Serious Injury Claims
Serious Injury Claims
The Victorian WorkCover system provides workers’ compensation through 2 avenues depending of the severity of the injury of your claim.
Statutory Benefits
These benefits are provided under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act (2013), Commonly addressed as the (WIRC) Act.
Under this Act, WorkCover has a 'no fault scheme' providing compensation to claims that have been accepted.
This Compensation may include;
- Weekly WorkCover Payments.
- A lump-sum payment for permanent impairment.
- Payment of medical and like expenses relating to the injury.
- Payments to relatives for dependents in the case of the workers Death.
Common Law
If the injury was caused by your employer’s negligence or a breach of Contract, a Seriously injured worker can sue through the common law process for;
- Economic, loss of future earnings, (lump-sum payment).
- Non-economic loss, pain and suffering. (lump-sum payment).
Do note that common law payment starts from the day the WorkCover claim was lodged and accepted, not the day of the court case.
If the common law claim goes to court, you may be directed to pay back all the weekly benefits paid from the date of the original injury claim, to the date of the court decision from your lump-sum payment. Your solicitor will advise you of your options in relation to your common law claim.
If the common law lump-sum payment includes both 'Pain and suffering' and 'Future loss of earnings', the WorkCover weekly benefits will cease once the court ruling is handed down.
- The injured worker is assessed by a WorkCover Impairment Assessor to ascertain a Permanent assessment percentage figure. An Injured Worker having a Whole- Person impairment of 30% or more is deemed to have a Serious Injury, or
- If WorkCover or a self-insurer deems the injury is serious, or
- If a court decides that the injured worker has is a serious injury.
- A permanent serious impairment or loss of a body function,
- A permanent serious disfigurement,
- A permanent severe mental or permanent severe behavioural disturbance or disorder,
- A loss of a foetus.
The information on this website produced and distributed by the IWSN is of a general nature. We do our best to ensure the information is accurate and up to date, but cannot take any responsibility for any loss arising out of its use. You should not rely on it applying in your own circumstances and should always take further advice from those with appropriate qualifications.
Last updated August 2024.
