A Queensland WorkCover lump sum for permanent impairment is not negotiated or based on what the injury has cost you. It is worked out by formula. A doctor, or for some injuries an audiologist or a tribunal, rates the permanent effect of the injury as a percentage, the degree of permanent impairment (DPI). The Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2025 then converts that percentage into a dollar amount. What to do once the offer arrives, whether to accept, defer or keep a damages claim open, is covered in our guide to the Notice of Assessment.
Key points
- The DPI is assessed once the injury is stable and stationary, under the Guidelines for Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (GEPI).
- The lump sum is the maximum statutory compensation multiplied by the DPI. The maximum is set as a multiple of QOTE, a Queensland earnings figure that is updated each financial year.
- Additional lump sums can apply for a DPI of 30% or more, and for a DPI of 15% or more where unpaid care is needed at home. Neither applies to a psychological injury.
When the assessment happens
The Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 defines a permanent impairment as one that is stable and stationary and not likely to improve with further medical or surgical treatment. WorkSafe Queensland's guidance to assessing doctors explains stable and stationary as medically stable for the previous three months and unlikely to change by more than 3% whole person impairment in the next 12 months, with or without further treatment.
The insurer may decide to have the injury assessed, or the worker may ask. If several injuries came from one event, the physical injuries are assessed together and any psychological injury separately, and the Notice of Assessment is given only once the DPI for all of them has been decided.
Who assesses, and under which guides
The Act sets out who makes the assessment:
- for industrial deafness, an audiologist;
- for a psychiatric or psychological injury, a medical assessment tribunal;
- for any other injury, a doctor.
In practice, for a physical injury that doctor is not your GP. The insurer arranges the assessment as an independent medical examination with a specialist suited to the injury, for example an orthopaedic surgeon for a back, neck or limb injury, or an occupational physician. Your treating doctor's opinion on impairment does not set your DPI; the insurer's assessor does, or, if it goes that far, the Medical Assessment Tribunal.
The assessment must follow the scheme directions, and the DPI must be expressed as a percentage. The Guidelines for Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (GEPI), second edition, are taken to be scheme directions for this purpose, so the DPI is assessed under GEPI. For injuries on or after 15 October 2013, the assessment must be done by an assessor trained in GEPI, and WorkSafe keeps a list of trained assessors.
The insurer must tell you the purpose of the examination, its date and time, and the doctor's name and specialty.
How the lump sum is calculated
The Act says the lump sum must be calculated under a regulation having regard to the DPI. Section 117 of the Regulation does this in one line: the lump sum is the maximum statutory compensation multiplied by the worker's DPI. A DPI of 10% produces 10% of the maximum statutory compensation; a DPI of 4% produces 4%. There is no separate table of injuries for the basic lump sum.
The maximum statutory compensation is the cap in section 140 of the Act on the total lump sum compensation for one event: 216.15 times QOTE.
Three rules can reduce the result:
- no amount is included for impairment caused by a condition that existed before the injury, or by a condition that is not compensable;
- if you previously had an entitlement to a lump sum for an injury to the same part of the body, the new lump sum is reduced by that earlier entitlement;
- for further industrial deafness, the earlier assessed hearing loss is deducted from the new percentage.
The amount is calculated as at the day the insurer makes the offer.
Why the dollar amounts change each year
QOTE is Queensland full-time adult ordinary time earnings, as published by the Australian Statistician before the start of each financial year. If the new figure would be lower, the previous year's QOTE continues, and the Regulator must notify QOTE before each financial year starts.
Because the maximum statutory compensation and the additional lump sums are expressed as multiples of QOTE, the dollar amounts change each financial year and do not go down. The Notice of Assessment states the DPI and the amount calculated for your injury.
The figures for 2026–27
From 1 July 2026, QOTE is $1,994.50 a week. On that figure, the maximum statutory compensation is 216.15 × $1,994.50, about $431,100, which is roughly $4,311 for each percentage point of DPI. Applying section 117 of the Regulation to some example DPIs:
| DPI | Statutory lump sum (approximate) |
|---|---|
| 1% | about $4,311 |
| 5% | about $21,560 |
| 10% | about $43,110 |
| 15% | about $64,670 |
| 20% | about $86,220 |
These are the amounts the statutory formula produces for an offer made between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027, before any of the reductions above. The exact figure is stated in the Notice of Assessment and can differ by a few dollars from these rounded examples. They are not an estimate of what any claim is worth: the figure in a Notice of Assessment depends on the DPI actually assessed and the date of the offer, and a common law damages claim, where one is available, is assessed in a completely different way. The figures were current when this guide was updated on 23 October 2026.
Additional lump sums for more serious injuries
Two additional lump sums are paid on top of the basic lump sum, on graduated scales in the Regulation.
DPI of 30% or more. Schedule 3 sets an amount for each percentage point, rising from 8.15 times QOTE at a DPI of 30% to 216.15 times QOTE at a DPI of 75% or more.
Gratuitous care. Where the DPI is 15% or more and the worker has a moderate to total level of dependency on day-to-day care for the fundamental activities of daily living, an additional lump sum can be paid if that care is provided unpaid at the worker's home by another person, and other conditions in section 193 of the Act are met. A registered occupational therapist assesses dependency using the modified Barthel index. Schedule 4 sets the amount by DPI band and level of dependency, up to 244.86 times QOTE. A disagreement about the level of dependency is referred to the General Medical Assessment Tribunal.
Neither additional lump sum is available where the DPI arises from a psychological injury, or from combining a psychological injury with another injury. The Notice of Assessment states any additional entitlement.
Disagreeing with the DPI
The insurer must give you the Notice of Assessment, with an offer of the lump sum, within 10 business days after receiving the assessment. If you disagree with the assessment of a physical injury, you have 20 business days from the Notice to tell the insurer and ask for one of two things:
- a further assessment by a different specialist. You can propose who, but the Act requires the new assessor to be agreed by you and the insurer. The insurer has 10 business days to decide, and only one further assessment can be requested; or
- referral to the Medical Assessment Tribunal.
If the insurer refuses a further assessment, it must refer the question to the Tribunal. Once the question is with the Tribunal, only the Tribunal can decide the DPI, and its decision is final.
If the report relies on a guide other than GEPI, or the assessor is not GEPI-trained, raise it before you respond to the Notice of Assessment.
The lump sum and common law damages
The DPI also decides whether accepting the lump sum affects a common law damages claim. Under 20%, you must make an irrevocable election between the lump sum and damages; at 20% or more, you can accept the lump sum and still seek damages. With no response within 20 business days, the decision is treated as deferred. Our workers' compensation page sets out how we act.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a WorkCover Queensland permanent impairment payout table? Not for the basic lump sum, which is the maximum statutory compensation multiplied by the DPI. The graduated scales for the additional lump sums are in Schedules 3 and 4 of the Regulation, expressed as multiples of QOTE.
Can I disagree with my DPI? Yes, within 20 business days of the Notice of Assessment, by asking for a reassessment or referral to a medical assessment tribunal. For psychological injuries the DPI is decided only by a tribunal, and its decision is final.
Are psychological injuries assessed differently? Yes. The DPI is assessed by a medical assessment tribunal, separately from any physical injury, and the additional lump sums for a DPI of 30% or more and for gratuitous care do not apply.
Sources
- WorkSafe Queensland, What is QOTE? (QOTE from 1 July 2026) — worksafe.qld.gov.au
- Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld), ss 10A (QOTE), 38 (permanent impairment), 140 (maximum statutory compensation), 178–190 (assessment, calculation, Notice of Assessment, disagreement, offer and election), 192–193 (additional lump sums), 751 (GEPI as scheme directions) — legislation.qld.gov.au
- Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2025 (Qld), s 117 (calculation of lump sum), ss 118–121 and Schedules 3–4 (additional lump sums) — legislation.qld.gov.au
- WorkSafe Queensland, Lump sum payments — worksafe.qld.gov.au
- WorkSafe Queensland, Guidelines for Evaluation of Permanent Impairment training (GEPI, trained assessors, stable and stationary) — worksafe.qld.gov.au