---
title: "Check whether section 54 can govern a Queensland scheme insurer's refusal"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/insurance-law/assess-whether-section-54-stops-an-insurer-refusing-a-claim/queensland"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A22-O20261018-1-QLD"
practice_area: "Insurance Law"
tier: "red"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["QLD"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Check whether section 54 can govern a Queensland scheme insurer's refusal

> From the refusal and the policy, list the act or omission the insurer names and whether the contract is a Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act contract or a Motor Accident Insurance Act contract.…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/insurance-law/assess-whether-section-54-stops-an-insurer-refusing-a-claim/queensland  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Insurance Law](https://ailawframework.com/practice/insurance-law.md) |
| Human involvement | Red: Lawyer writes; AI may check, clarify or collect data |
| How AI is used | From the refusal and the policy, list the act or omission the insurer names and whether the contract is a Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act contract or a Motor Accident Insurance Act contract. Do not say whether section 54 stops the refusal. |
| What the lawyer must review | Do not treat section 54 as the test until you decide the Insurance Contracts Act applies. If the refusal is under a workers' compensation or motor-accident contract, name the scheme Act that governs it. You decide whether any act, omission or prejudice matters under the Act that does apply. Use a firm-controlled tool. Check ASCR r 9, APP 11 and any notifiable breach. |
| Written for | Queensland |
| Applies to | [Assess whether section 54 stops an insurer refusing a claim](https://ailawframework.com/practice/insurance-law/assess-whether-section-54-stops-an-insurer-refusing-a-claim.md) |

## Checking plan

**Verify against sources**

The lawyer decides whether section 54 is even available before anyone analyses the refusal.

- What the AI does: From the refusal and the policy, list the act or omission the insurer names and whether the contract is a Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act contract or a Motor Accident Insurance Act contract. Do not say whether section 54 stops the refusal.
- What the lawyer does: Make the legal assessment, check the source material and authorise the output for its intended use.
- Who reviews: Lawyer competent in this practice area
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. Mark the contract against section 9 before any section 54 row is filled.
2. If section 9 excludes the contract, leave the prejudice analysis blank.
3. Do not state a conclusion on the refusal.

## Notes

- Health, wage and scheme records stay in a firm-controlled tool. Check ASCR r 9, APP 11, and whether a disclosure is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
- Section 54 is in the Insurance Contracts Act. Section 9(1)(e) takes outside the Act, except as the Act otherwise provides, a contract entered into for the purposes of a law that relates to workers' compensation, or to compensation for the death of a person, or for injury to a person, arising out of the use of a motor vehicle. Section 9(1)(f) takes outside the Act a contract entered into for the purposes of a workers' compensation law and to provide cover for an employer's common-law liability to pay damages for employment-related personal injury. Section 9(1)(f) is not the motor-injury exclusion. A refusal under an excluded contract is not tested under section 54.
- A life policy or an income-protection policy that was not entered for the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act or the Motor Accident Insurance Act stays inside the section 9 question. The tool does not decide that question.

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: Queensland scheme insurance and other policies on the same file

**Deliverable**: A sorting note for the lawyer, with no view on whether the refusal is effective.

**Inputs**

- The refusal letter
- The policy
- The Act the insurer relies on

**Example**: Illustrative example: The CTP insurer refuses the claim because the notice was late. The note records that the policy is a Motor Accident Insurance Act contract and leaves the section 54 row blank.

**Stop and escalate when**

- The policy class is not identified.
- Someone asks the tool to say the refusal is, or is not, effective.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) s 9](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ica1984220/s9.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld) s 37](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/maia1994243/s37.html) (checked 2026-10-23)

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*