Injuries on or after 1 February 1997 and before 1 July 2001

Time for bringing action

The Limitation of Actions Act 1974 states that an action for damages for negligence, trespass, nuisance or breach of duty, which consists of or includes damages for personal injury or injury resulting from the death of any person, must be brought within 3 years from the date on which

the cause of action arose.

Compliance of the Notice of Claim for Damages

WorkCover must respond in writing to the injured worker (or the injured worker’s solicitor) to advise whether or not all the necessary information and documentation has been provided with the Notice of Claim for Damages. The response must be given within 30 days of receiving the Notice of Claim for Damages. If it is not compliant, WorkCover must specify the areas of non-compliance and allow a minimum of 30 days for the injured worker to remedy the non-compliance (refer section 282 of the WorkCover Queensland Act 1996).

Liability notice

WorkCover must give the injured worker a notice about liability within six months (three months for a worker with a terminal condition) of receiving a compliant Notice of Claim for Damages. In certain circumstances WorkCover must make a counter-offer (refer section 285 of the WorkCover Queensland Act 1996). If WorkCover makes an offer or counter-offer, the injured worker must respond in writing within 14 days

(refer section 285).

Compulsory conference

Where the date of injury is on or after 1 February 1997 and before 1 July 2001, the injured worker must organise a compulsory settlement conference within three months of WorkCover's liability notice if the claim cannot be resolved (refer section 293 of the WorkCover Queensland Act 1996).

At least four days before the compulsory settlement conference, the solicitor representing the injured worker must provide them with:

• a written report setting out costs incurred to date
• an estimate of costs to be incurred through the conference
• the additional costs to proceed to trial if the conference fails
• an estimate of net damages if there is settlement of the claim at the conference.

Final offers

If the claim is not settled at the end of the compulsory conference, final offers must be exchanged by WorkCover and the injured worker. Those offers must be open for at least 14 days. Legal proceedings cannot be commenced within this time (refer section 294 of the WorkCover Queensland Act 1996).

Commencing proceedings

If a claim is not resolved during the pre-proceedings process, the plaintiff may commence proceedings as provided by the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules (refer section 302 of the WorkCover Queensland Act 1996).

The Claim and Statement of Claim must be served on the employer within 60 days of the compulsory conference and on WorkCover within 30 days of the employer being served (refer section 306).