systems that will support it. Led by Professor Amir Yazdani and the Murdoch team, this work is focused on developing an AI capability that can recognise the nuance, sensitivity and practical realities of returning to work following psychological injury.

The model will be grounded in a carefully governed knowledge base of relevant return-to-work evidence, guidance and project materials. It will use approaches including fine-tuning and retrieval-augmented generation, known as RAG, to help ensure its guidance is relevant to the SmartRTW context.

Alongside the AI model, the Murdoch team will build the backend systems that enable the platform to operate safely and reliably. This will connect with the SmartRTW front-end experience, designed by Opposite using human-centred design principles to make the tool clear, supportive and practical for people navigating the return-to-work process.

Safety, privacy and appropriate access

Safety, privacy and appropriate access are core design requirements for SmartRTW.

The platform is being designed with secure, role-based access and separate organisational workspaces. This will help ensure that each organisation’s information and documents remain appropriately isolated, while allowing access arrangements to be configured for different organisational security and IT environments.

The team is also considering how information should be managed between different users of the platform, with a focus on supporting constructive actions and shared understanding without inappropriate access to personal conversation histories.

“SmartRTW is intended to provide practical, evidence-informed support. It is not intended to replace clinical, legal, claims or workplace decision-making.”

Co-designing the next stage with industry partners

Over the coming months, we will work more closely with industry partners through targeted co-design and testing activities.

Partners will be invited to review early concepts, share practical feedback on return-to-work scenarios and workplace processes, and test emerging features of the platform. This will help ensure SmartRTW is not only technically capable, but genuinely useful within real organisational settings.

We also look forward to sharing emerging insights and practical resources throughout the process, drawing on the themes we are learning from partners, research and early design work.

What happens next

The next stage will move from technical development into iterative co-design and testing, followed by pilot-readiness activities. More information about partner involvement and opportunities to contribute will be shared shortly.

If you have particular return-to-work scenarios, organisational considerations or questions you would like the platform to address, we welcome you to share them with the project team.