The Queensland Parliament passed the Amending Bill on 17
September 2015. The Amending Act will make some significant changes
to the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003
(WCRA).
Entitlement to Damages
Section 237 of the WCRA has been amended to remove the Degree of
Permanent Impairment (DPI) assessment threshold of
greater than 5% for injuries sustained on or after 31 January 2015.
Workers will therefore no longer need to have a DPI impairment
greater than 5% before being entitled to bring a claim for damages
at common law.
Lump sum payments by WorkCover
A new Section 193A provides for additional lump sum payments
being available to a worker who has suffered an injury on or after
15 October 2013 but before 31 January 2015. This is the period that
the threshold requiring an injured worker to have a DPI impairment
greater than 5% before being entitled to bring a claim for damages
at common law was in place. There are a number of preconditions
