Compensation lawyers in Brisbane

Compensation lawyers in Brisbane

Rogalski Lawyers has acted for people in Brisbane since 2018, from an office at 11 Montague Street, Stones Corner. The firm practises in compensation law and nothing else.

Most people arrive here having already met one of the Queensland schemes, usually badly. An insurer has written something that does not make sense, a form has arrived with a deadline on it, or a claim has been rejected on a ground nobody has explained. The useful first step is almost always the same: work out which schemes apply, which deadlines are already running, and whether there is more than one claim available.

The compensation schemes that run in Queensland

Queensland does not have a single compensation system. It has several, and they do not work the same way.

WorkCover Queensland covers workplace incidents and work-related conditions. A statutory claim pays weekly compensation, medical and rehabilitation expenses, and a lump sum for permanent impairment once the condition stabilises. It is no-fault, which means nobody has to prove the employer did anything wrong. Where an employer’s negligence did contribute, a separate common law damages claim may also be available, and it is usually worth considerably more. Self-insured employers run their own scheme under the same legislation.

Compulsory Third Party covers motor vehicle accidents, under the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994. The claim is against the CTP insurer of the vehicle at fault. Where the vehicle cannot be identified, the claim goes to the Nominal Defendant instead, on a shorter notice period.

Public liability covers incidents in public places and on other people’s property, under the Civil Liability Act 2003. Fault has to be established, and the Act sets out how damages are assessed.

Medical negligence claims are brought against a practitioner or a hospital and require expert evidence that the treatment fell below a reasonable standard and that the failure caused the harm.

TPD and superannuation claims are made against an insurer under a policy held through a superannuation fund. They do not depend on where something happened or whose fault it was, only on whether the policy definition is met. People often hold cover across several funds without knowing it.

Dust disease claims, for asbestos and silica-related conditions, run differently again. Exposure usually reaches back decades and across several employers, and claims can be expedited where someone is seriously unwell. This is the firm’s specialty and the one area it acts in nationally.

Time limits that apply in Queensland

Several deadlines run well before the headline three-year limitation period.

Two things are worth noting. Consulting a lawyer can itself start a shorter clock on some claims, which is a reason to act on advice once you have it rather than to avoid getting it. And a period that has passed is not automatically the end of a claim, because late notices can be accepted where the delay is properly explained.

Queensland’s pre-court procedures

Public liability, medical negligence and common law workplace claims in Queensland go through a pre-court process before anyone can start proceedings. It is prescriptive, and the steps matter.

A Notice of Claim is given to the respondent, who must then say whether they accept liability. Both sides exchange documents and medical evidence. The parties then attend a compulsory conference, where final offers are exchanged in sealed envelopes. A large proportion of claims resolve at or shortly after that conference, which is by design.

The practical effect is that most Queensland compensation claims never see a courtroom, and that the quality of the evidence assembled before the conference largely determines what happens at it.

Where a Brisbane claim is heard

Where proceedings are needed, a Queensland compensation claim is started in the Magistrates Court, the District Court or the Supreme Court, depending on the amount in dispute. All three sit in Brisbane, in the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law on George Street.

Dust disease claims are brought in the Supreme Court of Queensland, which can expedite a matter where a plaintiff is gravely ill, including taking evidence early or at a bedside hearing.

Our Brisbane office

The office is at 11 Montague Street, Stones Corner, about four kilometres from the CBD, with parking and a short walk from the Buranda and Stones Corner bus and rail services. We act for people across Brisbane and the wider south east, including the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan and Redlands, and for regional Queensland by phone and video.

Home and hospital visits are available where travelling to an office is difficult. The solicitor you speak to first is the solicitor who runs your file.