Track a Queensland workers' compensation decision and review time
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Calculate the 20-business-day decision period and the later review and appeal dates from the dates the lawyer confirms.
- What the lawyer must review
- Do not treat the passing of 20 business days as a deemed decision
- Diary the review at 3 months. If the notice gave no reasons, ask within 20 business days
- Diary an appeal at 20 business days, then serve within 10 business days
- You write any notice of appeal
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Queensland workers' compensation applications, reviews by the Regulator, and appeals under chapter 13.
Produce. A date calculation for the decision, the review and any appeal, checked by the lawyer.
Have ready. The date the application was made; The notice received and whether it stated reasons; The date of any review decision.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The insurer has been silent for 20 business days. The draft does not call that an acceptance. The lawyer diarises the five-business-day notice in section 134(6) and the three-month review in section 542.
Stop and hand it back when
- A date is not one the lawyer has confirmed.
- The output treats silence as a decision, or drafts a notice of appeal.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Calculate the 20-business-day decision period and the later review and appeal dates from the dates the lawyer confirms. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Section 134: the insurer allows or rejects the application within 20 business days after it is made and notifies the claimant. A rejection includes written reasons and the information a regulation prescribes. If no decision is made in time, section 134(6) requires notice within five business days of the reasons for not deciding and that the claimant may have the application reviewed under chapter 13.
- Section 542(1): a review application is within three months after the applicant receives written notice of the decision, or of the failure and the reasons, unless subsection (4) applies. The applicant may ask the Regulator once for further time. The Regulator may allow it for special circumstances.
- Section 542(4): if the notice did not state the reasons, the applicant must ask the decision-maker within 20 business days. The decision-maker must give written reasons within five business days after being asked. The review is then within three months after the reasons are received, whether or not they address the prescribed matters. The application is in the approved form to the Regulator and states the grounds.
- Section 550: a review-decision appeal is within 20 business days after the appellant receives the notice of the review decision. A non-reviewable decision is within 20 business days after the notice stating the reasons. File in the industrial registry if the appeal body is the industrial commission, or in the Magistrates Court named in section 550(5) if the appeal body is an industrial magistrate. Serve a copy within 10 business days on the Regulator for a review decision, or on the insurer for a non-reviewable decision.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covering letter for NIISQ internal review of eligibility or treatment, care and support | Letter | AI use Yellow | Covering letter for the NIISQ internal review form, with eligibility and treatment, care and support kept apart. |
| Request that a NSW CTP insurer concede impairment greater than 10 per cent | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a New South Wales CTP insurer to concede that permanent impairment from a motor accident is greater than 10 per cent, and recording the section 6.14 time for a damages claim. |
| NSW work injury damages: claim letter and pre-filing checklist | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter to a New South Wales workers compensation insurer claiming work injury damages, with a checklist for the section 315 pre-filing statement. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld), sections 134, 542 and 550 · 2026-10-23
- WorkSafe Queensland: independent review of insurer decisions · 2026-10-23
- Queensland Industrial Relations Commission Practice Direction 1 of 2026 · 2026-10-23
The tool calculates from dates the lawyer confirms. It does not decide which appeal body has the appeal, and it does not write the notice of appeal.
If the appeal is filed in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, Practice Direction 1 of 2026 applies to the filed documents. The lawyer writes them.