--- title: "Record the Queensland election between a lump sum and damages" url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/record-the-choice-between-an-impairment-lump-sum-and-damages/queensland" type: "task_jurisdiction_version" site: "AI Law Framework" id: "A21-WD20261023-2-QLD" practice_area: "Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)" tier: "yellow" lawyer_review: "required" jurisdictions: ["QLD"] last_reviewed: "2026-10-25" --- # Record the Queensland election between a lump sum and damages > In the firm-controlled tool, set out the election section 189 requires and what lodging a notice of claim does to it. Do not recommend which option the worker should take. Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/record-the-choice-between-an-impairment-lump-sum-and-damages/queensland Last reviewed: 2026-10-25 Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt ## Key facts | Fact | Value | | --- | --- | | Practice area | [Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation.md) | | Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together | | How AI is used | In the firm-controlled tool, set out the election section 189 requires and what lodging a notice of claim does to it. Do not recommend which option the worker should take. | | What the lawyer must review | Decide whether the worker can take both, or must elect. Check whether a notice of claim has already rejected the lump sum. Do not state a decision-period length the extract does not contain. Keep medical and wage records in the firm-controlled tool. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply. | | Written for | Queensland | | Applies to | [Record the choice between an impairment lump sum and damages](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/record-the-choice-between-an-impairment-lump-sum-and-damages.md) | ## Checking plan **Verify against sources** Read the notice of assessment before describing the choice. - What the AI does: In the firm-controlled tool, set out the election section 189 requires and what lodging a notice of claim does to it. Do not recommend which option the worker should take. - What the lawyer does: The lawyer decides whether an election is required and whether it has already been made. - Who reviews: Lawyer competent in this practice area - Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance. ## Checks the lawyer makes 1. Read the notice of assessment before describing the choice. 2. Treat a notice of claim lodged without an election as a rejection of the lump sum, under section 189(6) and (7). 3. Where the degree is 20 per cent or more, do not describe an irrevocable choice. WorkSafe says the lump sum and a damages claim can both be made. 4. Record section 237(3): a worker who had to elect and who has accepted the lump sum is not entitled to seek damages, subject to section 266. ## Notes - Section 189 applies where a psychiatric or psychological injury results in a degree under 20 per cent and there is a lump sum entitlement, where another injury results in a degree under 20 per cent and there is a lump sum entitlement, or where the injury results in no degree. The insurer must give copies of sections 10, 237(3), 239, 240 and 316, and must advise that the worker make an irrevocable election to accept the lump sum or to seek damages. The worker may accept, reject or defer by written notice within the decision period. The length of that period was not extracted. Failing to give the election before seeking damages is taken as a rejection of the lump sum. Seeking damages means lodging a notice of claim. Section 239(1) applies where the notice states a degree under 20 per cent. Section 239(2) says that where the notice offers lump sum compensation under chapter 3, part 10, division 3, the worker is not entitled to both that payment and damages for the injury. Section 239(3) says that where the worker must elect to seek damages, an election to seek damages cannot be changed after notice of it is given to the insurer, and an election that section 189(7) treats as made cannot be changed after the notice of claim is lodged. WorkSafe states that a degree of 20 per cent or more allows the lump sum to be accepted and a damages claim still to be made. Section 189(2)(c) has a further notice where the injury is pneumoconiosis. That dust-disease notice is outside this task. - Keep health and wage records in a firm-controlled tool. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply. A breach may be notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). ## Practical guide Jurisdiction: Queensland: the irrevocable election under sections 189 and 239 where the degree is under 20 per cent **Deliverable**: A record of the Queensland election, whether it has been made, and what each option ends. **Inputs** - Notice of assessment - Lump sum offer - Any notice of claim already lodged **Example**: Illustrative example: The degree is 15 per cent and a notice of claim has been lodged with no election. The tool records a deemed rejection of the lump sum under section 189(6). The lawyer checks the lodgement date. **Stop and escalate when** - The notice of assessment is not on the file. - The tool has recommended which option to take. Checked 2026-10-23. ## Sources - [Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) s 189](https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/qld/consol_act/wcara2003400/s189.html) (checked 2026-10-23) - [Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) s 239](https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/qld/consol_act/wcara2003400/s239.html) (checked 2026-10-23) - [Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) s 237](https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/qld/consol_act/wcara2003400/s237.html) (checked 2026-10-23) - [WorkSafe Queensland: Making a common law claim](https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/workers-compensation/compensation-claims/common-law-claims/making-a-common-law-claim) (checked 2026-10-23) ## Forms and precedents for this task | Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Material for a Victorian WorkSafe Medical Panel](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/victorian-worksafe-medical-panel-material.md) | Letter | Yellow | Index and statutory questions for a Medical Panel under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013, for an impairment dispute or a court referral. | | [Material for a Queensland Medical Assessment Tribunal](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/queensland-medical-assessment-tribunal-material.md) | Letter | Yellow | Worker's index of documents for an insurer's referral to a Medical Assessment Tribunal, with the exchange times and the permanent-impairment questions the Act states. | | [Index for a NSW Personal Injury Commission medical assessment](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/nsw-pic-medical-assessment-bundle.md) | Letter | Yellow | Working index and list of matters for a Personal Injury Commission medical assessment, in the workers compensation or motor accidents division, not a letter to the assessor. | Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. *Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*