COMCARE COMPENSATION
COMCARE - INJURY COMPENSATION SCHEME
What is Comcare?
Comcare is a national compensation scheme that stands in place of State based workers compensation. All Commonwealth employees are covered by Comcare as well as a select number of employers who have been permitted to sign-up to the scheme.
If you are unsure if your employer has signed up to Comcare, please check the list of employers that have here.
Comcare is a ‘no fault’ scheme which means if you have suffered an injury at work you are entitled to make a Comcare claim and you do not need to show that the injury was caused by your employer’s fault.
Mr Wolf Legal practice in all areas of Comcare. If you have a query in respect of your Comcare entitlements, please contact us for advice.
Making a Comcare Claim
In order to have an accepted Comcare claim you must have an injury which has arisen out of or in the course of employment. The injury must not have been intentionally caused by you and it must not have been the result of serious and wilful misconduct. If you have suffered a mental health injury you will not be entitled to the protection of a Comcare claim if your injury is deemed to have been the result of reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner.
A claim form can be completed online however we recommend that you download the form and then complete the details and obtain legal advice prior to submitting the claim form. The PDF claim form can be accessed on the Comcare website.
If your claim is for a mental health injury you are also required to provide a statement detailing the cause of the mental health injury. When completing this statement be mindful that injuries deemed to be the result of reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner will be disentitled to the protection of Comcare. For this reason, we recommend that you draft the statement and then contact our office for advice. We are happy to assist in the completion of your claim form. We will not charge you for this advice.
A Comcare claim must be submitted with a certificate from your treating medical practitioner. The certificate is in a prescribed form and your doctor will have access to this certificate. We recommend that you take your drafted claim form to your doctor to ensure that they agree with what is written and you then submit the claim with the certificate. It is important that your doctor is 100% on your side. Once your claim is submitted there is no time period in which Comcare must determine your claim. This can be very difficult. To assist Comcare to determine your claim quickly we recommend that when you lodge your claim you provide as much supportive medical material as you can. It is a good idea to speak with your doctor and ask them to provide you with a note detailing (1) diagnosis, (2) the relationship of your injury to employment and (3) your capacity for work. The claim form and certificate and any supportive material should then be submitted to your employer.
If you lodge your claim and it is denied you only have 30 days to challenge the denial. If this has happened please contact us for advice and we will then manage the review process for you.
What are the benefits of a Comcare claim?
If you have an accepted claim you are entitled to the following benefits:
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A weekly payment reflective of your ordinary earnings prior to injury. The payment is called Normal Weekly Earnings. For the first 45 weeks your NWE are paid at 100% and thereafter, ceasing at retirement age, they reduce to 75%. You must continue submitting certificates in order to receive payment.
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Medical and like expenses; and
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A once off permanent impairment payment if you are assessed as having a minimum impairment of 10% or more (this does not apply to hearing loss claims).
If you wish to sue your employer for negligence and your employer is covered by Comcare, you must first make an impairment claim, rate 10% or more, elect not to receive that payment and then issue Court proceedings. Any compensation you recover is limited to $110,000 for pain and suffering only. You are not entitled to seek compensation for your economic loss. You have 3 years to make the claim from the date of the election not to receive your permanent impairment payment. These restrictions mean that it is ordinarily more financially viable to receive the impairment payment and not proceed to a common law claim. If you are unsure what you want to do we recommend you contact us for advice.