Psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and adjustment disorders, are compensable in Queensland in the same way as physical injuries. But, they are also harder to win.
In our Queensland Personal Injury Quantum Database of published court decisions from 2021 to 2026, more psychiatric injury claims failed at trial than succeeded. But where they succeed, the awards are substantial. The successful claims below range from $148,115 to almost $2.5 million. This page shows the real outcomes and explains what separates the claims that win from the claims that fail.
Why psychiatric injury claims are different
Three features make these claims legally harder than physical injury claims. First, you must have a recognised psychiatric illness diagnosed by a psychiatrist; grief, stress or distress alone is not compensable. Second, in workplace claims, the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act excludes psychiatric injuries arising from reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way, such as performance management, discipline or redundancy carried out properly. A large share of failed claims founder on this exclusion. Third, where the psychiatric injury is a “pure” one, with no physical injury, the law imposes additional hurdles about whether the defendant owed a duty to guard against psychiatric harm at all.
Psychological injuries also arise as a consequence of physical injuries, chronic pain leading to depression is the common pattern, and in that form they are assessed as part of the overall claim. For work claims, permanent psychiatric impairment is assessed under the Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS) by the Medical Assessment Tribunal; in other claims the injury is assigned an injury scale value for general damages.
Real psychiatric injury payouts: the successful judgments in our database
These are the Queensland court judgments from 2021 to 2026 in which a plaintiff with a significant psychiatric injury succeeded and damages were assessed, sorted from largest to smallest total award. Every case links to its full entry in the Quantum Database.
| Case | Pathway | Total award |
|---|---|---|
| Allen v O’Donnell [2021] QSC 63 | CTP (motor accident) | $2,499,400 |
| Habermann v Cook Shire Council [2025] QSC 214 | WorkCover common law | $2,359,038 |
| Wilson v Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service [2023] QSC 135 | WorkCover common law | $1,634,419 |
| Ackers v Cairns Regional Council [2021] QSC 342 | WorkCover common law | $1,099,133 |
| Murphy v Madill [2025] QSC 103 | CTP (motor accident) | $635,147 |
| Gairns v Pro Music Pty Ltd [2024] QDC 118 | WorkCover common law | $395,767 |
| Sutton v Hunter [2021] QSC 249 | CTP (motor accident) | $314,345 |
| Brown v Islip [2026] QSC 92 | CTP (motor accident) | $238,987 |
| Mason v State of Queensland [2023] QDC 80 | WorkCover common law | $148,115 |
Method and important note: cases are drawn from published Queensland court judgments in which a psychiatric injury, on its own or with physical injuries, was a significant feature of the award. Most claims settle before judgment and settlements are not included. Claims arising from institutional abuse are dealt with on our abuse claims page. These figures are statistics about decided court cases. They are not a prediction, promise or guarantee about the outcome or value of any claim. Every case depends on its own facts.
The claims that failed, and why that matters
We would rather you know this up front: in the same period, eleven psychiatric injury claims failed at trial or on appeal. Most failed for one of three reasons:
- Reasonable management action. If the illness arose from performance management, discipline or redundancy that was carried out properly, the law excludes the claim.
- No duty owed. A defendant is not automatically responsible for preventing psychiatric harm. The claim must show they should reasonably have foreseen it and acted differently.
- Causation. Courts examine whether the events alleged, or other pressures in a person’s life, actually caused the condition.
The eleven decisions (tap to view)
- Frazer v State of Queensland [2026] QSC 82
- Kemp v Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service [2024] QSC 259
- O’Toole v BlueCare [2025] QDC 93
- Hoyes v Wellways [2025] QDC 125
- Miller v WorkCover [2024] QDC 156
- Apelu v Lusty Tip Trailers [2024] QCA 158
- Potter v Gympie Regional Council [2022] QCA 255
- Giles v State of Queensland [2021] QCA 206
- Robertson v State of Queensland [2021] QCA 92
- Day v Woolworths [2021] QCA 42
- Grapes v AAI [2025] QCA 60
None of this means your claim will fail. It means the early assessment matters more in psychiatric injury claims than anywhere else, and it is why we look carefully at these questions before recommending litigation, and tell you candidly if your claim faces them.
What separates the wins from the losses
Claim pathways and time limits
The pathway depends on where the injury came from. A workplace psychiatric injury starts with a WorkCover application, generally within 6 months. A psychiatric injury from a motor vehicle accident, including as a witness or family member in nervous shock cases, runs through the CTP scheme, with a notice of accident claim form generally due within 9 months (or 1 month after seeing a lawyer). Court proceedings usually must start within 3 years. Psychiatric injuries from institutional abuse are treated differently, with no limitation period, see our abuse claims page.
If a psychological injury has changed your ability to work or live as you did, call Roche Legal on 1300 335 334 or get in touch online for a free, confidential discussion. We will give you a realistic view of your claim, including if we think you should not bring one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Pure psychiatric injuries are compensable in Queensland, as Habermann v Cook Shire Council shows. However, the law imposes extra hurdles in pure psychiatric injury claims, particularly about whether the defendant owed a duty to protect you from psychiatric harm, so these claims need careful early assessment.
Sometimes. A psychiatric injury caused by a workplace can be compensable, but the law excludes injuries arising from reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way, such as properly conducted performance management, discipline or redundancy. Many failed claims sit on the wrong side of that line. Whether your circumstances fall inside or outside the exclusion is a legal question worth getting advice on before you commit to a claim.
No. We do not act in reviews or appeals of rejected WorkCover claims on a No Win No Fee basis.
A rejection can be challenged: first by a review through the Workers’ Compensation Regulator (within 3 months of the decision), then by an appeal to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (within 20 business days of the review decision). But where an application has been rejected on the reasonable management action exclusion, the prospects of overturning a properly reasoned decision are often limited, and the process can take a year or more.
If you want to challenge a rejection, we can assess your prospects honestly and, where a challenge is justified, act on a privately funded basis. We would rather tell you the truth about your chances at the start than fund a fight you are unlikely to win.
In the successful Queensland judgments in our database from 2021 to 2026, total awards ranged from $148,115 to $2,499,400, with a median of $635,147. The largest component is usually lost earning capacity, so outcomes depend heavily on how the illness affects your ability to work. These figures are statistics about decided cases, not a prediction about any individual claim, and most claims settle before trial.
A diagnosis of a recognised psychiatric illness from a psychiatrist, not just a record of stress or distress. Beyond that: treating records showing the course of the illness, independent expert psychiatric opinion, and evidence connecting the illness to the events alleged, such as witnesses, documents or contemporaneous complaints. For workers compensation claims, permanent impairment is assessed under the Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale by the Medical Assessment Tribunal.
As a general guide: a WorkCover application within 6 months of the injury; a CTP notice of accident claim form within 9 months of a motor accident (or 1 month after first consulting a lawyer); and court proceedings within 3 years. Psychiatric injuries from institutional abuse have no limitation period. Time limit questions in psychiatric injury cases can be complicated by when the illness emerged, so get advice early.
Roche Legal acts on a No Win No Fee basis, so there is no upfront cost to find out where you stand. Because psychiatric injury claims fail more often than other claim types, we are candid at the outset about whether a claim is worth pursuing.