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Personal injury lawyers · Gold Coast
Personal injury lawyers for the Gold Coast
Injured on the Gold Coast? You don’t need a local shopfront.
We don’t have a Gold Coast office, and it doesn’t change your claim. Queensland’s compensation schemes each set their own deadlines. Some notices fall due within months; a lawyer-related deadline can be as short as one month.
Start your case reviewCall 1300 529 529
No-obligation first consultation. We will be in touch within 1–3 business days.
The clock started on the day
- Day 0The injury
- 1 monthLawyer-related noticeCTP: first consultation; PIPA: instructions and respondent identified
- 6 monthsWorkCover claimUsually from the first medical assessment
- 9 monthsCTP notice / PIPA first noticeFrom the accident or incident
- 3 yearsCourt proceedingsLimitation of Actions Act 1974, s 11
Which clock is yours?
Where you were hurt decides the clock
Queensland has three compensation schemes. Pick where it happened.
Each ring is the three-year limit to start court proceedings. The coloured part is how much of it you have to give notice.
Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld)
The CTP scheme
Every registered vehicle carries compulsory third party insurance. A Notice of Accident Claim Form goes to the at-fault vehicle’s CTP insurer — not to the driver, and not to your own insurer.
9 months: Notice of Accident Claim Form to the CTP insurer, from the date of the accident — or one month after you first see a lawyer, if that is sooner.
Do this now
- Report the accident to police, and note the other vehicle’s registration.
- The Notice of Accident Claim Form goes to the CTP insurer — we prepare it with you.
- Keep every treatment record and receipt from the first day.
Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld)
WorkCover, then common law
The statutory claim pays weekly benefits and treatment regardless of fault. A common law claim against a negligent employer is a second, separate claim — one is not a substitute for the other.
6 months: WorkCover statutory claim, from when entitlement arises — usually the first medical assessment.
Do this now
- Tell your employer in writing, and keep a copy.
- Lodge the WorkCover claim — your doctor’s certificate goes with it.
- Ask us about a common law claim before you accept any lump sum.
Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld), ss 9, 9A
PIPA
Shops, footpaths, rented properties and sporting venues use PIPA Part 1. Medical negligence starts with an initial notice, followed by Part 1 and an expert report.
9 months: Part 1 for public liability, or the initial medical notice: within nine months, or one month after instructing a lawyer and identifying the respondent, if earlier. Medical Part 1 is due within 12 months after the required initial-notice response and records are provided.
Do this now
- Report it to the occupier, and ask for a copy of the incident book entry.
- Ask for the CCTV in writing, early — it is often overwritten within weeks.
- The Notice of Claim goes to whoever is responsible — we prepare it with you.
Two clocks at once. A courier hit by a car while working has a CTP claim and a WorkCover claim at the same time, with two sets of deadlines running.
Ask which applyThe first weeks
What to do, and when
Claims are built from records, and records are easiest to get while they are current.
Today
Get treated, and let the doctor write it downThe record made on the day is worth more than anything you remember a year later. Tell the doctor everything that hurts, not only the worst of it.
This week
Report it to whoever needs to knowA road accident to police. A work injury to your employer in writing, and to WorkCover. An injury in a shop, car park or rented property to the occupier — ask for a copy of the incident book entry.
Photograph what won’t be there next weekThe wet floor, the missing handrail, the pothole, the vehicle damage, and the injury itself. CCTV is often overwritten within weeks, so ask for it in writing early.
While you recover
Keep the receipts and the daysMedication, travel to appointments, equipment, and every day you could not work. Care given free by family can be claimed in its own right.
Before you sign anything
Don’t settle anything on the phoneAn early offer is made before anyone knows what the injury will cost, and a settlement can’t be reopened. You don’t have to give an insurer a recorded statement before you have advice.
In this region
How a Gold Coast claim is run
The Acts, the deadlines and the insurers are the same across Queensland. Here is where a Gold Coast claim actually happens.
Where it is heard
District and Magistrates Court matters on the Gold Coast are heard at the Southport Courthouse, on the corner of Davenport and Hinze Streets. Most claims settle well before a court is involved.
Where proceedings are filed is decided with you.
Where the evidence comes from
Gold Coast University Hospital at Southport is one of Queensland’s adult major trauma centres. For a serious injury on the coast, the records that decide the claim are usually held there or at Robina Hospital.
We request the records; you don’t have to.
Where it is settled
Most claims resolve at a compulsory conference rather than at trial. We attend with you wherever it is held, and prepare every file as though it will go further.
You won’t be in that room alone.
How you meet us
We don’t have a Gold Coast office. It doesn’t change your claim.
What decides a claim is which schemes were identified, whether the notices went in on time, and how good the medical evidence is. None of those depends on a shopfront.
- Phone or video firstThe first conversation is by phone or video, at a time that suits you, with no obligation to go ahead.
- Meet somewhere closerIf you’d rather meet in person, we arrange it — at one of our offices or somewhere closer to you.
- Your appointments stay localIndependent medical examinations are arranged with practitioners you can reach. Where a specialty means travelling, it is arranged around you.
We act across the Gold Coast
Not every suburb is listed. If yours isn’t, call anyway.
North
- Coomera
- Pimpama
- Oxenford
- Helensvale
- Hope Island
- Runaway Bay
Central
- Southport
- Surfers Paradise
- Broadbeach
- Ashmore
- Benowa
- Nerang
South and hinterland
- Robina
- Varsity Lakes
- Burleigh Heads
- Palm Beach
- Coolangatta
- Mudgeeraba
How we run a claim
Five things we do on every file, in this order
Step 1
Work out which schemes apply, first
An accident that looks like one claim is often two.
Step 2
Give every notice inside time, early
A late notice can end a claim that was otherwise strong.
Step 3
Wait for the medical evidence before valuing anything
A claim settled before the specialists have given a final opinion can’t be reopened.
Step 4
Prepare every file as though it will be heard
Most claims resolve at a compulsory conference. The ones that resolve well were ready to go further.
Step 5
You deal with the person running the file
Not a case number and not a call centre.
What a claim is worth
Compensation is not one number
There is no average payout. Two people with the same injury can recover very different amounts, because the difference sits in the economic loss.
01
General damages
Pain, suffering and loss of amenitySet by statute in Queensland. The injury is matched to a category in Schedule 3 of the Civil Liability Regulation and given an Injury Scale Value between 0 and 100, which converts to a dollar figure.
02
Economic loss
Usually the part that matters mostPast lost earnings, superannuation and future loss of earning capacity. It turns on evidence: what you earned, what you can still do, and what the medical evidence says about the years ahead.
03
Treatment and care
Past and future, both claimableSurgery, rehabilitation, medication, aids and equipment, and the care you need — including care given free by family, which is often left out of claims run without a lawyer.
Your claimEach part proved on its own evidence, then added up.
Want a starting range? The claim estimator asks about your injury and your work, then shows a low–high range.
Try the claim estimatorQuestions
What people ask us first
Do I need a lawyer with a Gold Coast office?
No. A Queensland injury claim runs under the same Acts and, if it is ever litigated, in the same court system wherever the file sits. The first conversation is by phone or video, and if you’d rather meet in person we arrange it.
I was partly at fault. Can I still claim?
Usually, yes. Queensland reduces an award for contributory negligence rather than refusing it, so your share of the responsibility comes off the figure instead of ending the claim. The insurer’s first view of your share is an opening position, not a finding.
The insurer has already offered me something. Should I take it?
Not before the medical evidence is finished. An early offer is made while the cost of the injury is still unknown, and a settlement can’t be reopened. Ask us what the offer leaves out — with no obligation to go ahead.
How long does a claim take?
Most resolve within one to two years, because a claim can’t be valued until the treating specialists say the injury has stabilised. A full recovery is quicker; surgery or a permanent restriction takes longer.
Do I have to go to court?
Almost certainly not. Queensland requires a compulsory conference before proceedings are started, and most claims resolve there or shortly after.
Case review
Injured on the Gold Coast? Tell us what happened.
The notice period is already running. A lawyer reads every enquiry.
No-obligation first consultation. We will be in touch within 1–3 business days.