Workers' Compensation Lawyers Perth

Who can claim workers' compensation in WA

You may be able to make a workers' compensation claim if:

• you suffered a physical or psychological injury in the course of your employment;
• your capacity to work has been affected by a work injury; or
• your employment has aggravated or worsened a pre-existing condition.

What you can claim for

If your claim is accepted under the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023 (WA), you may be entitled to:

• income compensation payments while you are unable to work;
• medical and health expenses;
• workplace rehabilitation to help you return to work;
• a lump sum for permanent impairment; and
• travel and other expenses, such as parking at medical appointments.

What to do if you are injured at work

Three steps, and the sooner you take them the better:

• report the incident and your injury to your employer or supervisor;
• see your GP or go to hospital and get a First Certificate of Capacity; and
• complete a Workers Compensation Claim Form and give it to your employer with the certificate.

Your employer then has 7 days to lodge the claim with its insurer. The insurer has 14 days from receiving it to accept, decline or defer your claim. If you get no decision and no deferral notice in that time, liability is treated as accepted.

If your claim is deferred or declined

A deferral is not a refusal. The insurer must make its final liability decision within 120 days, and if there is still no decision 28 days after your claim, you are generally entitled to provisional income compensation and limited medical expenses.

If your claim is declined, or part of it is disputed later on, an application can be made to WorkCover WA's Conciliation and Arbitration Services. That usually starts with a conciliation conference – an informal meeting held to try to settle the dispute. If it cannot be resolved there, a certificate of outcome is issued and the matter can go to arbitration.

Claims for psychological injury

Psychological, psychiatric and psychosocial injuries are covered, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Claims can arise from bullying or harassment, sexual, racial or gender discrimination, assault, or witnessing a serious or traumatic incident.

One qualification matters. An injury caused wholly or predominantly by reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner – performance management, discipline or dismissal – is generally excluded from compensation. Whether that exclusion applies depends on what actually happened, so get advice about your own situation before you rule yourself out.

What returning to work involves

While you are receiving income compensation and are certified with some capacity for work, you must take part in a return to work program. It is arranged between your doctor, your workplace and a workplace rehabilitation provider or injury management consultant, and it may take place with a host employer rather than at your usual workplace. Your employer does not have an obligation to find you a new job.

Suing your employer for negligence

If your injury was caused by your employer's negligence, you may be able to claim common law damages – including for pain and suffering and loss of income – on top of your statutory entitlements. Strict restrictions apply:

• you must have a permanent whole person impairment (WPI) of at least 15%;
• between 15% and 25% WPI, the damages you can recover are capped;
• at 25% or more, damages are not capped;
• your statutory entitlements change once you elect to pursue common law; and
• an election to pursue common law damages cannot be reversed once made.

The thresholds, the election and the time limits are all strict, so make this decision with advice. Workers' compensation claims can be run on a no win no fee* basis, subject to an assessment of your claim.

Claiming after a death at work

If you lost a partner or family member to a work-related injury, compensation may be available to you as a dependant – broadly, someone who relied wholly or partly on their earnings. It can include a lump sum, children's allowances and funeral expenses. Dependants can include a spouse or de facto partner, children and, in some circumstances, a parent, grandparent or guardian.