Work accidents · Contractors
Contractor injury claims in Queensland, whether you were a deemed worker or a genuine independent contractor.
A contractor injury sits at the seam between the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, the PIPA negligence regime, and your own insurance arrangements. Whether you can run a statutory WorkCover claim, a common-law claim against the principal, or both depends on how you were engaged and who controlled the work — the same analysis we apply across every Queensland workers compensation matter.
- No-obligation first consultation
- No win, no fee*
- We set out our costs in writing at the start.
Your time limits
Queensland law- 6 monthsLodge your WorkCover application
- 20 business daysWorkCover decides
- 3 yearsStart court proceedings for damages
Two claims, one team
WorkCover supports your recovery. We investigate any damages claim early.
Accepted statutory claims pay benefits during recovery. We investigate any employer or third-party negligence claim alongside them.
Statutory
WorkCover claim
No fault to prove.
- Weekly payments while you can’t work
- Medical, hospital and rehabilitation costs
- A lump sum if you’re left with a permanent impairment
Lodge within 6 months. The insurer aims to decide within 20 business days.
Common law
Damages claim
Negligence has to be shown.
- Pain and suffering, on Queensland’s injury scale
- Past and future lost earnings and super
- Care, future treatment and out-of-pocket costs
Notice of Claim for Damages, a compulsory conference, and court within 3 years if needed.
The Notice of Assessment
The Notice of Assessment is where the claims can split.
Don’t sign a lump sum offer before advice.
Once your injury stabilises, WorkCover assesses your permanent impairment and may offer a lump sum. What you can do next depends on the rating.
- Under 20%Taking the lump sum ends your right to claim damages against your employer. The choice can’t be undone.
- 20% or moreYou can take the lump sum and still claim damages.
- 20 business daysTo dispute the impairment rating if you think it’s wrong.
How it happened
The contractor injury claims we run in Queensland.
You'll probably recognise yours below. Each one usually opens a question about who counted as your employer and who controlled the system of work, because contractor files turn on those answers.
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You were told you were a contractor, but you worked like an employee.
Set hours, a uniform or PPE supplied, equipment supplied, no real ability to delegate, paid by the hour. The Act looks at substance, not labels. Where the relationship was really one of employment, WorkCover cover may still apply. We work that out before any election is made.
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You were injured on a principal's site that ran an unsafe system of work.
The site induction, the plan, the supervision or the equipment was not safe. The principal contractor or head contractor had control of the system. A common-law claim runs against the controller of the work, not just the person who hired you, under the Civil Liability Act and the Work Health and Safety Act.
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Your own contractor insurance has refused or delayed.
Personal-accident or income-protection cover bought as part of the contractor package has come back rejected or with a low offer. Cover terms, occupation definitions and notification clauses are the battleground. We read the policy in light of your actual injury and run the dispute.
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You have a psychiatric injury from the way the work was run.
Bullying from the principal’s site team, traumatic exposure on the job, or unsafe expectations that broke you down. Psychiatric injury is compensable whether the source is your engager or the controller of the work. We assess WorkCover, common-law and policy avenues together.
Straight after the injury
Four things to do straight away.
Report it
Tell your employer, and make sure it’s written in the register of injuries.
See a doctor
Ask for a work capacity certificate. You need one to lodge your WorkCover claim.
Lodge within 6 months
Your WorkCover application, from when your entitlement arises.
Keep records
Photos of the site and injury, witness names, pay slips and receipts.
Time limits
Five time limits that decide what you can claim.
Miss the first one and the WorkCover claim can be refused. Miss the last and the damages claim is gone.
- 6 monthsLodge your WorkCover applicationWithin 6 months after your entitlement to compensation arises, usually when a doctor first assesses the injury.
- 20 business daysWorkCover decidesThe insurer aims to decide your application within this period after it is lodged.
- 3 monthsReview a rejected claimApply to the Workers’ Compensation Regulator for a review of the decision.
- 20 business daysDispute your impairment ratingAfter your Notice of Assessment arrives, if you think the rating is wrong.
- 3 yearsStart court proceedings for damagesFrom the date of the injury, after the pre-court steps. Start early: those steps take time.
What you can claim
Two claims cover different losses.
What WorkCover pays
- Weekly payments while you can’t work
- Medical, hospital and pharmacy costs
- Rehabilitation and return-to-work support
- Travel for treatment
- A lump sum for permanent impairment
- Death benefits for dependants
What a damages claim covers
- Pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life
- Past and future loss of earnings
- Lost superannuation
- Paid care and assistance
- Future treatment and out-of-pocket costs
- Interest on past losses
Statutory limits apply to damages, and WorkCover benefits already paid are refunded from them.
How we run your claims
Five steps. Both claims. One team.
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Step 1
No-obligation first consultation
We check whether one or both claims apply, and what each is likely to cover. -
Step 2
WorkCover application
Lodged with your medical certificate, well inside the 6 months. -
Step 3
Damages case built early
Site evidence, witnesses, engineering and medical reports, while WorkCover runs. -
Step 4
Notice of Assessment
We compare the lump sum with your damages claim before you choose. -
Step 5
Conference, then court if needed
Many claims resolve at the compulsory conference. If not, court proceedings start within the 3 years.
Costs
What it costs you.
No win, no fee* on damages claims
If your damages claim doesn’t succeed, you pay no professional fees for our work. You may still have to pay outlays, such as report and court fees, if your costs agreement says so. 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. We explain this in writing before you sign.
No-obligation first consultation
You decide whether to go ahead once you know your options and the likely costs.
Everything in writing
Fees and outlays for each claim are set out in a costs agreement before we start.
Capped at 50%
Our professional fees are capped at 50% of what you recover, after refunds and outlays (Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) s 347).
Questions
Straight answers.
Six months from the day you became aware of the injury (WCRA s 131). Late lodgement can sometimes be accepted, but it’s not the position you want to be in. Call us. We can lodge it the same week.
Yes, that’s how the scheme works; WorkCover notifies your employer. But your employer cannot punish you for it. Adverse action against you is unlawful under the Fair Work Act and the WCRA, and we run those proceedings if it happens.
It depends on how you were engaged. If you are a deemed worker under the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, you run the WorkCover route and the formal election sits at the Notice of Assessment. If you are a genuine independent contractor, you pursue a common-law claim against the principal or occupier who controlled the work, under the PIPA regime. Either way we start investigating from day one, because evidence at the scene disappears within weeks.
Eighteen months at the fast end, thirty-six months at the realistic end. The biggest variable is how long your injury takes to stabilise, because we can’t quantify damages until your medical picture is settled. Most claims settle at the compulsory conference without a trial.
Our professional fees on the common-law claim are payable only if we recover damages for you. Whether outlays (medical reports, expert opinions, court filing fees) are payable if the claim doesn’t succeed depends on your costs agreement. Our professional fees are capped at 50% of what you recover, after refunds and outlays (Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) s 347), and you see the numbers in writing before we start.
Funds are held in trust then transferred to your nominated bank account. We refund any Centrelink or Medicare advances that need to come out. The matter closes, there is nothing more for you to do.
Guides that go further.
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Guide
Labour Hire Workers’ Compensation in Queensland: Casuals, ABN Workers and Suing the Host
Labour hire workers compensation in Queensland: the agency’s WorkCover claim, suing the host business, casual weekly pay, ABN contractors and time limits.
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Gig workers
Gig Economy Injuries: Are Uber Drivers and Delivery Workers Covered?
Why most rideshare and delivery workers fall outside WorkCover, the other insurance that may respond, and how employment status can change that.
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WorkCover
What to do when you’ve been injured at work?
The first steps after a workplace injury, what WorkCover pays, and the six-month and three-year time limits.
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Time limits
Time Limits for Workers’ Compensation Claims in Queensland
Six months to lodge a WorkCover claim, three years for common law damages, and the exceptions that can extend them.
Hurt at work?
Talk to a lawyer before you sign anything WorkCover sends you. There’s no obligation to go ahead.
General information only, not legal advice about your situation. No win, no fee* applies to damages claims: if the claim doesn’t succeed, you pay no professional fees; whether outlays are payable depends on your costs 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.