Advise the worker on a commutation or a statutory lump-sum election
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the assessment, the payment history and the proposed amount, using a firm-controlled tool, table the conditions the opened page states for a commutation or a lump-sum election, and mark each condition met, unmet or unknown. Do not advise the worker to accept, and do not write the agreement.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether the worker should give up statutory rights, and write the advice.
- Check every condition on the opened page before any agreement is signed.
- In Queensland, state the under-20-per-cent choice and the 20-per-cent-or-more path separately.
- Health and wage records stay in a firm-controlled tool. Apply ASCR r 9, APP 11, and the notifiable-breach test.
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: NSWQLDVIC
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the assessment, the payment history and the proposed amount, using a firm-controlled tool, table the conditions the opened page states for a commutation or a lump-sum election, and mark each condition met, unmet or unknown. Do not advise the worker to accept, and do not write the agreement. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Read the notice or the proposed agreement against the conditions. Do not rely on the insurer's summary.
- Do not describe a Victorian impairment benefit as ending weekly payments. The opened page says it is separate.
- In New South Wales, do not treat an unapproved agreement as effective. Approval by the President is required.
- State, in the advice, what claim is given up, including any later work-injury damages claim where WC8 says that is the result.
Sources
- WorkSafe Victoria: permanent impairment benefit · 2026-10-23
- WorkSafe Queensland: lump sum payments · 2026-10-23
- WorkCover Queensland: lump sum payments for permanent impairment · 2026-10-23
- Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2025 (Qld) · 2026-10-23
- Personal Injury Commission: Procedural Direction WC8, commutations · 2026-10-23
Section 87EA(1) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 requires at least 15 per cent permanent impairment, assessed under Part 6 or the 1998 Act, Chapter 7, Part 7, and also requires the permanent impairment compensation to have been paid, at least two years since the first weekly-payments claim, injury management and return to work exhausted, regular weekly payments through the preceding six months, a continuing weekly entitlement, and no termination under section 48A of the 1998 Act. Subsection (2) is the prescribed-class path. WC8 does not restate the 15 per cent.
The tool does not write the advice and does not choose the option.
If health or wage records leave the firm-controlled tool, decide whether a Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) breach is notifiable.