Most people assume workers’ compensation only covers injuries that happen at work. In Queensland the cover can reach further than the workplace. An injury on the trip between home and work can also be treated as arising in the course of employment. These are commonly called WorkCover journey claims.
The cover is set by statute and has clear edges. A WorkCover journey claim turns on being a worker, on the trip being a recognised journey, and on what you were doing along the way. Ordinary travel between home and work is the core case, but deviations, long interruptions and certain driving offences can take an injury outside it.
This article explains how journey claims work under the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld), which trips are covered, how the deviation rules operate, what happens when another vehicle is involved, and the time limit that applies. It is general information about how the law works in Queensland, not advice about a particular claim.
What Queensland journey claims cover
The journey provision is s 35, headed “Other circumstances”. It treats an injury as arising out of, or in the course of, employment if the event happens while the worker is on one of the journeys it lists. The main one is a journey between the worker’s home and place of employment: the ordinary commute.
Section 35 also covers some journeys that are not the daily commute: a trip to a training school the worker is required or expected to attend; for an existing compensable injury, a trip for medical treatment, rehabilitation or examination; and a trip between the workplaces of two employers for a worker who holds two jobs.
Two details matter. First, s 35(3) provides that a journey to or from home starts or ends at the boundary of the land on which the home is situated, so an event in your own yard or driveway, before you reach the boundary, is generally not yet part of the journey. Second, s 35(4) extends “home” beyond your usual residence to a place where you were temporarily staying before the journey, or intended to stay after it, so a temporary residence can count.
You do not have to prove work caused the injury
For an ordinary work injury, s 32(1) requires employment to be a significant contributing factor to the injury. Journey claims work differently. Section 35(2) states that, for a journey, employment need not be a contributing factor to the injury, and s 32(2) confirms that the significant contributing factor test does not apply where s 35(2) is engaged.
The practical effect is important. You do not have to show that your work caused the crash or the fall, only that you were a worker, on a journey the legislation recognises, and injured in an event on it. In that sense the statutory scheme is no-fault: it does not ask whether anyone was to blame. The same structure applies to injuries at the workplace itself under s 34, the counterpart to s 35.
Which journeys are usually covered: a quick guide
The table below is a general guide only. Real cases turn on the facts and on the s 36 factors explained further down, so a situation marked “depends” can fall either way.
| Situation | Usually within journey cover? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Travelling directly between home and your workplace | Usually yes | This is the core journey described in s 35(1)(a). |
| A short, ordinary stop on the way, such as for fuel | Often yes | A brief stop is unlikely to be a substantial interruption under s 36. |
| Dropping children at school or child care, then continuing | Depends | Treated as a possible interruption or deviation, weighed on reason, time and distance under s 36. |
| A long detour or lengthy stop for private reasons | Often no | A substantial deviation or interruption can take the injury outside cover under s 36. |
| An event in your own yard before the property boundary | Usually no | The journey starts at the boundary of the home’s land under s 35(3). |
| A crash mainly caused by your own drink, drug or dangerous driving | No | Section 36 removes cover where such a contravention is the major significant factor. |
Deviations, interruptions and delays
The most litigated part of journey cover is s 36. It provides that an injury is not taken to arise out of, or in the course of, employment if the event happens during or after a substantial delay before the worker starts the journey, or a substantial interruption of, or deviation from, the journey. In plain terms, a big enough departure from the trip can end the cover.
Whether a departure is substantial is not decided by a stopwatch alone. Section 36 weighs the reason for the delay, interruption or deviation, and the time it took compared with the journey; for a deviation, it also weighs the distance travelled off the route. A quick stop for milk on the usual route sits very differently from a two-hour visit well away from the way home.
There is an important exception. Under s 36(3), the substantial delay, interruption or deviation rule does not apply if the reason for it was connected with your employment, or if it arose because of circumstances beyond your control. An errand your employer asked you to run, or a forced detour around a road closure or crash, is treated differently from a personal side trip.
When drink driving, drugs or dangerous driving can end cover
Section 36 also removes journey cover in a second situation. If the worker was in control of a vehicle and contravened the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) s 79, which contains the drink and drug driving offences, or the Criminal Code (Qld) s 328A, dangerous operation of a vehicle, the injury is not covered where that contravention was the major significant factor causing the event.
The threshold is deliberately high. It is not enough that a driver committed some offence somewhere on the trip: the contravention has to be the major significant factor that caused the event in which the worker was hurt. These are also the same offences that carry their own criminal penalties.
When a road crash means two claims: WorkCover and CTP
Many journey injuries are road crashes, and where another driver was at fault a second scheme can come into play. A worker injured in a motor vehicle accident on the way to or from work may have both a statutory WorkCover journey claim and a compulsory third party (CTP) claim arising from another road user’s wrongful act or omission.
The two schemes rest on different foundations. The WorkCover journey claim is no-fault, as explained above. A CTP claim is fault-based: the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld) s 5 applies to a motor vehicle injury only where it is caused, wholly or partly, by a wrongful act or omission of a person other than the injured person. In short, a CTP claim needs someone else to have been at fault, while the WorkCover journey claim does not.
The schemes are designed to work together rather than to pay twice for the same loss. Under s 207B, compensation already paid by the WorkCover insurer is a first charge on any damages later recovered, so amounts received through one scheme are accounted for in the other. Because each pathway has its own steps and deadlines, the way a WorkCover journey claim and a CTP claim fit together can matter from the outset.
Who counts as a worker, and the 6-month deadline
Journey cover only applies to a worker. Section 11 defines a worker as, broadly, a person who works under a contract and is treated as a PAYG employee for tax purposes. Genuine independent contractors generally sit outside that definition, although Schedule 2 to the Act deems some people to be workers and others not, so the label on a contract is not always the last word.
Timing is the other practical gate. Section 131 provides that an application for compensation is valid and enforceable only if it is lodged within 6 months after the entitlement to compensation arises, and lodging late can also limit how far back benefits are paid. That 6-month period does not run from the date of the accident. Under s 141, the entitlement to compensation arises on the day a doctor assesses the injury, or, for a minor injury, a nurse practitioner, and for an oral injury, a dentist, so the period runs from that assessment. An insurer can waive the time limit in defined situations, including certain medical circumstances, mistake, absence from the State, or another reasonable cause, but those grounds are limited, which is why the start of the period can be decisive.
Published 20 July 2026.
Where this leaves you
Journey claims are one of the less understood parts of the Queensland scheme. The cover is real, but bounded: it depends on being a worker, on the trip being a recognised journey, and on how any stops or detours are treated under s 36. Where a vehicle and another road user are involved, more than one claim may be in play, each with its own deadline. Understanding which rules apply, and acting within the time limits, is what keeps a journey claim straightforward.
Related reading
- WorkCover claims in Queensland: the complete guide
- CTP claims in Queensland
- How Fraser Lawyers helps with WorkCover claims
- Contact Fraser Lawyers
You can also read s 35 in full on the Queensland legislation website, or find general claim information at WorkSafe Queensland.
Need advice? Time limits and key decisions in journey injury claims can be strict and easy to miss. If this is your situation, contact Fraser Lawyers to understand your rights and where you stand, with no obligation. |
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.
