Check a Queensland pure mental harm claim against the Civil Liability Act
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the medical material, table the psychiatric diagnosis if one is stated, the symptoms if no diagnosis is stated, and whether the material describes grief or distress only. The Civil Liability Act 2003 table of provisions that was opened contains no mental-harm part. Do not decide whether the harm is a recognised psychiatric illness, and do not plead the claim.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether the claim is for pure mental harm.
- Do not apply a Queensland section as a recognised-psychiatric-illness gateway. None was opened.
- The lawyer writes any pleading or advice.
- Use a firm-controlled tool. Check ASCR r 9, APP 11 and any notifiable breach.
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Queensland common law mental harm claim to which the Civil Liability Act 2003 may apply
Produce. A one-page table of the harm described in the medical material, with no section applied as a gateway.
Have ready. Medical reports naming any diagnosis; The lawyer's description of whose injury the claimant witnessed or heard about; Whether a work injury or dust-related condition is also alleged.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The report says the person is grieving and does not state a psychiatric diagnosis. The table records that. It does not answer whether a recognised illness is present.
Stop and hand it back when
- The output would name a Queensland mental-harm section.
- Section 5 may exclude the Act and that check has not been done.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the medical material, table the psychiatric diagnosis if one is stated, the symptoms if no diagnosis is stated, and whether the material describes grief or distress only. The Civil Liability Act 2003 table of provisions that was opened contains no mental-harm part. Do not decide whether the harm is a recognised psychiatric illness, and do not plead the claim. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Record the diagnosis in the words of the medical material, or record that there is none.
- Separate a physical injury with a mental consequence from harm that stands alone.
- Do not invent a section number for a psychiatric gateway.
- If the harm is also a work injury or a dust-related condition, check Civil Liability Act s 5 before using that Act at all.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter of instruction to a psychiatrist | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a psychiatrist for diagnosis, causation, treatment and capacity in a plaintiff claim, and for a clinical view on recognised psychiatric illness, without asking for the legal test. |
| Psychiatrist's instructions on a recognised psychiatric illness | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a psychiatrist whether there is a recognised psychiatric illness for a mental harm claim, without asking the psychiatrist to apply the statutory tests. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld), table of provisions · 2026-10-23
- Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) s 5 · 2026-10-23
- Queensland Courts: using generative AI · 2026-10-23
Health, wage and benefit 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).
The AustLII consolidation of the Civil Liability Act 2003, stated as at 1 July 2024, runs from breach of duty through proportionate liability, institutional child abuse, public authorities, damages and apologies. It has no mental-harm part. Section 5 removes work injuries, with stated exceptions, and dust-related conditions from the Act's liability and damages rules.
If the product is used in a Supreme Court submission, Practice Direction 5 of 2025 requires the named practitioner to verify every reference. District Court Practice Direction 12 of 2025 is the matching direction opened for that court.