Personal Injury Claims in Queensland: A Complete Guide to Compensation

Getting injured in an accident can be a difficult and unsettling experience. You may be dealing with pain, medical appointments, and time away from work that’s impacting how you can live your life. 

If you’ve been injured as a result of someone else’s actions or negligence, you may be able to make a personal injury claim. Compensation can help mitigate the effects of an injury, from costly medical expenses to lost income and ongoing pain.

Whether you can make a claim, how much compensation you might be entitled to, and how the claims process works all depends on how your injury happened, who was responsible, and the severity of your injuries and losses.

In Queensland, personal injury claims can come from any number of different situations, including traffic accidents or medical negligence. Different types of claims are subject to different insurance schemes, so knowing your options early is important. 

In this guide, you’ll learn how to identify what a personal injury claim is, who can claim personal injury compensation in Queensland, what compensation covers, and how the claims process works.

Key takeaways

• A personal injury claim is a legal claim for compensation made by a person who’s suffered an injury, illness, or psychological harm as a result of another party’s actions or negligence.  
• The exact personal injury claims process and timeframe depend on the type of personal injury claim you’re making, but you generally have a three-year time limit to start court action.
• If your injury is serious and your claim involves significant financial or future losses, you may benefit from legal advice. An injury lawyer can assess your situation and explain the options available to you.

What is a personal injury claim?

A personal injury claim is a legal claim for compensation where a person has suffered harm (physical, psychological, or both), and another person, entity, or organisation may be legally responsible for causing that harm.

The purpose of a personal injury claim is to seek financial compensation, usually referred to as damages, for the losses and impact caused by the injury. 

There’s no standard amount of compensation for a personal injury claim. The value depends on a number of factors, from the severity of your injury to the effect on your everyday life. 

A personal injury claim could come about from several circumstances. Here are a few examples:

• Motor vehicle incidents: A driver is hit by another vehicle that runs a red light, leaving them with a broken leg and a dislocated shoulder. 
• Medical negligence: A patient suffers additional harm because a serious condition wasn’t treated within a reasonable timeframe.
• Public place injury: A shopper slips on a wet supermarket floor that didn’t have a warning sign.
• Psychological injuries: A motorcyclist develops a psychological injury as a result of a serious road accident for which they weren’t responsible.
• Pedestrian accident: A person crossing a road is struck by a vehicle and suffers a spinal injury.

How to qualify for a personal injury claim

Anyone who suffers an injury or harm caused by negligence qualifies for a personal injury claim and can seek compensation. 

To qualify, you need to demonstrate three things.

1. Duty of care: The responsible party owed you a duty of care. This could be a medical professional who owes a duty of care to patients to provide adequate treatment, or drivers who owe a duty of care to others by following road rules.
2. Breach of duty: The responsible party failed to meet their duty of care. A breach of duty is when the party doesn’t act as a reasonable person or entity would in a similar situation. For example, a landlord could be in breach for not addressing unsafe conditions in the home they’re renting, or a company might breach their duty by selling a defective product that causes harm. 
3. Causation: The breach directly caused your injuries. This means the injury wouldn’t have happened if the responsible party had not acted negligently. For harm that’s not physical, such as PTSD, you need to establish a direct link between the actions and the resulting psychological harm. 

Knowing what a personal injury claim is means you’re better positioned to understand the different types of accident compensation claims out there and how they’re handled.

Types of personal injury claims in Queensland

A personal injury can happen in many different scenarios and environments, from a serious car crash to a slip in a supermarket. 

How the injury happened, who was responsible, and where it happened determines the type of personal injury claim you might be able to make. 

Some accident claims are dealt with through Queensland’s compulsory third-party (CTP) insurance scheme, while others might involve workers’ compensation. 

Here are some of the most common types of personal injury claims made in Queensland, and what you need to know.

Traffic accident claims

Motor vehicle accidents are one of the largest categories of personal-injury claims in Queensland, with more than 6,900 minor injury CTP claims lodged in 2025, according to the Motor Accident Insurance Commission, representing an increase of approximately 5% compared with the previous year.

If you’ve been injured in a car accident or motorcycle accident, you may be entitled to make an injury compensation claim under Queensland’s compulsory third-party (CTP) insurance scheme. 

Queensland operates a ‘fault-based’ CTP scheme, which means you’ll need to prove another driver was wholly or partly responsible for the accident. CTP insurance is compulsory for registered vehicles in Queensland and is designed to cover medical treatment, rehabilitation, and compensation for people injured in a traffic accident.

Injuries in traffic accidents include:

• Whiplash 
• Back, neck, or spinal injuries
• Broken bones
• Head or brain injuries
• Psychological injuries
• Serious disabilities

The effects of a traffic accident aren’t always obvious. The emotional and psychological trauma of a crash can often develop after the incident. A 2025 research article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found approximately 20% of people involved in road traffic accidents experienced PTSD, which can cause symptoms such as sleep issues, difficulty concentrating, or feeling anxious. 

If your accident happened while you were at work or during your commute, you might be entitled to workers’ compensation. If you’re unsure whether compensation might apply to your situation, Cairns Compensation Lawyers, a practice group of Preston Law, with car accident lawyers who can help you navigate the process. 

Pedestrian accident claims

Pedestrians can suffer serious injuries when they are struck by a vehicle or motorcycle while walking along a footpath, crossing a road, or walking through a carpark. The number of pedestrian hospitalisations in Queensland rose 10.1% in 2023-2024 compared to the previous five-year average, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 

If you were injured as a pedestrian because of another person’s driving, you may be able to make a claim through Queensland’s CTP scheme. If the vehicle or driver can’t be identified (for example, if they left the scene before information was exchanged), you can claim through the Nominal Defendant, a government body that steps in on behalf of the driver’s CTP insurer.

Pedestrian accidents can cause:

• Fractures or broken bones
• Spinal, head, or brain injuries
• Internal injuries
• Psychological trauma

The potential compensation will depend on the circumstances of the accident and the nature and impact of your injuries. 

Public liability claims

If you were injured in a public space as a result of someone else’s negligence, such as a business, property owner, or local council, you may be eligible to make a public liability claim. 

Public injuries can include:

• Slipping on a wet floor at a shopping centre or supermarket without any warning signs
• Tripping over an uneven footpath 
• Getting hurt in a gym from faulty equipment 

Being injured on someone else’s property doesn’t automatically mean you’re entitled to compensation. A successful claim requires evidence establishing that the responsible party owed you a duty of care and breached that care. 

Evidence is particularly important in public liability claims. Photographs, CCTV footage, and witness reports can help establish what and how the incident happened.

Medical negligence claims

When you seek medical treatment from a professional, you can reasonably expect to get an appropriate standard of care. If a medical professional fails to meet that standard, and that failure then causes you harm, you may be able to investigate a medical negligence claim. 

A breach in this duty of care might look like:

• Unreasonable delays in treatment, diagnosis, or referral
• Failure to provide treatment 
• Incorrect reporting of test results
• Misdiagnosis 

Medical negligence claims are complex, and you’ll generally need evidence to establish the professional or facility breached the standard of care. Medical records, expert medical evidence, and a clear statement of what happened before, during, and after treatment are important. 

The right claim will depend on the circumstances of your injury. Here’s a quick overview to help you better understand which personal injury claim might apply to your situation.

Understanding which accident claim might relate to your personal injury

If you’re unsure of which claim relates to your injury and whether you can claim compensation, Cairns Compensation Lawyers can help walk you through your options and understand the pathway to making a claim.

Step-by-step guide to the Queensland personal injury claim process

The process for making a personal injury claim in Queensland depends on how your injury happened and under which compensation scheme or law it applies. 

The majority of claims involve a pre-court process, also known as a ‘pre-action procedure’, where the injured person and the insurer or other party can investigate the claim, exchange information, and attempt to resolve the matter without needing to go to court. The steps, documents, and time limits can vary between different claims.

When someone suffers a personal injury, it can be a difficult and confusing time. Having a clear process to follow can help make things more straightforward. 

Here’s a general step-by-step guide to the personal injury claim process:

Step 1: Get medical attention and document your injury

Firstly, seek medical treatment as soon as possible after your injury to protect your health and to establish an official record. Your medical records may be important evidence when establishing the severity of your injuries and their impact on your life. 

Keep records of all appointments and treatments, including expenses paid, that you require as a result of the incident.  

Step 2: Report the incident

You need to report the incident to a relevant person, organisation, or authority as soon as you can. For example, a traffic accident should be reported to the police. 

Reporting the incident helps build a record of what happened and can be an important part of your claims process.

Step 3: Establish the extent of your injuries and losses

Let’s say you have a broken arm after being involved in a traffic accident that wasn’t your fault. While the broken arm is an immediate injury, if it means you can’t work for six weeks, then you also face financial loss as a result of the incident. 

Take the time to understand the full impact of your injury, which could include medical costs, care and assistance, loss of income, or ongoing pain. 

Some injuries also take time to stabilise, so the extent of your losses may not be immediately clear. 

Step 4: Determine whether you have a potential claim

Not every injury requires a compensation claim. Whether you can make a claim will depend on how the injury happened, who was responsible, and whether relevant legal requirements have been met. 

This is the time when seeking legal advice is recommended, especially if you’re unsure whether you have a claim and what type of claim might apply to your situation. 

Step 5: Lodge the required notice of claim

Depending on the type of claim, you’ll need to notify the relevant insurer or party and complete claim forms or notices within a set timeframe. An experienced lawyer will help guide you through this process.

Step 6: Negotiate or progress the claim

Once relevant evidence has been gathered, and the claim has been assessed, you may enter into negotiations with the insurer or other party to resolve the claim. A compulsory conference, as set out in the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002, is held after the pre-action requirements are met, with final offers exchanged between parties.

Step 7: Settlement or further legal proceedings 

Many personal injury claims resolve through the negotiation and settlement stage without needing to proceed to a trial. A personal injury claim may go to court if the pre-court process doesn’t result in a settlement or when there’s a procedural issue that requires a court order to resolve. 

When you may need a lawyer

You don’t always need a lawyer to make a personal injury claim. However, getting legal advice can help provide clarity in a stressful situation. 

You may want to speak with a lawyer if:

• Your injuries are serious or ongoing
• The party you believe is responsible for the incident disputes liability
• You have significant financial losses
• An insurer has rejected your claim 
• You are unsure what compensation scheme or claims process applies to your situation 

A personal injury lawyer can look at your circumstances, review your options with you, and explain in detail what you may be able to claim. They can also handle insurers or third parties on your behalf. 

How no-win, no-fee arrangements work

When you’re already facing financial loss as a result of an incident, the cost of legal advice can add more stress to the situation. Some personal injury lawyers offer a no-win, no-fee arrangement, which lets you pursue a claim without needing to pay lawyer’s fees upfront.

Under this arrangement, the lawyer agrees that you don’t pay fees if the claim is unsuccessful. If the claim is successful, the fees are generally paid from the compensation recovered. 

Your lawyer should clearly explain the costs agreement and how the arrangement applies to your situation before you proceed.

Personal injury claim limits and timeframes in Queensland

Personal injury claims have set time limits within which you need to start your claim. Most personal injury claims need to be started within three years from the date of the incident to start court action. 

Even before a claim is lodged in court, you’ll need to give notice to the other party or insurer within specific deadlines. For motor vehicle accidents, public liabilities, or medical negligence, the notification period is nine months or one month from instructing a lawyer.

The best course of action is to seek legal advice from an injury compensation lawyer about your claim as early as possible.

How personal injury compensation is calculated in Queensland 

There’s no set amount of compensation for a personal injury claim in Queensland. The value depends on a range of factors, including severity and duration of symptoms, how the injury impacts your life, and financial losses.

Compensation is made up of different types of damages, assessed on your particular injury, and may include:

• Lost income and future earnings
• Superannuation losses
• Medical and rehabilitation expenses
• Pain and suffering 
• Care and assistance

For certain injury claims in Queensland, general damages for pain and suffering are assessed using an Injury Scale Value (ISV), which assigns a score between 0 and 100 based on the seriousness of your injury. 

Here’s a list of compensation payouts and the factors that can influence the compensation you may be entitled to. 

How Preston Law can support your personal injury claim

Sustaining an injury in an accident is already an overwhelming and difficult experience. Making a personal injury claim can often feel too daunting, especially when you’re faced with financial loss and ongoing medical treatment. 

This is where Cairns Compensation Lawyers can support you, with all claims taken on a no-win, no-fee basis. 

You’ll work with the same lawyer from start to finish, avoiding any unnecessary or stressful handovers and duplicate costs. 

If you’d like some clarity on your options or just want to talk through your situation, contact Preston Law’s Cairns Compensation Lawyers team for a free consultation, or visit the personal injury compensation services page.

FAQs

What is a no-win, no-fee personal injury agreement?

A no-win, no-fee personal injury agreement generally means you can engage with a lawyer, but you don’t pay fees if the claim is unsuccessful. If the claim is successful, the fees are generally paid from the compensation recovered. 

Do I need a lawyer for a personal injury claim?

You should seek legal advice if your injury is serious, if the third party disputes liability, or even if you’re unsure of whether you’re entitled to make a claim and how the process works. 

How long does a personal injury claim take in Queensland?

There is no standard timeframe for a personal injury claim in Queensland. Some claims can be resolved within months, while more complex cases can extend several years, especially when the injuries are serious or the liability is disputed.

How much compensation can I claim for a personal injury?

The amount of compensation you can claim for a personal injury is dependent on the severity of your injuries, the impact the injury has had on your life, including your mental health, and whether the incident resulted in financial loss. There is no set amount for every personal injury claim.  

What can improve my chances of a successful claim?

To improve your chances of a successful claim, you need to seek medical attention and report your injuries immediately, record all medical treatments and costs, lodge a notice of claim within the set timeframe, document everything, and seek advice from an experienced lawyer before accepting any settlement offer.