A trip between home and work in Queensland can be covered by workers compensation, and if a vehicle was at fault it can also involve a separate CTP claim.
An injury suffered while travelling between home and work in Queensland can be a workers compensation claim, because the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 treats the ordinary journey to and from employment as connected to that employment. Where the injury also happened because of a motor vehicle accident, it can separately involve a compulsory third party claim against the driver at fault. The two claims run on different rules and often need to be managed together.
What counts as a journey claim
A journey claim covers an injury on a direct trip between the worker’s home and their place of employment, or between two places of employment on the same day. It also extends to some related trips, such as interoffice travel or travel between clients. The connecting idea is that the journey has to relate to the employment, rather than being a trip taken for an unrelated personal purpose.
Cover can be lost or limited where the worker made a substantial interruption or deviation from the usual route, unless that interruption or deviation was itself connected to the employment. A significant detour for a personal errand, well away from the ordinary path, is likely to be treated as a detour. Whether a particular stop counts as substantial is assessed on the specific facts each time.
Lodging the journey claim
A journey claim is lodged with the workers compensation insurer in the same way as any other workplace injury claim. For most Queensland employers that insurer is WorkCover Queensland, and for some large employers it is a self insured arrangement instead. This article refers to whichever body handles the claim as the WC insurer. The claim needs a medical certificate describing the injury and the worker’s capacity, together with an account of how the journey and the accident happened. Our earlier guide on making a WorkCover claim in Queensland sets out that general lodgement process in more detail.
Because a journey injury often happens away from any witness who knows the worker, an early and consistent account of the trip, its purpose, and the route taken matters a good deal to how the WC insurer assesses the claim.
When a motor vehicle is involved
Many journey injuries happen in a car accident, whether the worker was driving, a passenger, riding a motorcycle or bicycle, or walking. Where another vehicle was at fault, the injury can also be the subject of a compulsory third party claim under the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994, made against the CTP insurer of the vehicle at fault. Our guide on CTP claims in Queensland explains how that separate process works, including notification, liability investigation, and a compulsory conference before any court proceeding.
This means a single journey accident can produce two claims running at once, a workers compensation claim covering medical treatment and income support in the short term, and a CTP claim addressing the broader consequences of the injury once liability and its extent are understood.
How the two claims interact
The two schemes are not run by the same body and do not automatically share information, so each generally needs its own notification and its own set of records. However, they are not entirely separate in effect. Weekly workers compensation payments and treatment expenses already paid can affect how a later CTP settlement is calculated, because the law generally does not allow the same loss to be paid twice. The WC insurer can hold a right to recover some of what it has paid out of a later CTP payment.
| Feature | Workers compensation journey claim | CTP claim |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is made against | The WC insurer | The CTP insurer of the at fault vehicle |
| Basis of cover | Connection between the journey and employment | Fault of another driver |
| What it typically pays first | Medical expenses and weekly income support | A negotiated or assessed lump sum once liability and injury are established |
| Timing | Usually starts quickly after the injury | Investigation and assessment take longer to conclude |
Whole person impairment and journey injuries
Where a journey injury leaves a lasting effect, an assessment of whole person impairment may become relevant to either or both claims, since it is one of the tools used to describe the severity of an injury once it has stabilised. Our explainer on how whole person impairment is worked out sets out that process in plain terms for readers who want more detail.
What this means for you
A journey injury in Queensland is generally covered as a workers compensation claim, and where a vehicle was at fault it can also involve a separate CTP claim against that driver’s insurer. The two processes run on different legislation, are handled by different insurers, and can affect each other once a settlement is reached. Strict timeframes apply to each process, and records made close to the date of the accident, including the route travelled and its purpose, matter to how a journey claim is assessed. For a general sense of how time limits work across personal injury claims, see our guide on time limits for personal injury claims.