Asbestos and dust disease lawyers for the Northern Territory

Asbestos lawyers for Darwin: dust disease claims in the NT

Asbestos and silica dust diseases are the firm’s national specialty. Martin Rogalski, a Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialist, has been involved in dust disease litigation since 2008. That includes matters in the District and Supreme Courts of Queensland, the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales.

The firm acts for people in the Northern Territory in claims about:

• Mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen, caused almost exclusively by asbestos.
• Asbestosis, scarring of the lung tissue caused by asbestos fibres.
• Asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestos-related pleural disease.
• Silicosis and other conditions caused by silica dust.

Exposure in the Territory can come from building and construction work, maintenance of older buildings, power and utilities work, mining, and renovating homes built with asbestos cement sheeting. Silica exposure comes from mining and quarrying, tunnelling, engineered stone benchtop work, and cutting or grinding concrete, brick and stone.

The firm’s other claim types, such as workers’ compensation, CTP and public liability, are handled in Queensland only. In the Northern Territory, the firm acts only in dust disease claims. The conditions are covered in more detail on the asbestos and mesothelioma and silicosis and silica disease pages.

What a dust disease claim needs to show

A diagnosis does not by itself create a right to damages. A court claim for a dust disease is fault-based, and three things generally have to be established:

• Where the exposure happened. Often this means proving conditions on a worksite, in a factory or in a home thirty or more years ago.
• Who was responsible. That may be an employer, a manufacturer or supplier of asbestos or silica products, or the occupier of the premises.
• That they failed to take reasonable care at a time when the risk was known or ought to have been known.

Most people are unsure at first exactly where they were exposed. That is the usual starting point. The history is rebuilt from employment, superannuation and tax records, union and apprenticeship papers, product records and the recollections of people who worked alongside you. Those recollections are sought early, while they can still be obtained.

A statutory workers’ compensation claim works differently. It is no-fault, so negligence does not need to be proved. One person may have a statutory claim, a court claim and a superannuation claim running at the same time.

Time limits for dust disease claims in the NT

The Limitation Act 1981 (NT) generally allows three years to start a damages claim. Dust disease claims are treated differently. Generally, no limitation period applies to a claim for damages arising from a dust disease.

That puts the Territory closer to Queensland and New South Wales than to states such as Western Australia and South Australia, where a time limit applies but generally runs from knowledge of the condition.

Two cautions sit alongside that:

• Statutory claims have their own rules. A workers’ compensation claim in the Territory generally has to be made within six months, although a late claim is not necessarily barred where the delay was caused by mistake, ignorance of the disease, absence from the Territory or another reasonable cause.
• Evidence does not wait. Even without a time limit, co-workers age, records are destroyed and memories fade. A claim is easier to prove when the history is gathered early.

Damages rules for dust-related conditions

The Northern Territory has civil liability legislation that limits damages and changes the rules in many negligence claims. That legislation does not apply to a claim for damages for a dust-related condition.

The exclusion is defined broadly. It covers aluminosis, asbestosis, asbestos induced carcinoma, asbestos-related pleural disease, mesothelioma, silicosis and a range of other named conditions. It also covers any other condition of the lungs, pleura or peritoneum that is attributable to dust.

In practice, this means damages in an NT dust disease claim are generally assessed under the ordinary common law principles, rather than under the statutory limits that apply to many other claims in the Territory.

NT WorkSafe and the Return to Work scheme

Where the exposure happened at work in the Territory, a statutory claim may be available under the Return to Work Act 1986 (NT). NT WorkSafe administers the scheme. Claims are generally made through the employer and managed by the employer’s insurer. Statutory claims are no-fault, so negligence does not need to be proved to access them.

Territory workers’ compensation law may restrict court claims against an employer. Where it does, claims against manufacturers, suppliers and occupiers become more important. Which parties can be sued depends on where and when the exposure happened, and whether some of it happened outside the Territory.

Other entitlements can include total and permanent disablement cover held through superannuation. The firm can review TPD and superannuation claims alongside the dust disease claim.

Courts that hear dust disease claims in the NT

The Northern Territory has no dedicated dust diseases tribunal. Damages claims for dust diseases are generally brought in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory.

Many people with an NT exposure history also worked or lived interstate. Where part of the exposure happened elsewhere, the claim may be able to be brought in another jurisdiction, such as the Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales where there is a relevant connection. Generally, the law of the place of exposure governs the claim wherever it is heard. Choosing the forum is a decision to make with advice, not by default.

Claims by families and dependants

Dust diseases, particularly mesothelioma, can progress quickly. Where the person has died, the claim does not necessarily end with them.

• The estate. The deceased person’s estate may be able to bring or continue a claim for the losses they suffered.
• Dependants. People who relied on the person financially, or for care and support around the home, may have a separate claim of their own.
• Evidence taken early. Where someone is seriously unwell, their own account of the exposure can be recorded formally while they are able to give it. That evidence can matter a great deal later.

These matters are run at a pace the family can manage, and the lawyer running the claim explains each step before it happens.

What to expect as a client in the Northern Territory

The practical arrangements are built around you:

• Travel to you. The lawyer running the claim travels to Darwin or elsewhere in the Territory to meet you, including at home or in hospital.
• Phone and video between visits. Most ongoing contact happens this way, with family members included if you wish.
• Cross-border histories. The exposure history is rebuilt across every state and territory involved.
• Urgency where needed. Where a client is seriously unwell, evidence can be taken early and an expedited hearing sought.

There is general background on how time limits operate in our guide to time limits for compensation claims, which sets out the position in every state and territory.

How Rogalski Lawyers runs an NT claim

The firm keeps a low number of clients per solicitor, so the lawyer running your claim is the person you speak to.

Claims are run no win, no fee*. The firm does not use litigation funders. Legal costs can often be claimed in addition to compensation recovered, and interest is charged only on legal costs that remain unpaid. Disbursements, such as medical reports and filing fees, are separate and are explained in writing before they are incurred.

To discuss an NT dust disease matter, you can request a free case review or call 1300 848 424.