Letter · Personal Injury & Compensation

Authorities to trace a dust client's employment and the former employers' insurers

Authorities the client signs so the firm can ask former employers, and the New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland compensation bodies, for employment history and the insurer or claim file.

Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
Where it applies: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland
AI use: Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
Law stated as at: 23 October 2026
Status: Maintained. Checked on 23 October 2026 against the 5 authorities it cites, for New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
Version: 1
Source: Written for this library

When to use it

Use when a dust-disease claim needs the employers, the sites and the workers compensation insurer, self-insurer or scheme agent for those years. The client signs this authority. The lawyer then uses the current official form. This is not an icare Dust Diseases Care application and it is not a claim against an insurer.

Used for these tasks

Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.

How AI may be used

AI may fill the authority from employment details the lawyer has already accepted, and the lawyer checks the state route and signs nothing onto an official form.

AI may

List each employer, the years and the state of the workplace from instructions the lawyer has accepted
Name the firm as the person who may ask for the records and receive the answer
Point the lawyer to the current SIRA form, the WorkSafe access form, and WorkCover Queensland's published request pages

AI must not

Must not complete SIRA's form, including its authority-to-release panel and its witness block
Must not complete WorkSafe Victoria's access form, which was not opened
Must not describe this authority as the icare Dust Diseases Care application
Must not invent an employer, a policy number, a claim number or a date
Must not use the documents for a pre-employment check

The lawyer checks

The client has read the authority and signs it. It is not a statutory declaration
In New South Wales the lawyer has tried the employer, or a self-insurer, specialised insurer, group self-insurer or scheme agent, before lodging SIRA's search, or has recorded the reason the form asks for
A claims or settlement search uses SIRA's own authority-to-release section, signed by the worker. A policy-only search does not, on the form opened on 23 October 2026
Proof of identity follows the current SIRA form. Its proof-of-identity note accepts a copy of an Australian driver licence with photograph, signature and current address, a current Australian passport, or other proof of signature and current address. Its injured-worker box asks for a certified copy
In Victoria the request goes to the agent. If the agent is unknown, the lawyer calls WorkSafe. Section 9 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 was not opened
In Queensland this authority is used for an existing claim file. No historical-policy search was opened. The Right to Information procedure page was not opened
Employment and health information stays in a firm-approved tool. Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules rule 9, Australian Privacy Principle 11, and a notifiable-breach check under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) apply

Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.

Authorities

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