---
title: "Test a Victorian primary mental injury against the predominant-cause test"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-a-primary-mental-injury-against-the-employment-contribution-test/victoria"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A21-WC20261023-13-VIC"
practice_area: "Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["VIC"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Test a Victorian primary mental injury against the predominant-cause test

> 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.…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-a-primary-mental-injury-against-the-employment-contribution-test/victoria  
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 | 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. |
| Written for | Victoria |
| Applies to | [Test a primary mental injury against the employment-contribution test](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-a-primary-mental-injury-against-the-employment-contribution-test.md) |

## Checking plan

**Verify against sources**

For a mental injury on or after 31 March 2024, WorkSafe requires significant dysfunction, a DSM diagnosis by a general practitioner or psychiatrist, and that employment was the predominant cause. A psychologist's diagnosis does not meet the directive. Usual workload stress and ordinary interpersonal conflict can fall in the exclusion. Bullying, harassment, discrimination and traumatic events that are part of the duties are treated differently. The claims manual allows the predominant test to be proved if employment outweighs the sum of the other factors, by common sense rather than a formula.

- What the AI does: 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 does: The lawyer decides the legal question, checks the sources, and authorises anything the family or the insurer will receive.
- Who reviews: Lawyer competent in statutory workers compensation
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. Check the diagnosis is by a general practitioner or psychiatrist and is in DSM terms, with the dysfunction described.
2. List work events and non-work events before saying which group predominates.
3. Separate usual workplace stress from bullying, harassment, discrimination or a traumatic event.
4. 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.

## Notes

- 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.

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: Victoria, Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013, as the practice directive and the claims manual explain it

**Deliverable**: A factor table for the lawyer's predominant-cause decision.

**Inputs**

- Certificate or medical report with the diagnosis
- Account of work events and other events
- Date the mental injury is said to have occurred

**Example**: 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 escalate when**

- The diagnosis is only from a psychologist.
- The injury date is before 31 March 2024 and no earlier test has been opened.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [WorkSafe Victoria practice directive: mental injury eligibility](https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/practice-directive-mental-injury-eligibility) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [WorkSafe Victoria claims manual: define an injury](https://www1.worksafe.vic.gov.au/vwa/claimsmanual/Claims%20Manual/2-claims-management/2-1-workers-and-injuries/2-1-6-define-an-injury.htm) (checked 2026-10-23)

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*