Draft Queensland medico-legal instructions and check the report
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Turn the lawyer's issues list into a letter of instruction that asks the expert to state the facts, reasons and qualifications schedule 1C requires, and to confirm the code. On the draft report, table missing code items and any assumption the records do not support. Do not suggest the opinion.
- What the lawyer must review
- The expert's duty to assist the court overrides any duty to the party who pays.
- The lawyer checks the referral as a separate step from the letter and the report.
- Do not ask the expert to adopt a particular opinion. Schedule 1C forbids that.
- 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 civil proceeding, or a report being prepared so that it can be used in one
Produce. A letter of instruction and a code checklist on the draft report.
Have ready. Lawyer's issues list; Records selected for the expert; Draft report, when it arrives; Any court direction.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The issues list asks whether the fall caused the shoulder tear. The letter asks the expert to state the facts used and the reasons. It does not suggest the answer.
Stop and hand it back when
- The questions tell the expert which opinion to reach.
- The report is for a criminal proceeding, where Practice Direction 14 of 2024 paragraph 16(l) was the expert direction named by the Courts page.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Turn the lawyer's issues list into a letter of instruction that asks the expert to state the facts, reasons and qualifications schedule 1C requires, and to confirm the code. On the draft report, table missing code items and any assumption the records do not support. Do not suggest the opinion. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Limit the questions to the issues the lawyer has listed.
- Ask for the clause 8(4) confirmations, including that the opinions are genuinely held.
- On the draft, compare each material fact with the records sent.
- Do not add a generative-tool paragraph the code does not contain.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter of instruction to an orthopaedic surgeon | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking an orthopaedic surgeon for diagnosis, causation, capacity and prognosis in a plaintiff claim, with the expert code and artificial intelligence rule for Victoria, Queensland or New South Wales. |
| 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. |
| TAC serious injury application form (Common Law Protocols 2026): completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Guide to the TAC form lawyers use to request a serious injury certificate under Part 6 of the Transport Accident Act 1986 and the Common Law Protocols 2026, including the section 93(17) limbs and the signed authority. |
| Letter of instruction to an occupational therapist on care | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking an occupational therapist to record care hours, duration, paid and gratuitous help, aids and equipment, without applying a damages threshold or valuing the claim. |
| Letter of instruction to a forensic accountant | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a forensic accountant to calculate past and future loss of earning capacity on stated assumptions, with the discount rate, percentage and superannuation rate left for the lawyer. |
| Letter of instruction to an engineer | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking an engineer for the condition, the mechanism and the available precautions in a plaintiff claim, with the precautions section named by the lawyer and no conclusion on negligence. |
| 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. |
| Letter of instruction to a vocational assessor | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a vocational assessor for realistic occupations, hours and sourced earnings, without a diagnosis, an impairment score or a valuation. |
| Questions for a treating doctor | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a treating doctor for the dates, recorded diagnosis, treatment and certificates, with a separate opinion section that is sent only if the expert code is enclosed. |
| Agenda for a conference of experts | Letter | AI use Yellow | Note to experts after a direction to confer, setting the arrangements and the issues, and stating the joint-report rule in Victoria, Queensland or New South Wales. |
| Letter of instruction to an actuary on future loss | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking an actuary to value future earnings and future treatment streams on the lawyer's assumptions, with the rate, percentage and life table left blank. |
| Supplementary questions after an expert report | Letter | AI use Yellow | Short letter sending further documents and asking whether the expert's opinion on a material matter has changed, with the supplementary-report duty for each state. |
| WorkSafe Form A, application for common law damages: completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Guide to WorkSafe Form A for an application under section 328 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 or section 134AB(4) of the Accident Compensation Act 1985. |
| WorkSafe Form D, authority to release medical information: completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to WorkSafe Form D, the signed authority and consent to release medical information that accompanies a common law damages application. |
| Magistrates' Court WorkCover referral to a Medical Panel: completion guide | Form | AI use Red | Link to the Magistrates' Court form parties or their practitioners complete and submit with an application to refer a WorkCover matter to a Medical Panel. |
| County Court notice of intention to refer a medical question to a Medical Panel: guide | Form | AI use Red | Guide to the County Court notice of intention to refer a medical question to a Medical Panel in a serious injury application for a work injury, from the Common Law Division Practice Note of 9 February 2026. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) schedule 1C · 2026-10-23
- Queensland Courts: using generative AI · 2026-10-23
- Supreme Court of Queensland Practice Direction 5 of 2025 · 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).
Schedule 1C clause 7: the expert has a duty to assist the court, is not an advocate, and must not accept instructions to adopt or reject a particular opinion.
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.