Assess Victorian loss of capacity to provide gratuitous care to dependants
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- In a firm-controlled tool, list the care the lawyer says was provided to dependants, the hours, and the period, against section 28ID. The tool does not decide who is a dependant, does not set the dollar, and does not write a schedule that will be filed or served.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide who is a dependant. Do not fill the definition from this note.
- Decide whether each limb of section 28ID(2) is met, including 6 hours a week and 6 consecutive months.
- Leave the section 28IE dollar blank. Check section 28IF before you apply the cap.
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Victoria: loss of capacity to provide gratuitous care to dependants
Produce. A limb-by-limb note under section 28ID, with the award figure left blank.
Have ready. The care the lawyer says was provided; Hours per week and the period; Any earlier recovery the lawyer marks.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: Before the injury the person cooked for a child for 8 hours a week. The note records the hours and that the definition of dependant was not opened. It does not set a dollar. The lawyer decides whether section 28ID is met.
Stop and hand it back when
- The tool would decide who is a dependant.
- The tool would include this loss inside non-economic loss.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | In a firm-controlled tool, list the care the lawyer says was provided to dependants, the hours, and the period, against section 28ID. The tool does not decide who is a dependant, does not set the dollar, and does not write a schedule that will be filed or served. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Do not invent who is in paragraph (a) of the definition of dependants. That definition was not opened.
- The expectation limb needs at least 6 hours per week and a period of at least 6 consecutive months. Both.
- Do not include this loss inside non-economic loss. Section 28ID(3)(b) says so.
- Section 28IE caps the amount and leaves the dollar to the Statistician's figure. Section 28IF was not opened.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria Wrongs Act caps worksheet | Other | AI use Yellow | Worksheet for the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) limits that were opened: the earnings cap, the indexed non-economic loss maximum, the discount rate, and the gratuitous care limits. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) section 28ID · 2026-10-23
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) section 28IE · 2026-10-23
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) section 28C · 2026-10-23
Section 28ID(1): despite anything to the contrary at common law, a court may award damages for loss of the claimant's capacity to provide gratuitous care to the claimant's dependants. It may do so only if satisfied of the limbs in subsection (2). For dependants of the kind in paragraph (a) of the definition, the claimant provided the care before the liability arose. The definition was not opened. The dependants were not, or will not be, capable of providing the care because of age or physical or mental incapacity. There is a reasonable expectation that, but for the injury, the care would have been provided for at least 6 hours per week and for at least 6 consecutive months. There will be a need for those hours and that period, and the need is reasonable.
Subsection (3): damages for that loss may be awarded only in accordance with section 28ID and section 28IE, and must not include a component for that loss in non-economic loss. Subsection (4): no award if the dependant has previously recovered damages for that loss of capacity. Subsection (5): a person, whether or not a dependant, may not be awarded damages for a loss sustained because of that loss of capacity if the claimant has previously recovered damages for it. Section 28IE caps the amount at average weekly total earnings of all employees in Victoria where the care would have been at least 40 hours a week, or one-fortieth of that amount per hour if less. No dollar was opened. The note to section 28ID says subsections (2) to (5) and section 28IE do not apply to certain actions: see section 28IF, which was not opened.
Wrongs Act 1958 section 28C(2) leaves Part VB out of an award where the fault is an intentional act done with intent to cause death or injury, or sexual assault or other sexual misconduct; an award to which Transport Accident Act 1986 Part 3, 6 or 10 applies; an award to which Accident Compensation Act 1985 Part IV or Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 Part 7 applies; and an award to which the Workers Compensation Act 1958 applies. Other exclusions are on the section, including victims of crime assistance and a sum payable under a superannuation scheme or a life or other insurance policy. Section 28C(2A) leaves the Part out of assistance under the Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance Scheme) Act 2022. The lawyer decides whether Part VB applies. The tool does not.
Keep health, wage and scheme records in a firm-controlled tool. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply. A breach may be notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).