Map NSW workers compensation or motor accident entitlements
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the scheme the lawyer names, draft a table of the weekly, treatment, lump-sum and damages gates in the sources, with the provision or guide paragraph to verify. Do not calculate an amount the lawyer has not supplied.
- What the lawyer must review
- Read the benefits guide with the Act. Percentages and caps depend on the injury and the claim date
- Work injury damages need at least 15 per cent for a physical injury and 25 per cent for a psychological injury
- Motor accident non-economic loss is a different gate, tied to impairment greater than 10 per cent
- Check the current guide before any summary goes to the client
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. NSW workers compensation, or a motor accident claim under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017
Produce. A gate table for the scheme the lawyer names, with each figure tied to a source.
Have ready. The scheme named by the lawyer; The injury type and the date of injury or claim; Any impairment percentage the lawyer has accepted.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The lawyer names workers compensation for a physical injury. The table records the section 151H threshold of at least 15 per cent and leaves the weekly amount blank because the lawyer has not supplied the earnings.
Stop and hand it back when
- The scheme has not been named.
- The worker may be in an exempt category and the post-2012 weekly payment table has been used without checking.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the scheme the lawyer names, draft a table of the weekly, treatment, lump-sum and damages gates in the sources, with the provision or guide paragraph to verify. Do not calculate an amount the lawyer has not supplied. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- For workers compensation weekly payments, use section 3.1 of the benefits guide for the entitlement period the lawyer names, and section 3.2 for the maximum. From 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 that maximum is $2,662.10.
- Section 151H: no work injury damages unless the worker has died or the impairment is at least 15 per cent for a physical injury or at least 25 per cent for a psychological injury. The two are assessed separately.
- Section 59A sets the treatment period. It is not the weekly-payment cap. A primary psychological injury is one year. The two-year and five-year periods are for other injuries.
- For a motor accident, keep statutory benefits separate from damages. The Guidelines treat non-economic loss as turning on impairment greater than 10 per cent.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application for review (SAET form A02, Return to Work): completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to SAET form A02, Application for Review (Return to Work), on the start-a-new-case page. |
| Injury intake questionnaire | Form | AI use Yellow | Questions for the first contact with an injured person: who is enquiring, age and capacity, how the injury happened, which schemes might apply, treatment and work, and the documents to keep. |
| Application for expedited decision (SAET form A03): completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to SAET form A03, Application for Expedited Decision (Return to Work), named on the start-a-new-case page. |
| TAC funeral and dependency benefits claim form: completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to the TAC form for funeral expenses and dependency benefits after a death in a transport accident, with the online form and the PDF the TAC publishes on the same page. |
| Permanent impairment claim form (SIRA): lump sum workers compensation | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to SIRA's permanent impairment claim form, with the form's own threshold words set beside the 11% and 15% figures on SIRA's current permanent impairment page. |
| Application for suitable employment (SAET form A04): completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to SAET form A04, Application for Suitable Employment (Return to Work), named on the start-a-new-case page. |
| 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. |
| Victorian WorkSafe common law damages: steps on the public page | Checklist | AI use Yellow | The steps WorkSafe Victoria publishes for a common law damages application, including the 120-day response and the 21-day and 51-day window after a statutory counter offer. |
| Application for payment of wages (SAET form A06): completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to SAET form A06, Application for payment of wages under the Return to Work Act, named on the start-a-new-case page. |
| TAC impairment application form (Impairment Assessment Protocols 2026): completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Guide to the TAC form lawyers use to request an impairment assessment under Part 3 of the Transport Accident Act 1986 and the Impairment Assessment Protocols 2026. |
| Application for mediation (NT WorkSafe): completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to the NT WorkSafe application for mediation under the Return to Work Act 1986. |
| PIPA notice of claim, dependency (Form 3, version 6) | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to Personal Injuries Proceedings Act Form 3, version 6, for a dependency claim. |
| Retainer and scope letter for an injury claim | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter telling the client what the firm will do, what it will not do, who will do the work, and how health information will be handled. |
| WorkSafe worker's claim for impairment benefits: completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to the WorkSafe form a worker uses to claim compensation for permanent impairment from a work injury, which the claims manual treats as a non-economic loss claim. |
| Work capacity certificate for a Queensland workers' compensation claim | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to the WorkSafe work capacity certificate page: the claim is not valid without it. |
| WorkSafe claim for compensation following a work-related death: completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to the WorkSafe form used after the death of a worker from a work-related injury or illness, including dependency, grief and loss, and funeral expenses. |
| NIISQ application for interim participation | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to the NIISQ interim-participant application for a serious personal injury in a Queensland motor accident on or after 1 July 2016. |
| Victim Assist Queensland request for funeral expenses | Form | AI use Yellow | Link to the Victim Assist page for funeral expenses after a violent crime: a related victim claiming online uses Part A, then Part B, and the email path uses a Funeral Only PDF that was not opened. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- SIRA: Workers compensation benefits guide · 2026-10-23
- Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) section 151H · 2026-10-23
- Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) section 59A · 2026-10-23
- SIRA: Part 4 of the Motor Accident Guidelines: Claims · 2026-10-23
The benefits guide excludes police, paramedics, firefighters, coal miners, emergency volunteers and dust-disease claims under the 1942 Act from the post-2012 weekly payment arrangements.
SIRA says the 1 July 2026 reforms depend on the injury and when the claim was made or notified. The weekly payments page and section 3.1 of the guide do not use the same words for the psychological-injury extension. The lawyer follows the Act where they differ.