Serious Injury < Back

The WorkCover legislation defines a serious injury. In order to show that you have a serious injury you must meet either of two complicated tests.

The Quantitative Test

Under this test, your percentage score of impairment under the American Medical Association Guides to impairment and/or the psychological guides must be 30% or more. It is possible to aggregate or combine an impairment rating from a physical injury with an impairment rating for a psychological condition even though the psychological impairment on its own is less than 30%. For example if there is a physical impairment of 20% and a primary psychological impairment all 15%, then the combined value of those impairments will be 32%. (Impairment scores are not added but combined using a special formula). These guides are very complex. Our lawyers at WORKFORCE LEGAL are widely regarded as the leading experts in these guides. We can ensure that you receive the maximum impairment score for your injury by carefully mapping and aggregating all the effects of your injury. We will also make sure that the WorkCover Authority utilises the correct methodology when it assesses your claim.

The Qualitative Test

This test is an alternative test to the quantitative test. It does not rely on a percentage score but rather relies on an assessment of the effect of the injury on your quality of life. This test is referred to as the narrative test as the WorkCover legislation narrates a series of criteria that must be taken into account. The criteria are any one of the following:
  • Serious permanent loss of a body function

  • Severe permanent behavioral or mental disturbance

  • Permanent serious disfigurement

  • Loss of a fetus
As this is a qualitative test, it requires a careful assessment of the full occupational, social, domestic, financial and psychological effects of your injury. In considering this test courts will look at many factors in determining whether an injury may be considered to be serious or not. Each case must be assessed on its own information about the full effects of an injury on the person.

This qualitative test is a very complex test. There is considerable case law about the way in which this test must be applied. The test will only canvass the permanent effects of injury and not the temporary effects of an injury. It is also clear that the physical and psychological effects cannot be combined to establish a serious injury. This means that either the physical effects or the psychological effects in their own right must constitute a serious injury. The psychological effects of an injury must be considered as ' severe '.


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