Test a Victorian primary mental injury against the predominant-cause test
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the diagnosis and the events, using a firm-controlled tool, table the Victorian predominant-cause test, the stress-and-burnout exclusion and the traumatic-event exception, and list the factors still missing. Do not decide the claim.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether the mental injury predominantly arose from employment.
- Apply the stress-and-burnout exclusion only as the practice directive states it.
- Do not import a reasonable-management-action exclusion. These pages do not state one.
- Health and wage records stay in a firm-controlled tool. Apply ASCR r 9, APP 11, and the notifiable-breach test.
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Victoria, Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013, as the practice directive and the claims manual explain it
Produce. A factor table for the lawyer's predominant-cause decision.
Have ready. Certificate or medical report with the diagnosis; Account of work events and other events; Date the mental injury is said to have occurred.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: A worker describes a heavy ordinary workload and one incident of harassment. The table keeps those events apart. The lawyer decides which, if either, predominates. The tool does not call the workload traumatic.
Stop and hand it back when
- The diagnosis is only from a psychologist.
- The injury date is before 31 March 2024 and no earlier test has been opened.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the diagnosis and the events, using a firm-controlled tool, table the Victorian predominant-cause test, the stress-and-burnout exclusion and the traumatic-event exception, and list the factors still missing. Do not decide the claim. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Check the diagnosis is by a general practitioner or psychiatrist and is in DSM terms, with the dysfunction described.
- List work events and non-work events before saying which group predominates.
- Separate usual workplace stress from bullying, harassment, discrimination or a traumatic event.
- Do not apply this predominant test to a mental injury before 31 March 2024. The directive is limited to injuries on or after that date.
Sources
- WorkSafe Victoria practice directive: mental injury eligibility · 2026-10-23
- WorkSafe Victoria claims manual: define an injury · 2026-10-23
No generative-AI practice note of the Workplace Injury Commission, Medical Panels or a Victorian court was opened. Apply the forum's current direction before a document is lodged.
The directive cites sections 3, 40(1A), 40(2A) and 39(2A). Confirm those sections in the current Act.
If health or wage records leave the firm-controlled tool, decide whether a Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) breach is notifiable.