To make a successful psychological injury claim and get lump sum compensation, you must:
- Understand the steps
- The required medical evidence required
- The Legal considerations
- Including how to prove psychological injury
This guide provides practical advice on gathering essential documentation, meeting legal requirements, and working through the claims process.
About Psychological Injury Claims
Claims for psychological injuries cover emotional, cognitive, and behavioural symptoms brought on by your job or connected to a physical injury from an accident. Numerous circumstances can lead to this kind of personal injury claim, including:
- Workplace bullying
- Traumatic events like a car accident
- Mental stress and other mental injuries
Unlike physical injuries, psychological injuries often require a nuanced approach to diagnosis and treatment, making the claims process more complex.
The Impact of Mental Illness
In Australia, psychological injuries often trigger serious and long-term mental health problems, such as:
- Severe Depression
- Anxiety disorders
- Bipolar disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and others
Sadly, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that 1 in 5 Australians experienced a psychological or psychiatric disorder in the past 12 months.
The impact on your health, everyday life, and ability to perform work duties is well-known to those who are living with a mental health condition. Knowing when and how to make a psychological injury compensation claim requires a clear understanding of the various scenarios that qualify for lump sum payments.
Common Causes of Psychological Injury Claims
Common causes of psychological injury claims include:
- Work-related bullying and harassment
- Stress-related illness
- Verbal abuse and intimidation
- Unreasonable work demands
- Traumatic events like a car accident or violent attack
In Australia, you must have strong medical evidence from an independent medical examiner to claim a lump sum compensation payment successfully. Which is when a psychological injury lawyer can assist.
This process requires thorough documentation, legal support, and meeting the time limits to lodge your case. However, when you win a lump sum payment, you will have the funds for medical expenses, lost wages, and daily living expenses.
Workplace bullying and harassment involve repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed toward an employee or group of employees, creating a risk to health and safety. This behaviour can include:
- Verbal abuse and ridicule
- Exclusion from workplace activities
- Repeated threats of job termination
- Aggressive, violent, intimidating or humiliating behaviour
- Failure to share vital information needed for your work
- Sharing malicious gossip and innuendo
- Actively trying to sabotage your work
And any other forms of unwanted behaviour that can cause severe psychological impacts. If you are exposed to this type of work environment for an extended period, you can suffer long-term psychological injuries that require medical treatment and support.
Stress-related mental illness is a common type of work-related psychological injury in Australia. This condition makes it hard to continue working and earn an income. So, impacted people often seek to make a work injury damages claim. To qualify for compensation, you must have:
- A recognised mental illness or psychiatric injury diagnosis
- A licensed mental health professional must make the diagnosis.
- The medical specialist must provide proof of the mental injury.
You can claim workers’ compensation for stress and receive compensation benefits when you receive a mental illness diagnosis. However, a successful psychological injury claim requires proof of the extent of the stress and how it impacts your ability to work.
If you are exposed to traumatic events in the workplace, you could have significant psychological injuries, like post-traumatic stress disorder. This includes incidents like traffic accidents, violent acts or witnessing a fatality.
Making a successful psychological injury claim requires proof of the impact of the traumatic events on the victim’s mental health. For this procedure to work, you need evidence like:
- Medical treatment records
- Assessment by an independent medical examiner
- Witness statements and documentation of the accident scene.
Steps to File a Successful Psychological Injury Claim
Filing a successful psychological injury claim involves several steps.
- Seek help from medical and psychology professionals for diagnosis and support. A licensed mental health professional can provide the necessary documentation to support your claim.
- Immediately report the trauma to your employer and the workers’ compensation authority (WorkCover). A 30-day time limit generally applies to lodging a workers’ compensation claim.
- Gather evidence and reports to build your case
- Consult with a psychological injury lawyer for initial advice about your case and a compensation payout.
- Lodge your claim
- Receive a lump sum payment or dispute a rejected claim
How to Prove Psychological Injury
To prove a psychological injury and successfully claim compensation, you will need a medical diagnosis with the relevant documentation. This diagnosis must link the psychological injury to the triggering incident and show how it disrupts your ability to work. Building a compelling case requires:
- Keeping detailed records of the events
- Obtaining witness statements from colleagues (where applicable)
- Gathering statements from family and friends who can attest to the suffering
Expert testimony from a psychologist or psychiatrist combined with these pieces of evidence will help substantiate the claim.
Compensation Payouts for Psychological Injury
In Australia, there are different types of compensation payouts for psychological injuries, including:
- Total and permanent disability payout
- Permanent impairment payment
- Common law payout
- Workers’ compensation payments
Note: Depending on the nature of your mental or physical injury, you could have multiple claims. Call 1300 873 252 for your free claim check to determine whether you qualify.
TPD Payouts for Mental Illness
When you have a mental injury that prevents you from working in your regular occupation, you could claim the TPD insurance benefits contained in your superannuation account. For this compensation claim, there is no need to prove who was to blame for your medical condition or how it was acquired.
Mental illness TPD payouts can be substantial, ranging from $50,000 to $500,000, depending on the terms and conditions of your insurance policy. Moreover, an insurance disability claim is often more straightforward than other compensation payouts.
Whole Person Impairment Payouts
When an injured worker is nearing the end of their workers’ compensation claim for a psychological injury, they can have a whole-person impairment assessment under their state’s workers’ compensation scheme.
If you are assessed at a minimum of 15% permanent impairment, you qualify for a lump sum payment. This payment can range from approximately $22,500 to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the severity of the impairment.
Common Law Claims for Psychological Injury
You can make a common law claim when your psychological medical condition is due to employer negligence or third-party negligence (including for the worsening of a previous injury). In this case, you are suing your employer for failing to keep you safe at work.
A psychological injury compensation payout recognises the impacts of the injury on the claimant’s life, including pain and suffering. A successful work injury damages claim provides a lump sum payment based on lost wages, medical costs, lost quality of life, and out-of-pocket expenses.
To be eligible for a successful common law claim, the employer’s negligence must be shown to have directly contributed to the condition. As part of this procedure, extensive medical and legal documentation is typically required to back up the claim.
Your Employer's Negligence and Psychological Injury
When a worker acquires a physical or psychological injury at their workplace, it is often due to employer negligence. This unfortunate occurrence happens when an employer knows the risk to their employee’s psychological well-being but fails to take reasonable steps to prevent harm.
Examining the company’s health and safety regulations is the first step in proving that an employer was negligent in providing a safe workplace. If you believe you have a valid work injury claim, workers’ compensation lawyers can help with expert legal advice.
How Much Can You Claim for a Psychological Injury?
Payouts for psychological injury vary depending on:
- The type of legal claim
- The severity of your mental injury
- And how much it impacts your capacity to work and earn a living.
Personal injury claim: A work injury damages claim payout considers your pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost wages, home care costs and other out-of-pocket expenses.
Permanent impairment payout: An independent medical examiner assesses your ISV level, which then determines how much compensation you receive for a workplace injury.
TPD claim: Your policy value determines the value of a lump sum disability insurance payout.
Workers’ compensation: Your state workers’ compensation system provides weekly payments that replace lost income when a work-related mental health condition stops you from working.
An experienced insurance claim lawyer from Aussie Injury Lawyers will explain your options at no cost and provide a free estimated payout value.
Examples of Psychological Injury Claims
If you are considering making a psychological injury compensation claim, reviewing examples of successful cases can be helpful. Viewing the below real-life case studies helps you understand:
- The range of mental health issues in Australia
- Why you need strong evidence for a winning outcome
On December 16, 2021, a terrible jumping castle accident occurred at Hillcrest Primary School in Tasmania. A school teacher developed post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the accident.
This made the teacher feel like his life had been “stolen from him,” and he had difficulty focusing on his job. We at Aussie Injury Lawyers began working on his TPD claim in March 2023, and our expert lawyers secured lump sum compensation of over $388,000 for him.
At first, Emma had filed a TPD claim with QSuper, when bipolar disorder prevented her from doing her job. The six-month assessment period before this well-known Australian superannuation fund rejected her claim greatly exacerbated her emotional distress. Next, Emma appealed with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority but was rejected.
After that, Aussie Injury Lawyers took over her case (on a no-win, no-fee basis) and arranged an independent medical assessment. With these medical records, we lodged a formal dispute with the insurance company. They subsequently reversed their decision, and Emma was paid $500,000.
Working With a Personal Injury Lawyer
To make a claim for psychological injury and win compensation, you generally need experienced legal advice. A local lawyer from the team at Aussie Injury Lawyers can help increase the chances of winning a psychological injury case, as they have more than 100 years of combined experience.
You can relax knowing our legal services are 100% no win, no fee, which means you have no financial risk for your claim. Our generous no-fee arrangement means you pay legal fees only when you have a successful claim, making it more accessible for injured workers to seek legal support.
Aussie Psychological Injury Lawyers
If you have experienced a mental injury at work, please immediately seek medical attention. Then get informed legal advice from our psychological injury lawyers. They help with:
- Recognising the signs of psychological injury
- Filing a super insurance claim
- Proving the injury
They will support you throughout the claims process and increase your chance of receiving fair compensation, allowing you to heal and resume your life. Call now: 1300 873 252
Successful Psychological Injury Claim FAQs
A psychological injury claim is a legal action for compensation for mental harm caused by someone else’s negligence. This type of claim considers emotional, cognitive, and behavioural symptoms.
To file a successful psychological injury claim, you need detailed evidence, such as:
- Medical treatment records
- An independent medical assessment
- Workers compensation documents (if applicable)
For accident-related claims, you also need:
- Witness statements
- Police and accident reports
- CCTV footage, video and photos of the accident scene
Time limits for lodging a psychological injury claim vary according to the
- Type of compensation payout
- The events that caused the mental harm
- And your state of Australia.
It’s best to seek immediate legal advice if you think you have a valid claim for psychological injury.
For an approved psychological claim, you could receive:
- Weekly payments that replace lost income
- Reimbursement of medical and out-of-pocket expenses
- A workers’ compensation impairment payout
- TPD lump sum payment through your superannuation fund
A personal injury lawyer provides expert advice regarding personal injury law, that increases your chance of a successful outcome. Furthermore, they often provide legal services on a no-win, no-fee basis, considerably reducing your financial risk.
In Australia, an average psychological injury compensation payout is:
- Workers compensation claim: approximately $60,000
- Common law claim: approximately $ 180,000
- TPD claim: between $50,000 and $500,000
Examples of psychological injuries that qualify for compensation payouts (depending on how they were acquired) include recognised mental health conditions such as:
- Severe depression
- Social anxiety disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Panic disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Schizophrenia
