Personal injury / Workplace injuries
Workplace injury claims
Queensland’s workers’ compensation scheme has two stages that do quite different jobs. Most confusion about workplace claims comes from not knowing which one you are in.
Stage one: the statutory claim
The statutory claim is no-fault. You do not have to show that anyone did anything wrong, only that you suffered an injury arising out of, or in the course of, your employment, and that your employment was a significant contributing factor.
If accepted, it provides:
- weekly payments while you are unable to work
- reasonable medical and hospital expenses
- rehabilitation
- in some cases, a lump sum for permanent impairment
The claim is made to WorkCover Queensland, or to your employer directly if they are self-insured.
“Worker” can be broader than “employee.”
Subcontractors and people paid under an ABN can be workers for the purposes of the scheme, depending on the arrangement. If you have been told you are not covered because of how you are paid, that is worth checking rather than accepting.
The Notice of Assessment
When your statutory claim has run its course and your condition has stabilised, you will be assessed for permanent impairment and issued with a Notice of Assessment. It states a degree of permanent impairment and usually offers a lump sum.
This document matters more than it looks.
It is not simply an offer to accept or decline. It is the gateway to the second stage, and what you do with it affects what happens next.
Do not sign it without advice. The consequences of accepting may not be obvious from the document itself.
Stage two: the common law claim
The common law claim is fault-based. Here you do have to show that your employer was negligent and that you suffered damages as a result of this negligence.
It is a different proposition from the statutory claim in every respect. It is not limited to weekly payments and medical expenses. It can compensate for the full range of loss: pain and suffering, past and future income, superannuation, and future treatment. For a worker with a serious injury, it is usually where the substance of the claim lies.
Deciding whether to pursue a common law claim after receiving a Notice of Assessment is the point at which advice is most valuable.
If your claim is rejected
A rejected statutory claim can be reviewed. There is an internal review pathway, and beyond that an appeal. Time limits at this stage are short.
Rejections are not uncommon and they are not final. The reasons given are often narrow: a dispute about whether the injury arose in the course of employment, or whether work was a significant contributing factor. Those are arguable questions rather than settled ones.
Psychological injury
Psychological injuries are compensable under the scheme, and claims for work-related stress, bullying and trauma are made regularly. They are also more heavily contested than physical injury claims, and the tests applied to them differ.
Claims arising from reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way are generally excluded. What counts as reasonable is frequently the whole argument.
Points that come up often
Reporting the injury.
Tell your employer as soon as you can and make sure it is recorded. Gradual-onset injuries are harder to establish where nothing was reported at the time.
Returning to work.
Attempting a return, even unsuccessfully, does not undermine a claim. It usually helps it.
Your employer’s reaction.
For the first 12 months after an injury, your employer can’t dismiss you solely or mainly because the injury has left you unfit for the job. Other protections can apply as well, and beyond that period, but they come from different legislation and they work differently. If something has changed at work since you claimed, tell us early.
This page is general information about how the law works in Queensland. It is not legal advice, it does not take account of your circumstances, and it should not be relied on as a substitute for advice about your own claim.