Separate body function and mental disturbance in a Victorian work damages claim
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- In the firm-controlled tool, list the physical injury and the mental or behavioural disturbance separately, and set out which section 325 category each one is put to. Do not add the consequences together.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide which serious-injury category each injury is put to.
- Apply section 325(2)(h) and (i) before any narrative test.
- Do not add a physical consequence into the mental category, or the reverse.
- Keep medical and wage records in the firm-controlled tool. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply.
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Victoria: the serious-injury categories in section 325 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013
Produce. A two-column note of the body-function injury and the mental or behavioural disturbance, each with its section 325 category.
Have ready. Medical reports the lawyer accepts; Impairment assessment, if any; The category the lawyer is considering.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The physical injury has a psychological consequence and no separate psychiatric diagnosis. The tool places that consequence only in the paragraph (c) category. The lawyer decides whether paragraph (c) is established.
Stop and hand it back when
- The reports do not say whether the psychological condition is a consequence or a separate injury.
- The records are available only in a public tool.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | In the firm-controlled tool, list the physical injury and the mental or behavioural disturbance separately, and set out which section 325 category each one is put to. Do not add the consequences together. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Identify whether the psychological consequences follow the physical injury or are a separate disturbance.
- Apply section 325(2)(h) and (i) to the narrative test. Do not use them to rewrite a 30 per cent impairment assessment.
- Keep the 30 per cent deemed path in section 335(1) as its own route.
- Do not use dollar caps from a comparison table. Section 325(2)(k) disregards section 340 amounts for the serious-injury assessment.
Sources
- Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic) s 325 · 2026-10-23
- Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic) s 335 · 2026-10-23
Section 325(1) treats permanent serious impairment or loss of a body function, permanent serious disfigurement, permanent severe mental or permanent severe behavioural disturbance or disorder, and loss of a foetus, as separate serious-injury categories. Section 325(2)(h) says the psychological or psychiatric consequences of a physical injury are taken into account only for paragraph (c) of the definition. Section 325(2)(i) says the physical consequences of a mental or behavioural disturbance or disorder are taken into account only for that same paragraph. The 30 per cent deemed path in section 335(1) is a separate route and is not this narrative test. Section 325(2)(k) says the monetary thresholds and maximums in section 340 are disregarded for the serious-injury assessment. Those current amounts were not extracted.
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).