Permanent impairment

A lump sum payment for permanent impairment is in addition to the weekly payments, medical and related expenses generally available through the workers compensation system. The payments you receive may vary based on your particular circumstances.

Eligibility

Claims for lump sum compensation for injuries occurring on or after 1 January 2002 are based on an assessment of your permanent impairment.

If your claim for lump sum compensation was made on or after 19 June 2012, you must have:

• 11% or more permanent impairment for a physical injury or
• 15% or more permanent impairment for a primary psychological injury to be entitled to receive permanent impairment compensation.

Permanent impairment compensation is not available for secondary psychological injuries.

You may only make one claim for permanent impairment compensation per injury, though if you made a claim for permanent impairment before 19 June 2012 and your condition has deteriorated, you may be entitled to make one further lump sum compensation claim.

Assessment of permanent impairment

A medical specialist listed on the SIRA website as a trained assessor of permanent impairment must assess the degree of impairment. To undergo an assessment, your injury must have reached maximum medical improvement, meaning your condition has stabilised and is unlikely to change substantially in the next year with or without treatment. If you are unsure if you have reached maximum medical improvement, speak with your treating doctor or specialist.

Making a claim

You must complete a permanent impairment claim form unless your claim for weekly and other payments included a claim for lump sum compensation for permanent impairment. The form provides details of the information that must be supplied when making a claim. You can learn more about making a claim for permanent impairment in the workers compensation claims management guide.

The insurer’s role in determining liability

Once the insurer receives the claim for lump sum compensation for permanent impairment, they have one month to either accept liability and make a reasonable offer of settlement or dispute liability.

If the insurer requires further relevant information about the claim, the timeframe may be extended. The insurer must, within 2 weeks of receiving the claim:

• ask you to supply this information and/or
• make arrangements for a permanent impairment assessor to examine you.

The insurer then has 2 months after you provide the additional information or attend the medical examination to make an offer of settlement or dispute liability.

Complying agreement

A complying agreement is a written agreement between you and the insurer regarding the assessed level of permanent impairment, which may result in a lump sum payment. The insurer must be satisfied that you have either obtained independent legal advice or waived that right before entering into the complying agreement. Additionally, the insurer must record whether or not independent legal advice was obtained in the agreement.

Disputes

If there’s a dispute about permanent impairment, refer to our workers compensation disputes section for more information.