Medical assessment certificate

The approved medical specialist will issue a medical assessment certificate on the matters referred for assessment: section 325. The medical assessment certificate will be in a form approved by the Registrar and must include:

• • details of the matters referred for assessment
  • the AMS’s assessment with respect to the matters referred
  • the AMS’s reasons for that assessment
  • the facts on which that assessment is based.

If the certificate contains an obvious error, the Registrar may issue, or approve of the AMS issuing, a replacement medical certificate to correct the error: section 325(3).

Only one medical assessment certificate for permanent impairment

Section 322A of the 1998 Act provides that there can be only one assessment of the degree of permanent impairment of a worker, and the medical assessment certificate is the only medical assessment certificate that can be used in any dispute (whether that is for work injury damages, lump sum compensation for permanent impairment, a domestic assistance claim, or any other entitlement that depends on a threshold determined by the degree of permanent impairment).

However, Section 322A does not apply to workers who had made a claim for lump sum compensation pursuant to section 66 of the 1987 Act before 19 June 2012. Those workers can make one further claim for permanent compensation in relation to the existing impairment in accordance with the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 Schedule 8 clause 11.

Status of medical assessments

In any proceedings before the Commission, an assessment certified in a medical assessment certificate is conclusively presumed to be correct as to the following matters only:

• • the degree of permanent impairment of the worker as a result of an injury
  • whether any proportion of permanent impairment is due to any previous injury or pre-existing condition or abnormality
  • the nature and extent of loss of hearing suffered by a worker
  • whether impairment is permanent
  • whether the degree of permanent impairment is fully ascertainable.

As to any other matter, such as the reasonableness of proposed treatment, the assessment certificate is evidence (but not conclusive evidence) in any proceedings: section 326.

Costs of medical assessment

The costs of medical assessments (including the remuneration of the AMS) are payable by the employer or insurer. The worker is also entitled to recover from the employer or insurer any wages lost in attending the assessment and reasonable travel expenses for himself or herself (and for an escort if the worker is not reasonably able to travel unescorted): section 330.