Published on January 2nd, 2021 | by Sumit Bhowal

Workers Compensation in Australia

If you are a worker or a deemed worker and suffering injuries or illnesses as a result of your employment, you may be entitled to claim compensation. Even if the injury occurred was not your employer’s fault, you can still claim compensation since workers compensation is based on a no-fault scheme. If your employer failed to take preventive measures that caused your injury or was negligent, you can also claim work injury damages if your injuries are assessed at or greater than 15% whole person impairment.

The process of claiming compensation might be mentally wearing and hard to manage while suffering such injuries, therefore, you can lodge a claim with the assistance of a workers compensation lawyer.

Who can claim workers compensation?

Workers, deemed workers, full-time or part-time employees, casual employees and self-employed, trainee, apprentice, work experience students, employees of labour-hire companies can claim workers compensation as long as the injury occurred in the course of employment and related to work. Workers compensation is a compulsory form of insurance where every employee under a written or a verbal contract should be covered by their employers.

What can be claimed in workers compensation?

You may be awarded compensation for your economic and non-economic loss. Workers compensation includes payments to the injured employees and covers you by paying for your medical treatment expenses, compensating your loss of income with income replacement payments, paying to the dependents of the worker if the injuries lead to death, paying for domestic assistance, paying for the reasonable and necessary travel expenses and by paying lump sum compensation.

Injured workers can also claim work injury damages if the employer was negligent and your injuries are assessed at 15% or greater.

Can I claim lump sum payment?

You can receive lump sum payment if your injuries were assessed at 11% or greater. You or your legal representative should arrange an appointment with an Independent Permanent Impairment Assessor and have your injuries assessed. The permanent impairment assessor will inform the insurer and indicate that your injuries have reached the maximum medical improvement which means your injuries are stabilised and will not significantly change next year with or without treatment.

If your injuries were assessed as whole person impairment with a degree of greater than 14% for psychological injuries, you may be awarded a lump sum. While the minimum requirements to meet for physical injuries are a degree of greater than 10%.

How to make a workers compensation claim?

1. Make the Initial Notification of Injury

As soon as the injury occurs, the worker should notify the insurer on the injury. The initial notification can be made as a verbal notification or as a written notice. The notification should include the name of the worker, the date and the time of the injury, description of how the injury happened, whether any medical treatment is required, description if there is an impairment, postal address of the worker, name and contact details of the business.

2. Visit your doctor and request a certificate of capacity

Have your injuries assessed by a doctor and explain them on what happened. You doctor will then complete a certificate of capacity which is a document signifying the type, the degree and the situation of your injuries.

3. Gather documents

The insurer should be provided with much information. This includes; name and contact details of the practitioner, name, contact details or the identification statements of the witnesses if the accident was witnessed, medical expenses, information of ongoing treatments and any other relevant documents that you or your lawyer thinks that might be supportive to your claim.

4. Complete a Workers Compensation Claim Form

Obtain and submit the form with the documents demonstrating the situation of your injuries, your certificate of capacity and the other relevant documents mentioned above.

Do I need a lawyer to make a claim?

Although it is not compulsory to have a lawyer to make a claim, working with one will surely be very advantageous for you. Your lawyer will ensure you understand your entitlements and push their limits to maximize the amount which you may be awarded. Lawyers representing the workers compensation claimants should be approved by Workers Compensation Independent Review Office. A WIRO approved lawyer will not charge you for anything including disbursements and out of pocket expenses and will be paid by WIRO if you can successfully get awarded.

Tags: Australia, compensation, workers

About the Author

Sumit Bhowal An Internet addict and a MASTAN , Also a lazy Freelancer . I don't try to reinvent the wheel I just like to soak things in Steroid's :p Thanks (y)