Accident Compensation For International Visitors Injured In WA

Yes, you can claim. If you’re hurt in Western Australia as a tourist, a backpacker on a working holiday, or someone here on a temporary visa, you have the same right to compensation for international visitors as a local does. Your passport doesn’t decide it. What decides it is fault. WA is a fault state, and that one fact changes everything about your claim. The WA Government reported record overseas visitor arrivals of 1.024 million in the year to October 2025, so a lot of people need to know this, and most guides get it wrong.

A visitor accident claim in WA is a compensation claim brought by someone who isn’t a permanent resident, a tourist, a backpacker, or a temporary visa holder, after an injury caused by another party’s fault. It covers road crashes, injuries on business premises, and work injuries. It runs under the same WA laws that apply to residents.

I’m Kevin Wong. I’ve acted in WA personal injury law since 1991, and the mistake I see visitors make most often is assuming WA works like Sydney or Melbourne. It doesn’t. Here’s what actually applies.

Can international visitors claim compensation in WA?

Yes. Being a non-resident doesn’t block you from a WA court or an insurance claim. The law treats an injured visitor and an injured local the same way when it works out fault and damages.

The catch is proof of fault. To win a road-injury claim through the Insurance Commission of WA, you have to show another driver caused the crash. Same idea for a fall in a shop or a work injury: someone else has to be at fault. Get hurt with nobody else to blame, and there’s usually no payout, with one exception I cover below.

Here’s the three-part test I run on a visitor’s first call. Was someone else at fault? Was it a WA vehicle, a business’s premises, or your workplace? Are you still inside the time limit? Three yeses, and you’ve probably got a claim worth checking. Not every injury leads to a payout, though, and good advice sometimes means being told you don’t have a claim.

Why WA is not like Victoria or New South Wales

This is the part other guides get wrong. Victoria and New South Wales run no-fault motor injury schemes, so an injured person there can get medical and income support even if no one else was at fault. WA does not work that way for ordinary injuries.

In WA, an everyday road-injury claim needs another driver at fault. There’s no general no-fault benefit that pays your hospital bills while blame gets sorted out. If a guide tells you WA gives “no-fault cover” for your whiplash or broken wrist, it’s describing the eastern states, not here. In WA, road-injury claims run through a single government insurer, the Insurance Commission of WA, rather than the private insurers you deal with on the east coast.

Point	Victoria (TAC) / NSW (CTP)	Western Australia
Ordinary road injury	Some no-fault medical and income support	Fault must be proven; no general no-fault benefit
Who pays	State scheme	The at-fault driver’s insurer, through ICWA
Catastrophic injury	Covered	Covered no-fault under CISS (see below)

The one WA exception is the Catastrophic Injuries Support Scheme. It’s no-fault, it’s run by ICWA, and it covers five injury types from a motor vehicle accident: spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, multiple amputations, severe burns, and permanent blindness. It started for road accidents on 1 July 2016 and now covers eligible workplace accidents from 1 July 2024 too. If a visitor is catastrophically hurt on a WA road, this scheme can fund lifetime treatment and care no matter who was at fault.

Which accidents can a visitor claim for?

Three main types, and you can hold more than one claim at once. Road crashes, public injuries, and work injuries each run on their own track.

Road crashes are the big one for travellers. Most injured visitors I see weren’t driving. They were a passenger in a hire car, a pedestrian, a cyclist, or a rideshare passenger when another driver made a mistake. You can still claim as a passenger even if the driver was your travel mate. A motor vehicle accident claim runs against whoever was at fault, through their insurer, and covers treatment, lost income, and pain and suffering within the limits I explain below.

Public injuries cover you when a business let you down. A wet floor with no sign, a broken step, poor security, a ride or activity that wasn’t run safely. Hotels, restaurants, shops, and tourism operators owe you a duty of care. A public liability claim covers a slip on that wet floor, a fall on a broken step, or an injury on a poorly run tour or theme park ride.

Work injuries are covered by workers compensation, which I’ll take next, because visa holders get this wrong more than anything else.

Injured at work on a visa? Your workers compensation rights

If you’re hurt doing a job in WA, you’re covered by workers compensation. Your visa doesn’t change that. WA law covers workers, and a working holiday maker is a worker. Farm work, hospitality, warehouse shifts, construction, they all carry cover, and casual or one-shift work counts.

An employer who tells a backpacker “you’re on a visa, so you’re not covered” is wrong. I was counsel in Westrupp v BIS Industries [2015] FCAFC 173, the case that confirmed workers compensation coverage for fly-in fly-out workers. Plenty of visa holders end up in regional and resource jobs, and the same protections reach them.

Report it to your employer as soon as you can, then lodge a workers compensation claim with the insurer. Don’t wait. WorkCover WA, the scheme regulator, confirms the cover reaches casual and seasonal workers, not just full-time staff. A serious work injury can also support a separate common law claim if your employer was negligent.

How long do you have to claim in 2026?

The main deadline is three years. Under WA’s Limitation Act 2005, most personal injury court claims must start within three years of the accident. Flying home does not pause that clock, and it does not cancel your claim.

Two things trip visitors up. First, for road crashes, ICWA wants you to report the accident and lodge a Notice of Intention to Make a Claim as soon as you can. Leave that longer than about six months and you’ll have to explain the delay. A late notice isn’t automatically fatal, because ICWA has to show it was actually prejudiced, but you don’t want that fight if you can avoid it. Second, workers compensation has its own early reporting steps, separate from the three-year court limit. Our rundown of injury claim time limits sets them side by side.

Claim type	Key deadline	Watch out for
Road injury	3 years to start court action	ICWA notice, aim within about 6 months
Public liability	3 years to start court action	Get the incident report before you leave
Workers compensation	Report early, then claim	Separate reporting rules apply

Under 15s and some younger claimants get longer, so a child hurt on a family trip may have more time than three years.

What visitors can be paid

Compensation covers your money losses and your non-money losses. The same framework applies to visitors and locals.

Money losses include private medical bills, which matter here because you have no Medicare. Emergency care, scans, surgery, and specialist visits all cost more at private rates, and one hospital admission can run into thousands of dollars. Keep every receipt and report. Those costs are recoverable in a successful claim. You can also claim lost income, including income you lose back home if the injury stops you working there, plus extra travel and accommodation your injury forces on you or your family.

Non-money losses are where WA surprises people. Pain and suffering compensation exists, but WA sets a threshold for road-injury general damages, indexed each year by ICWA. If your pain and suffering is assessed below that floor, you get nothing for it, and a partial amount applies just above the floor. Many minor tourist injuries never clear it. So the line you’ll read elsewhere, that you can always claim for pain and suffering, is wrong in WA. Serious and catastrophic injuries clear the threshold easily and can attract large awards.

Running your claim from overseas

You do not have to stay in Perth. I run claims for clients who flew home weeks after their accident. Video calls, secure document upload, and email keep it moving, and a matter often takes months, so there’s no reason to sit in a hotel waiting.

A power of attorney lets us act for you from here, sign documents, and settle, without you flying back. Get your medical records and reports before you leave, because chasing them from another country is slow and costly. If you need an interpreter or certified translations of home-country documents, we arrange that too.

What it costs to hire us

No legal fees up front. We act on a no win no fee basis, so you only pay legal fees if your claim succeeds. On a win, we pursue party-and-party costs from the insurer, which covers most of your legal costs. Your first consultation is free, and if you don’t proceed, there’s no charge.

We also do home and hospital visits for clients who can’t travel to us, and you deal directly with a qualified lawyer, not a case number.

Start before you fly home

If you take one thing from this: get advice before you leave WA. Compensation for international visitors is real, and WA law gives you clear rights, but WA’s fault rules, the ICWA notice step, and the pain-and-suffering threshold all reward early action. Preserve your evidence, get your records, and lodge what needs lodging while you’re still here. Then, if you go home, we carry the claim from Perth.

Talk to a Perth injury lawyer before you leave. You can reach Soul Legal on (08) 6558 1786, or contact our team for a free, no-obligation review of your circumstances.

Frequently asked questions

Can international visitors claim accident compensation in WA?

Yes. Tourists, working holiday makers, and temporary visa holders have the same right to accident compensation as WA residents. You do not need to be a citizen or resident. The main requirement is proving another party was at fault, because WA is a fault-based state.

Is motor injury insurance in WA no-fault?

No, not for ordinary injuries. Unlike Victoria’s TAC or New South Wales CTP, WA requires you to prove another driver was at fault. The only no-fault path is the Catastrophic Injuries Support Scheme, which covers five serious injury types from a motor vehicle accident and has applied since 1 July 2016.

How long do I have to make a claim if I fly home?

Most personal injury claims must start within three years of the accident under WA’s Limitation Act 2005, and leaving Australia does not pause that. For road crashes, you should also lodge a Notice of Intention with ICWA early, ideally within about six months.

Can I run my WA accident claim from overseas?

Yes. Claims can be run by video call, email, and secure document upload, and a power of attorney lets your Perth lawyer act, sign, and settle without you returning. Get copies of your medical records before you leave WA, as they are harder to obtain from abroad.

Will I get pain and suffering compensation for a minor injury?

Maybe not. WA applies an annually indexed threshold to pain and suffering for road injuries, and if your general damages fall below it, you receive nothing for pain and suffering. Serious injuries clear the threshold and can attract large awards.

Can working holiday visa holders claim workers compensation in WA?

Yes. WA workers compensation covers workers regardless of visa status, including casual and short-term jobs in farming, hospitality, and construction. An employer who denies cover because of your visa is acting unlawfully.

What does a lawyer cost for accident compensation as an international visitor in WA?

Soul Legal acts on a no win no fee basis, so you pay legal fees only if your claim succeeds, and the first consultation is free. On a successful claim, we pursue party-and-party costs from the insurer, which covers the majority of your legal costs.

Disclaimer: This article is general information about Western Australian law, current as at August 2026. It is not legal advice, and no result is guaranteed. For advice about your own situation, speak with a qualified WA personal injury lawyer.