Value Victorian paid care outside the gratuitous attendant care limits
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- In a firm-controlled tool, list paid care invoices the lawyer accepts, and keep them outside sections 28IA and 28IB. The tool applies those sections only to gratuitous attendant care the lawyer identifies, and it does not write a schedule that will be filed or served.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide which care is paid and which is gratuitous.
- Do not apply sections 28IA and 28IB to a paid invoice.
- On a transport-accident award, check section 93(10) before unpaid domestic or nursing services are claimed.
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Victoria: paid care kept outside the gratuitous attendant care provisions
Produce. A split of paid invoices and gratuitous care, with the gratuitous thresholds applied only where the lawyer says Part VB applies.
Have ready. Paid invoices the lawyer accepts; Hours and duration of any gratuitous care; Whether the claim is a transport-accident damages claim.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: An agency invoice is in the file, and a relative also helps for 4 hours a week. The invoice is listed as paid. The relative's care is listed against section 28IA and is not valued. The lawyer decides.
Stop and hand it back when
- The tool would value a paid invoice under section 28IA.
- The tool would write a schedule that is filed.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | In a firm-controlled tool, list paid care invoices the lawyer accepts, and keep them outside sections 28IA and 28IB. The tool applies those sections only to gratuitous attendant care the lawyer identifies, and it does not write a schedule that will be filed or served. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- A paid invoice is outside sections 28IA and 28IB. Do not run the 6-hour or 40-hour tests on it.
- For gratuitous attendant care, section 28IA(1) is the gateway and section 28IA(2) is a further bar only where both short-duration limbs are met.
- Section 28IB caps the amount. Leave the Statistician's dollar blank. Section 28IF was not opened.
- Where Transport Accident Act section 93 applies, section 93(10)(c) excludes unpaid domestic or nursing services. Section 60 was not opened.
Sources
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) section 28IA · 2026-10-23
- Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) section 28IB · 2026-10-23
- Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic) section 93 · 2026-10-23
- Transport Accident Commission: claims for common law damages · 2026-10-23
Section 28IA(1): no damages for gratuitous attendant care services unless the court is satisfied that there is or was a reasonable need, the need arose solely because of the injury, and the services would not have been provided but for the injury. Section 28IA(2) is a further bar if the services are provided, or are to be provided, for less than 6 hours per week and for less than 6 months. Both limbs. Section 28IB: if the services are for not less than 40 hours per week, damages must not exceed Victorian average weekly total earnings of all employees, on the Statistician's estimate for the reference period the section states, or the prescribed amount. If less than 40 hours per week, the cap is an hourly rate of one-fortieth of that amount. No dollar was opened. Paid care is outside these sections.
The note to section 28ID says subsections (2) to (5) and section 28IE do not apply to certain actions: see section 28IF. Section 28IF was not opened. Do not assume the attendant-care sections have the same carve-out. Wrongs Act 1958 section 28C(2) leaves Part VB out of an award where the fault is an intentional act done with intent to cause death or injury, or sexual assault or other sexual misconduct; an award to which Transport Accident Act 1986 Part 3, 6 or 10 applies; an award to which Accident Compensation Act 1985 Part IV or Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 Part 7 applies; and an award to which the Workers Compensation Act 1958 applies. Other exclusions are on the section, including victims of crime assistance and a sum payable under a superannuation scheme or a life or other insurance policy. Section 28C(2A) leaves the Part out of assistance under the Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance Scheme) Act 2022. The lawyer decides whether Part VB applies. The tool does not.
Transport Accident Act 1986 section 93(10) says damages under that section shall not include, among other things, the value of services of a domestic nature or services relating to nursing and attendance which have been or are to be provided by another person and for which the person has not paid and is not and will not be liable to pay. It also excludes loss from costs or expenses of a kind in section 60, and professional administration costs of a kind in section 62A. Sections 60 and 62A were not opened. Do not discount a lifetime of TAC medical and like expenses into the common-law award on the strength of those exclusions alone. The TAC page says a settlement or award generally does not affect ongoing medical and like expenses, citing sections 60 and 93(10).
Keep health, wage and scheme records in a firm-controlled tool. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply. A breach may be notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).