Medical negligence compensation · Queensland
Medical mistake? Here’s how a claim works.
A missed diagnosis, a surgical error, a medication mistake or harm in hospital: Queensland law gives you a path, but medical claims have their own notice steps and need an independent expert’s opinion.
The clock starts with the treatment, or your first symptoms
Queensland time limits · not to scale · different rules apply to children
- Day 0 The treatment Or the day symptoms first appeared. Note dates, names and what you were told.
- 9 months Initial notice Give the provider an initial notice, or within 1 month of instructing a lawyer once the provider is identified, if earlier.
- +1 monthTheir step Your records arrive The provider must send your records within 1 month of receiving the initial notice.
- +12 months Part 1 notice & expert report Serve Part 1 with an independent expert’s report within 12 months of getting the records.
- 3 years Court proceedings Proceedings must start within 3 years, unless a court extends time (LAA s 31).
- 9 months for the initial notice
- No-obligation first consultation
- No win, no fee*
- We set out our costs in writing at the start.
Claim types
Medical claims we handle
Nineteen kinds of medical claim, against hospitals, GPs, specialists, surgeons, pharmacists and cosmetic providers.
Searches 19 claim pages
Nothing here matches that. It may still be a claim: call 1300 529 529 and tell us what happened.
- Emergency department Triage, assessment and treatment failures in emergency.
- Obstetrics & gynaecology Injuries from pregnancy care and gynaecological procedures.
- Spinal surgery injuries Wrong-level surgery and nerve damage during spinal procedures.
- Upper limb injuries Shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand procedures that went wrong.
- Bowel & colorectal cancer A positive screening test never actioned, or symptoms not investigated.
- Orthopaedic surgery errors Hip, knee and joint procedures, including wrong-site surgery.
- Pharmacy & medication errors The wrong drug or dose, and missed interaction or allergy checks.
- Cosmetic surgery negligence Surgical, injectable and laser procedures by surgeons, GPs and nurses.
- Birth injuries Harm to mother or baby during labour, delivery or just after birth.
- Surgical anaesthesia errors Missed pre-operative risks, and the wrong drug or dose.
- Wound infections Poor technique, missed antibiotics or infections not picked up in time.
- Laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery Bowel, bladder and blood vessel injuries during keyhole surgery.
- Cervical cancer Missed or delayed diagnosis, and screening results not followed up.
- Breast cancer Missed lumps, misread imaging and delayed referral.
- Bariatric surgery injuries Weight-loss surgery injuries, including leaks not picked up in time.
- Hospital negligence Falls, pressure injuries, missed deterioration and system failures.
- Failure to warn A complication you were never warned about.
- Misdiagnosis A condition missed, diagnosed late or diagnosed wrongly.
- Other medical negligence Treatment that fell below the standard expected in Australia.
Our approach
Two tracks for every medical claim
The PIPA track gets the claim to the provider: an initial notice, your records, then a Part 1 notice backed by an independent expert. The Civil Liability Act track puts a value on it: general damages on the ISV scale, plus treatment, lost income, care and out-of-pocket costs. We run both from the first call.
- 01An independent expert in the right specialty before any claim is made
- 02Your records, imaging and pathology collected for you
- 03Hospital, GP, specialist, pharmacy and cosmetic claims
- 04A complaint to AHPRA or the Health Ombudsman can run alongside
- 05You deal directly with your lawyer
The law
How negligence is proved
A bad result isn’t enough on its own. Under Queensland’s Civil Liability Act, a claim has to clear four steps, and an independent expert has to support it.
- Duty of careDuty Doctors, nurses, hospitals and pharmacists all owe their patients a duty of care. This step is rarely in dispute.
- Standard of careBreach For diagnosis and treatment, widely accepted competent practice can be a defence unless that opinion is irrational or unlawful (s 22). Risk warnings are assessed separately. An independent expert tests the care provided.
- Duty to warnBreach Doctors must warn of risks a reasonable person, or you in particular, would want to know about. The peer-opinion test doesn’t apply to warnings (s 21).
- CausationCausation The breach must have caused the harm. With a late diagnosis, the question is what an earlier diagnosis would have changed.
Compensation
What you can claim
What your claim can include. Each head is valued separately.
Our process
From first call to final settlement
- No obligation First call & triage We hear what happened, identify the providers involved and explain the notice steps.
- After initial notice Records & expert opinion We collect your records, imaging and pathology, and brief an independent expert in the right specialty.
- Within 12 months PIPA notice & response We serve Part 1 on the providers, exchange material and attend the compulsory conference.
- Conference or court Damages & settlement We pair the medical opinion with an economic-loss opinion, value the claim on the ISV scale and negotiate, or go to court.
FAQ
Common questions
The Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) sets a three-year clock from the date of the injury, though under s 31 the Court can extend that period where a material fact of a decisive character emerged within the last year. Children, and persons under a legal disability, have separate rules. The Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) also imposes its own notice deadlines – get a file open early so neither clock catches you.
General damages (pain, suffering, loss of amenity) are scaled against the Injury Scale Value tables in the Civil Liability Regulation 2025 (Qld) – a number from 0 to 100, mapped to a dollar figure each financial year. On top of that the file recovers past and future treatment costs, past and future economic loss, paid and gratuitous care, and out-of-pockets. We brief the medical and economic experts so the figures hold up.
The regulator track and the civil claim are separate. A complaint to AHPRA or the Office of the Health Ombudsman can run alongside the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) file – it does not slow the claim, and it sometimes helps the conduct evidence. We will set out both options at the first call and let you choose.
There is no obligation after the first call. If we take on your claim, it runs on a no-win, no-fee* basis, and the costs agreement is in writing before any work starts. Whether outlays such as medical reports and court fees are payable depends on that agreement. If a court case is lost or withdrawn, or you don’t do better than an offer the other side made, you may have to pay the other side’s legal costs.
Not sure if it was negligence? Ask us.
In your first consultation, we’ll tell you what the next step is. There’s no obligation to go ahead.