Independent medical examinations in Queensland: what to expect and your rights

A letter arrives from the insurer. It names a doctor you have never met, sets a date and a time, and says you are required to attend. The appointment is called an independent medical examination, and for many people in a Queensland injury claim it is where the process stops feeling like paperwork.

Queensland legislation sets out who can require the examination, who picks the examiner, who pays, what you can decline, and what happens to the report. Those rules are not uniform: the scheme your claim sits in changes your position considerably, and the letter rarely says which. This article sets out the framework as at August 2026.

What an independent medical examination is

An independent medical examination is an assessment arranged by the insurer, or by the party you are claiming against, to obtain a medical opinion for the claim rather than to provide treatment. The examiner is engaged and paid by that party, and is usually someone who has not treated you. “Independent” refers to the absence of a treating relationship. It does not mean the examiner is court-appointed, or free of the professional obligations that otherwise apply.

The legislation uses different language for the same idea. In a statutory WorkCover claim it is a “personal examination by a registered person” under s 135 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld), which need not be a doctor. In a compulsory third party claim, and in a public liability or medical negligence claim, it is an examination requested where the parties cannot agree on a report: s 46A of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld) and s 25 of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld).

In a statutory WorkCover claim the examination often feeds an assessment of permanent impairment under s 179: an audiologist for industrial deafness, a medical assessment tribunal for a psychiatric or psychological injury, and a doctor for anything else. The result is expressed as a percentage.

Which law applies to your examination

Four provisions govern the examination at the pre-court stage, and they do not say the same thing.

Who chooses the doctor

The statutory WorkCover stage, where most injured workers start, gives the least say. Under s 135 the insurer names the examiner and may require the examination at any time. You get no choice and no shortlist.

Once a claim moves to common law, and in CTP and public liability claims, the position reverses. The other side nominates a panel and you select from it: at least three doctors under s 282 and under s 46A, and under s 25 at least three with appropriate qualifications and experience in the relevant field, a real constraint where the injury is a specialised one. If three suitably qualified people are not available, each provision allows the panel to drop to two.

Each provision also covers an assessment of cognitive, functional or vocational capacity, with the same panel arrangement. Sections 282 and 25 allow either or both of that assessment and a medical examination. Section 46A frames the two as alternatives.

When you can decline the request

Outside the statutory WorkCover stage, all three provisions carry the same limit: you are not obliged to undergo an examination that is unreasonable or unnecessarily repetitious, under s 282(2), s 46A(3) and s 25(3). That does real work where you have already been examined on the same question.

Section 25 goes further and confines what the report may be about: the cause or probable cause of the incident, the cause or probable cause of the injury, your medical condition or prospects of rehabilitation, and your cognitive, functional or vocational capacity. A request reaching past those subjects is one the section does not authorise.

Section 135 has no equivalent limit. It allows an examination “at any time” at a reasonably convenient place, and the excuse it recognises is narrow. Under s 135(2), a reasonable excuse answers a failure to attend. Refusing to be examined once you have attended, and obstructing or attempting to obstruct the examination, carry no such qualification.

What happens if you do not attend

Under s 135(2) and (3), failing without reasonable excuse to attend, refusing to be examined once you are there, or obstructing the examination suspends any entitlement to compensation until you undergo it. That is a suspension, not a rejection: it lifts when the examination happens. Payments stop in the meantime, so a genuine reason for not attending is worth putting in writing at the time.

In CTP and public liability claims, non-compliance runs through the court instead. On the insurer’s application the court may order a claimant to remedy the default within a time it sets: s 50 of the CTP Act. Section 35 does the same in public liability and medical negligence claims, with orders including costs. Section 50 runs both ways, so a claimant has the same power against a defaulting insurer.

Getting a copy of the report

Disclosure of the report is an obligation in a CTP claim, a public liability claim and a WorkCover common law claim. The provisions below sit in those three processes, so a report obtained under s 135 is a copy to ask for rather than assume.

In a CTP claim the insurer must give you copies of reports and other material in its possession about the accident or your medical condition or prospects of rehabilitation, within one month of the notice of claim or of the material arriving later: s 47. An insurer that fails, without proper reason, to comply fully with a request under that section is liable for the costs that result. Section 27 imposes a similar duty on a respondent in a public liability or medical negligence claim, for reports directly relevant to a matter in issue: one month from a complying part 1 notice of claim, and seven days for anything later. The Personal Injuries Proceedings Regulation 2025 (Qld) prescribes no different period, so those are the operative ones.

In a WorkCover common law claim the parties must exchange relevant documents, which the Act defines to include reports, within 21 business days of the notice of claim, and within 21 business days of any later document coming into a party’s possession: s 279. That second limb is the one that catches an examination report commissioned afterwards. The provision worth knowing is s 284: medical reports must be disclosed even though they would otherwise be protected by legal professional privilege, so an unhelpful report cannot simply be filed away. The qualification is that an insurer with reasonable grounds to suspect fraud may withhold material that would alert the claimant to the suspicion.

If you disagree with what the report says

In a statutory WorkCover claim the report feeds a decision, and it is the decision you challenge. Section 540 lists the decisions this route covers, including a decision to allow or reject an application for compensation and a decision to terminate or suspend payment, and provides that they may be reviewed only by the Regulator. An application must be made within 3 months of receiving written notice of the decision and its reasons: s 542. You may ask once for further time, which the Regulator may allow if satisfied special circumstances exist. Where the notice gave no reasons, you have 20 business days to ask for them, the decision-maker has 5 business days to give them, and the 3 months runs from when you receive them.

Medical questions take a different path. Under s 500 the insurer may refer medical matters to the appropriate medical assessment tribunal. A tribunal decision on a medical matter is final and cannot be questioned before a tribunal or a court except under s 512, although judicial review is preserved: s 515. The review route above does not reach it. Section 512 is the practical opening: within 12 months of the original decision you may ask the insurer to consider fresh medical evidence, and it must refer that evidence to a review panel, which decides whether it is relevant and is factual medical data not known about you when the tribunal decided. If the panel accepts it, the application goes back to the tribunal.

In CTP and public liability claims there is no tribunal, and you are not bound by the other side’s report. Your own medical evidence sits alongside it, and the gap is resolved in negotiation or by a court.

Practical points for the day itself

If a panel is offered, the choice is yours to make deliberately, not a formality.

Be accurate about your history. Section 45 requires a CTP claimant to hand over reports and material in their possession about the accident or their medical condition, and to give information reasonably requested about their medical history so far as it is relevant. It also requires you to tell the insurer within one month of becoming aware of a significant change in your condition. What you say at the examination is read against that material.

None of these provisions deals with bringing a support person, so ask in advance rather than on the day. Recording the appointment is a separate question with its own rules, and not one to answer on your own. Keep a note of how long the examination ran and what it covered, in case the report does not match your recollection.

Published 19 August 2026.

Where this leaves you

The legislation gives claimants more say in an independent medical examination than the letter suggests. The task is to work out which provision the request is made under, because that decides who picks the examiner, who pays, and whether you can decline. The report is then usually a document you are entitled to see, and a decision built on it can be reviewed within a set time.

Related reading

• How Fraser Lawyers helps with WorkCover claims in Queensland
• How Fraser Lawyers helps with CTP claims in Queensland
• Should you accept your WorkCover lump sum offer?
• The personal injury claim process in Queensland
• Contact Fraser Lawyers

Current text: s 135, s 46A, s 25.

This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Queensland law and the figures referred to can change, and every situation turns on its own facts. Contact Fraser Lawyers for advice specific to your circumstances.

If you would like to discuss your matter, you can book a consultation or call (07) 5554 6116.