FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Workers Compensation for Stress and Mental Health Injuries in WA
In Western Australia, you can make a workers compensation claim if you suffer from stress, anxiety, depression, or another mental illness that has been significantly caused by specific work-related actions, events, or exposures.
There are some exclusions. If your stress injury comes wholly or mainly from certain industrial actions taken by your employer, and those actions are not considered harsh or unreasonable, your claim may not be covered.
Safe Work Australia lists a number of common causes of work-related stress and mental illness, including:
- Work pressure: Stress caused by heavy workloads, tight deadlines, organisational restructuring, conflicts at work, or issues around performance and promotion.
- Workplace harassment and bullying: Repeated physical assault or threats of assault by a colleague or colleagues, or ongoing verbal abuse, threats, and harassment.
- Workplace or occupational violence: Being assaulted by someone who may or may not be a colleague, or being a victim of or witnessing events such as robberies, hold-ups, or other violent incidents.
- Exposure to a traumatic event: Psychological injury from witnessing a fatal incident or other serious event at work.
- Other harassment: Being the victim of sexual or racial harassment by any person, including work colleagues.
To make a claim, you need to have a recognised psychiatric injury. In simple terms, if you have seen a GP, psychologist, or psychiatrist about work-related stress or mental health issues and have been certified unfit for work, you may be able to claim. If you’re unsure whether your situation qualifies, Soul Legal offers a No Win, No Fee arrangement on meritorious claims, so you can get legal advice without the worry of upfront costs.
If your workers compensation claim is accepted by the insurer, you may be entitled to compensation for loss of wages, permanent impairment, and treatment expenses.
Permanent Impairment
This is assessed using guides published by WorkCover WA. Once you have reached maximum medical improvement, a WorkCover approved doctor can assess your level of permanent impairment. Your entitlements are then calculated using a table in the legislation known as the “Second Schedule.”
Loss of Wages
If you are unfit for work because of your injury or illness, you are entitled to weekly compensation payments on your usual pay days. Your employer can be penalised if they do not make these payments in line with your normal wage payment process.
Unless you are covered by an award, your wages will usually be reduced to 85% after the 13th week following your injury, subject to a cap. The maximum amount of weekly payments you can receive for loss of earnings is called the “prescribed amount.” In special circumstances, if you are unable to return to work, these payments can be extended.
Treatment Expenses
You are entitled to be compensated for reasonable medical and rehabilitation expenses, as well as other costs such as travel and accommodation.
Medical and rehabilitation expenses that can be claimed include:
- First aid, paramedic, and ambulance costs
- Medication and prescriptions
- Medical or surgical treatment
- Nursing services
- X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds
- Medical aids and equipment
- Treatment by medical or rehabilitation specialists
- Dental treatment
- Physiotherapy services
- Chiropractic services
- Other treatments, including occupational therapy, speech pathology, exercise physiology, osteopathy, and clinical psychology
You have the right to choose your own medical and rehabilitation providers. There are caps under the legislation on funding for treatment and rehabilitation.
Travel and accommodation expenses that can be claimed include:
- Travel costs when you are required by a medical practitioner, your employer, or their insurer to attend a medical or rehabilitation appointment.
- Reasonable accommodation and meal expenses if you need to travel long distances to receive treatment or rehabilitation.
If you’re unsure what you’re entitled to, Soul Legal can assess your claim and advise you on the full range of compensation available. As a firm on the Legal Aid Panel, we can also help cover the cost of disbursements like medical reports if you’re unable to meet those expenses during the claims process.
Lodge your claim within 12 months of the date of accident.
There are a number of important deadlines you must meet in order to successfully make a workers compensation or common law claim. Missing these dates can seriously affect your rights.
If a workers compensation claim is lodged with your employer more than one year after the date of accident, the insurer may be able to deny your claim if they can show they were materially prejudiced by the delay.
Termination Date Time Limits
To protect your common law rights, you must obtain a whole person impairment assessment from a WorkCover Approved Medical Specialist and file an election before a 12-month termination date expires. In most cases where the insurer has accepted workers compensation liability, this 12-month period starts from the date your claim for weekly payments was lodged. Extensions are only possible if strict legal requirements are met, and any application to extend should be made before the deadline passes.
We strongly recommend that you contact Soul Legal well before the termination date expires. Failing to act in time may result in the permanent loss of your common law rights and entitlements. If you intend to make a claim, getting legal advice as soon as possible is essential.
There is also usually a three-year statute of limitation for common law claims involving third parties. This three-year period runs from the date of the accident.
The legislation provides a broad definition of the term ‘injury’ and includes easily identifiable work accidents, illnesses that developed over time or an aggravation or exacerbation of a pre-existing medical condition. This means that you do not necessarily have to prove a specific accident to make a claim for workers’ compensation. It is not uncommon to have a claim arising from symptoms that have developed gradually over a period in employment from repeated exposure or activity (eg. repeated daily lifting of heavy machinery or equipment).
A workers’ compensation claim is usually made by:
Seeking medical attention and notifying your employer that you have suffered a work related injury or illness;
Visiting a medical practitioner of your choosing to obtain a first certificate of capacity;
Completing the Workers’ Compensation Claim Form (please get in touch if you need assistance completing this form);
Copying your completed forms and giving your employer the originals;
Your employer then has 5 days to lodge your workers’ compensation claim application with their insurer; and
The insurer has 14 days to process your claim and confirm whether it has been accepted, disputed or pended.
Personal injury law claims in WA are predominately settled by negotiation. This is an adversarial system where the insurer is under no obligation to provide you with a particular or equitable level of compensation. Most insurers will appoint legal representatives to negotiate on their behalf and given that this is a specialist and highly technical area of the law you place yourself at a disadvantage if you do not have legal representation. If you need assistance or support with any of these steps please get in touch with Soul Legal.