Reading Guide for Medical Practitioners - WorkCover Tasmania

ENTITLEMENT TO COMPENSATIONSections 25(1), 34 and 69(13)Worker EligibilityAll workers (as defined in the Act) are eligible for compensation if they suffer a workrelatedinjury or disease. A ‘worker’ is defined as any person who has entered into acontract of service or training agreement with an employer.Workers are entitled to compensation if, in the course of theiremployment:• they suffer an injury, which is not a disease, which has arisen out of or in thecourse of their employment; or• they suffer an injury which is a disease arising out of or in the course of theiremployment, and to which the employment has contributed to a substantialdegree, within the meaning of section 3(2A) of the Act.“Injury” is defined as:(a) a disease; and(b) the recurrence, aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration ofany pre-existing injury or disease where the employment was the major ormost significant contributing factor to that recurrence, aggravation,acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration.The claim for compensationThe employer must accept a claim from the injured worker. A claim for compensationis not valid unless it consists of a Workers Compensation Claim Form together with anInitial Workers Compensation Medical Certificate. The employer has 84 calendar daysfrom receipt of the claim to dispute liability for the claim; otherwise it is deemed to beaccepted.An employer can dispute liability for weekly payments where there is a gap of morethan fourteen days between medical certificates.An employer is required to commence weekly payments on a 'without prejudice' basisfrom the date of the claim until liability is accepted or a ‘reasonably arguable case’finding is made by the Tribunal.It is an offence for an employer to hinder, prevent, or attempt to hinder or prevent aworker from obtaining a claim form or making or pursuing a claim for compensation.Reading Guide for Medical Practitioners Version: 2, June 2010Page 8 of 27