Summarise reports for a Queensland permanent impairment assessment
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Extract the diagnoses, the stated degree of permanent impairment and the stability comments from the reports the lawyer supplies. Do not decide the degree of permanent impairment.
- What the lawyer must review
- Check each extracted figure against the report, including whether the injury is stable and stationary
- For a psychiatric injury, only the Medical Assessment Tribunal assesses the degree
- The lawyer decides any response to the notice of assessment
- Health records stay in a firm-controlled tool. Check ASCR r 9, APP 11 and Privacy Act notification
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. WorkCover Queensland or a self-insurer, degree of permanent impairment assessment
Produce. A checked extract of what the reports say, for the lawyer's advice on the notice of assessment.
Have ready. The impairment reports the lawyer supplies; The notice of assessment, if issued, and the date it was received; Whether the injury is physical or psychiatric.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The draft treats a psychiatrist's percentage as the degree of permanent impairment. The lawyer removes it because WorkCover says only the Medical Assessment Tribunal assesses a psychiatric injury.
Stop and hand it back when
- The report does not say the injury is stable and stationary.
- The 20 business day response period may have expired.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Extract the diagnoses, the stated degree of permanent impairment and the stability comments from the reports the lawyer supplies. Do not decide the degree of permanent impairment. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- For a worker injured from 15 October 2013, WorkCover says the assessment uses the Guidelines for Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Confirm the report is under that Guide.
- WorkSafe describes stable and stationary as medically stable for the previous three months and unlikely to change by more than 3 per cent whole person impairment in the next 12 months. Do not treat a report as final if it does not say that.
- WorkCover says a psychiatric or psychological injury is assessed by the Medical Assessment Tribunal, and there is no review of that assessment. Do not extract a doctor's percentage as the degree for that injury.
- If the worker disagrees with a physical assessment, WorkCover says the response to the notice of assessment is due within 20 business days, and WorkCover then has 10 business days to decide on another doctor or the Tribunal.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material for a Victorian WorkSafe Medical Panel | Letter | AI use 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 Victorian Wrongs Act Medical Panel | Letter | AI use Yellow | Claimant's index where a respondent may refer a significant-injury question to a Medical Panel, which states whether the threshold is met and not a percentage. |
| 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. |
| Material for a Queensland Medical Assessment Tribunal | Letter | AI use 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. |
| 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. |
| Index for a NSW Personal Injury Commission medical assessment | Letter | AI use 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. |
| 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. |
| Victorian WorkSafe impairment benefit: stability checklist | Checklist | AI use Yellow | Checklist and short letter asking a WorkSafe agent to assess a permanent impairment benefit once the injury is stable. |
| 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
- WorkCover Queensland: Assessment for the degree of permanent impairment · 2026-10-23
- WorkSafe Queensland: Guidelines for Evaluation of Permanent Impairment · 2026-10-23
- Civil Liability Regulation 2025 (Qld), in force reprint · 2026-10-23
The Queensland statutory measure on a workers' claim is a degree of permanent impairment under the Guide. An injury scale value under the Civil Liability Regulation 2025 is a different assessment, used for general damages where the Civil Liability Act applies.
The second edition of the Queensland Guide took effect on 1 July 2016. Confirm the report uses the edition the insurer required.
Medical records stay in a firm-controlled tool. Apply ASCR r 9 and APP 11, and consider whether a breach is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).