Build a Queensland past-loss table and then apply section 54
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Build a past-loss table from the pay and tax records the lawyer accepts, then show the section 54 cap if chapter 3 applies. Do not write a schedule that will be filed or served.
- What the lawyer must review
- The table uses the records the lawyer accepts
- Apply section 54 only if chapter 3 applies
- Do not replace the pay records with a weekly formula.
- Wage and tax records stay in a firm-controlled tool. Check ASCR r 9, APP 11 and Privacy Act notification
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Queensland past loss of earnings, before any schedule is filed or served
Produce. A past-loss table from the lawyer's records, with the section 54 cap applied only where the lawyer says chapter 3 applies.
Have ready. Pay and tax records the lawyer accepts; Whether the lawyer says chapter 3 applies, and the earnings figure the lawyer supplies.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The table totals the net pay slips the lawyer marked. It does not apply section 54, because the lawyer has said the injury is a work injury within section 5.
Stop and hand it back when
- The records are incomplete.
- The draft applies section 54 to a work injury without the lawyer saying chapter 3 applies.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Build a past-loss table from the pay and tax records the lawyer accepts, then show the section 54 cap if chapter 3 applies. Do 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
- Each row is a period, the gross and net figures the lawyer accepts, and the source document. The tool does not reconstruct tax.
- No opened section of the Civil Liability Act replaces those records with a statutory weekly formula before section 54 is applied.
- If the lawyer says chapter 3 applies, show section 54 against the weekly loss: three times average weekly earnings, present value when the award is made. Leave the earnings dollar blank until the lawyer supplies it.
- If section 5 takes the injury outside the Act, do not apply section 54. Say that the cap was not applied and why.
Sources
- Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) section 54 · 2026-10-23
- Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) section 5 · 2026-10-23
- Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) schedule 2 · 2026-10-23
Section 5(1) says this Act does not apply in deciding liability or awards of damages for personal injury if the harm is or includes an injury for which compensation is payable under the WorkCover Queensland Act 1996, other than an injury to which section 36(1)(c) or 37 of that Act applies, or under the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, other than an injury to which section 34(1)(c) or 35 of that Act applies, or a dust-related condition, or an injury from smoking or other use of tobacco products or exposure to tobacco smoke. Section 5(2) says it is immaterial whether compensation is claimed or whether the entitlement to seek damages is regulated under the relevant Act. Section 5(3) keeps this Act for deciding awards of section 59A damages for a dust-related condition or a tobacco injury. It does not keep the rest of the Act for a work injury. Sections 34 and 35 of the 2003 Act and sections 36 and 37 of the 1996 Act were not opened, so the content of those carve-outs is not described. The official reprint is current from 1 July 2024. Section text was read on AustLII.
Wage, tax and care records stay in a firm-controlled tool. Apply ASCR r 9 and APP 11, and consider whether a breach is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).