--- title: "Authorities to trace a dust client's employment and the former employers' insurers" url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/authorities-trace-dust-employment-insurers" type: "precedent" site: "AI Law Framework" id: "a21-authorities-trace-dust-employment-insurers" area_id: "A21" kind: "letter" ai_level: "yellow" version: 1 task_ids: ["A21-DD20261023-2", "A21-DD20261023-8", "A21-T1-R12"] law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-23" --- # 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. Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/authorities-trace-dust-employment-insurers Law stated as at: 2026-10-23 Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt ## Key facts - Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send. - Practice area: [Personal Injury & Compensation](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation.md) - Jurisdictions: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland - AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on. - Law stated as at: 2026-10-23 - Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-23 against the 5 authorities it cites, for New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. ## 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 - [Build an exposure and employer history for a dust claim](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/build-an-exposure-and-employer-history-for-a-dust-claim.md) - [Prepare a statutory dust-disease application from the employment and medical material](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/prepare-a-statutory-dust-disease-application-from-the-employment-and-med.md) - [Prepare an occupational-disease or dust-disease file chronology and issues list](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/prepare-an-occupational-disease-or-dust-disease-file-chronology-and-issu.md) ## 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 ## Authorities - [SIRA, Application for workers compensation insurance claims, policy and settlement records (try the employer or insurer first; authority to release for claims or settlements; 21 days; insurancesearch@sira.nsw.gov.au)](https://www.sira.nsw.gov.au/resources-library/workers-compensation-resources/forms/workers-and-claims/application-for-wci-insurance-records.pdf) - [WorkSafe Victoria, Request access to information (Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013; section 9 or administrative access; send the form to the agent)](https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/request-access-information) - [WorkCover Queensland, Send or request information (online services; existing-claim channel; Right to Information Act 2009 and Information Privacy Act 2009), last updated 18 August 2026](https://www.workcoverqld.com.au/contact/send-or-request-information) - [WorkCover Queensland, Privacy statement (authority to disclose; claim file released with consent; Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 s 572A(1) as the page states it)](https://www.workcoverqld.com.au/privacy/privacy-statement) - [icare Dust Diseases Care, Who we care for (support for a dust disease from exposure while employed in New South Wales; a separate application)](https://www.icare.nsw.gov.au/injured-or-ill-people/work-related-dust-disease/who-we-care-for) ## Full text and drafting notes The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/authorities-trace-dust-employment-insurers and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm. *Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*