Test an injury against the Wrongs Act significant-injury threshold
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the assessment the lawyer supplies, mark the injury against sections 28LE and 28LF and the threshold levels in section 28LB. The tool does not decide that damages for non-economic loss can be recovered.
- What the lawyer must review
- Confirm Part VBA applies. Section 28LC excludes misconduct, transport Parts 3, 6 and 10, and workplace Part 5.
- Also exclude an asbestos-related condition and a Workers Compensation Act 1958 claim.
- Apply these levels: above 5 per cent, 5 per cent or more if spinal, and 10 per cent or more if psychiatric.
- Treat loss of a foetus, loss of a breast, and the stated child-loss injury as significant without that percentage.
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), Part VBA significant injury
Produce. A threshold comparison for the lawyer. Not a certificate and not a notice of claim.
Have ready. The impairment assessment and the edition of the guides it used; Whether any exclusion in section 28LC applies; Whether a Medical Panel has determined the threshold.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The assessment says 5 per cent for a shoulder and uses the Fourth Edition. The table marks that the non-spinal level is more than 5 per cent, so 5 per cent does not meet it, and leaves the decision to the lawyer. It does not ignore a Chapter 15 exclusion.
Stop and hand it back when
- The assessment does not state a percentage and the injury is not one of the injuries section 28LF treats without a percentage.
- Section 28LC excludes the claim.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Do not begin AI assistance until the responsible lawyer has defined and confirmed its permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Section 28LE bars damages for non-economic loss unless the injured person has suffered significant injury.
- Use more than 5 per cent for an injury that is neither psychiatric nor spinal, 5 per cent or more for spinal injury, and 10 per cent or more for psychiatric injury. Impairment means permanent impairment.
- Use the A.M.A. Guides as section 28LB defines them: Fourth Edition, other than Chapter 15, as modified by or under the Part.
- Section 28LF(3) deems an injury significant if assessment is waived under Division 4, if section 28LZG(10) or 28LZGA(4) deems it, or if the court determines it under section 28LZN. Read the deeming section before relying on it.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrongs Act Form 4, claimant's prescribed information: completion guide | Form | AI use Yellow | Guide to Form 4, the claimant's prescribed information named on the Medical Panels Wrongs Act referrals page, including the section 28LZC(b) certification. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), authorised version 130 · 2026-10-23
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), section 28LE · 2026-10-23
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), section 28LF · 2026-10-23
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), section 28LB · 2026-10-23
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), section 28LC · 2026-10-23
A Medical Panel determination under Division 5 replaces the approved practitioner's assessment for the threshold, as section 28LF states.
This is not the transport-accident or workplace serious-injury gateway. Those claims are excluded by section 28LC.
Keep health, wage and scheme records in a firm-controlled tool. Apply ASCR r 9 and APP 11, and consider whether any breach is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).