How Long Does a Medical Negligence Claim Take in Victoria?

Before proceedings, time goes on obtaining the records, getting independent expert opinion on the standard of care and causation, and waiting for the injury to stabilise. Under Part VBA of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), the other side has 60 days to answer a certificate of assessment, and a Medical Panel can put off its assessment for up to 12 months while an injury stabilises. Once a claim is in the County Court's Medical List, the court's practice note says the trial date will ordinarily be about 12 months after the standard timetable orders are submitted, with mediation due no later than two months before trial. A claim can settle at any stage.

Statutory and court time frames checked against the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) (version 130) and the County Court's Common Law Division Practice Note PNCLD 1-2025 (first revision) as at 29 September 2026. The table describes the process. It is not a forecast for any particular claim.

If you are asking this question, you may be worn down already: by the injury, by the appointments, and by not knowing when it will end. It is a fair thing to want to know. The honest answer is that nobody can give you a date at the start, but you can understand what each stage is waiting on. This guide is about duration. The steps themselves, in order, are set out in How to make a medical negligence claim in Victoria, step by step, and the deadline for starting a claim is a separate question, covered in Time limits for medical negligence claims.

What decides how long a medical negligence claim takes?

Three things, more than anything else.

• The evidence. A claim cannot be assessed until the records are in and an independent expert has read them. Every provider involved in your care has to be asked, and each one responds in its own time.
• Your injury. Damages for pain and suffering depend on an assessment of your impairment, and an impairment usually cannot be measured properly until the injury has stabilised. That part of the timetable is set by your recovery, not by anyone in the claim.
• Whether it settles, and when. A claim that settles after the written claim is put is usually shorter than one that goes through court proceedings. Once proceedings are issued, the court's timetable takes over.

Some intervals are fixed by statute or by the court. Most are not. Where the law sets a time, this guide gives it and says where it comes from. Where it does not, the guide describes what the stage depends on, rather than guessing at a number of months.

Related guide How to Make a Medical Negligence Claim, Step by Step 10 min · 24 Sep 2026

How long does it take to get your medical records?

For each provider, it depends on which law applies. A private provider has a maximum of 45 days to respond to a request under the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic). A public health service handling a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) has 30 days to decide, which can extend where another person has to be consulted. Many public hospitals will release a patient's own records informally, outside FOI.

The time adds up when several providers were involved: a GP, a private specialist, a public hospital, a pathology or radiology service. It helps to request them all at once rather than one after another. How to get your medical records in Victoria explains what to ask for and from whom, and the free medical records request letter builds the request for you.

How long does the expert opinion take?

No law sets a time for it. An independent specialist in the same field as the practitioner who treated you reads the records and answers two questions: whether the care fell below the standard in section 59 of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), and whether that caused your injury, which section 51 governs. How long that takes depends on finding a suitable expert who is available, on the size of the file, and on how many experts are needed.

More than one is often needed, because the specialist who can speak to the standard of care may not be the right person to speak to causation or to your condition now. The County Court's practice note for the Medical List observes that in virtually all medical negligence matters the content of expert reports assumes fundamental importance, whether on the adequacy of the care, the outcome that different care might have achieved, or the damages. That is why this stage is rarely one that can be skipped or hurried.

If the expert opinion does not support the claim, this is usually where it stops. That is the point at which a claim can end quickly, and it is not the same as a finding that nothing went wrong. What an investigation involves, and what it costs, is set out in What does it cost to investigate a medical negligence claim?

Why do you have to wait for your injury to stabilise?

Because the law measures the injury you are left with, and that cannot be measured while it is still changing. Under section 28LE of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), you cannot recover damages for pain and suffering in court unless you have a significant injury. As at 29 September 2026, the threshold in section 28LB is impairment of more than 5 per cent for most physical injuries, 5 per cent or more for a spinal injury, and 10 per cent or more for a psychiatric injury. The threshold does not apply to economic loss, such as lost income or the cost of treatment.

An approved medical practitioner assesses the impairment. Part VBA deals directly with injuries that have not stabilised:

• An assessment can be made even if not all of your injuries have stabilised (section 28LH(2)), but a certificate can then issue only if the injuries that have stabilised are enough on their own to meet the threshold (section 28LN(3)).
• If the practitioner cannot determine the impairment because the injury has not stabilised, they can issue a certificate 6 months after that first assessment, if they are satisfied the injury will meet the threshold once it stabilises (section 28LNA).
• If a Medical Panel cannot determine the question because an injury has not stabilised, it must fix a time for a further assessment, no later than 12 months after its first assessment, at the earliest time it considers the injury will have stabilised (section 28LZG(6) and (7)). If it still cannot decide at the end of those 12 months, the injury is deemed to be a significant injury (section 28LZGA(4)).

Waiting also matters for the rest of the claim. What you have lost, and what you will need in future, is much harder to show while your condition is still changing. This guide does not say when an injury has stabilised. That is a medical question for your own doctors and the assessing practitioner. What the threshold means for a smaller claim is covered in Is my medical negligence claim too small?

How long does the other side have to respond?

To a certificate of assessment, 60 days. Once you serve a copy of the certificate, the respondent must reply in writing within 60 days (section 28LW of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic)). It can accept the assessment, say it will refer a medical question to a Medical Panel, ask for further information, or say it is not the proper respondent. If it does not reply within the 60 days, it is deemed to have accepted the assessment. If it asks for more information, it has a further 60 days after receiving it (section 28LWA).

If a medical question is referred, the Medical Panel must give its determination within 30 days after the last of the information it asked for is provided, or a longer period the parties agree (section 28LZG(3)). The Panel's determination must be accepted by a court in any proceeding on the claim (section 28LZH).

To the claim itself, no time is set. Victoria has no compulsory pre-litigation protocol for medical negligence claims, so there is no statutory period within which a doctor, a hospital or its insurer must answer a letter of claim, investigate or make an offer. That is often where the longest and least predictable wait sits.

Is there a waiting period before you can go to court?

No statute makes you wait a fixed period after a letter of claim before issuing proceedings. The main constraint runs the other way: the limitation period. If negotiation is slow and the deadline is getting close, proceedings may be issued to protect the claim while talks continue. Issuing proceedings is not the same as going to trial. It means filing a writ and a statement of claim in the County Court or the Supreme Court of Victoria.

A writ must ordinarily be served within 12 months of the date it is issued, and the court can extend that under rule 5.12 of its rules.

How long does a claim take once it is in court?

In the County Court, medical negligence proceedings are managed in the Medical List of the Common Law Division. Its practice note (PNCLD 1-2025, first revision) says the parties should expect the trial date to be ordinarily approximately 12 months from the date the standard timetable orders are submitted. The court allocates the earliest trial date available.

Within that year the parties exchange their medical and expert reports, the plaintiff serves the details of their financial losses, and any interlocutory disputes are dealt with. The court expects each step to be timed so that the investigation, the expert evidence and the mediation are all complete within an appropriate time before the trial date. An application to vacate a trial date should be made at the earliest opportunity, and only in exceptional circumstances within 30 days of trial. If a case is not reached on its trial date because no judge is available, it is refixed, usually with priority and at the earliest available date.

In the Supreme Court, medical negligence claims are managed in the Personal Injuries List. Once a notice of appearance is filed, the court issues a timetable that includes a date by which the matter is to be mediated, a trial management directions hearing and a trial date.

The Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) also puts a duty on everyone involved. Section 25 requires the parties and their lawyers to act promptly and minimise delay.

When does mediation happen?

In the County Court's Medical List, the court fixes a date by which the parties must mediate, and that date is no later than two months before the trial. The parties can mediate at any time before then. A later mediation needs the approval of the judge in charge of the list. By the time of mediation the expert reports have usually been exchanged, so both sides know the strength of the evidence.

Mediation is not optional because one side would prefer to go straight to trial. Section 66 of the Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) lets a court refer a civil proceeding to mediation without the parties' consent, at any stage. A claim can also be mediated before proceedings are issued, if both sides agree.

Why can a claim settle before it reaches trial?

Because the process is built to encourage it. Section 22 of the Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) requires everyone in a civil proceeding to try to resolve the dispute by agreement, including by mediation where appropriate. The courts order mediation before trial. And either side can make a formal offer of compromise under Order 26 of the court's rules, which can carry costs consequences for the party that refuses it and then does worse at trial.

The point at which a claim settles is also the point at which it ends. That may be after the written claim is put, after the Part VBA process, at mediation, or at the door of the court. Whether a claim settles, and on what terms, depends on the evidence and on the other side, and no one can tell you in advance which it will be.

Does a claim for a child take longer?

It can have an extra step at the end. If a claim is brought for a minor, a person with a disability that prevents them making decisions, or a person who has died, a settlement reached in a proceeding needs the court's approval. The County Court's practice note says these applications are usually decided on the papers, and are to be filed no later than 30 days after the compromise. The court has to see the evidence on both liability and the damages before it approves.

For children, the waiting for an injury to stabilise can also be longer, because the effect of an injury may only become clear as the child develops. The time limits for children are different too, which is explained in Can you claim medical negligence after many years?

Does the time limit keep running while your claim is investigated?

Yes, generally. Asking for records, waiting for an expert or negotiating with an insurer does not stop the limitation period. For most adults it is three years from when the claim became discoverable, with a twelve-year outer limit, under section 27D of the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic).

There is one suspension built into Part VBA. Serving a certificate of assessment suspends the limitation period until three months after the respondent accepts the assessment, is deemed to accept it, or the Medical Panel process concludes (section 28LV of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic)). That is one reason the certificate is often obtained early. A slow claim does not by itself give you more time, which is why the dates should be checked at the start, not left until the end.

What can you do to keep your claim moving?

Some of the timetable is out of your hands. Some of it is not.

• Request every set of records at once. Make a list of every provider involved in your care, including GPs, specialists, hospitals, pathology and imaging, and ask them all in the same week.
• Write down what happened, while you remember it. Dates, names, what you were told and when you first suspected something was wrong. It is often what the dates turn on.
• Keep your losses in one place. Receipts, payslips, time off work, travel to appointments and the help family gave you. That evidence takes longest to rebuild later.
• Keep your appointments, and tell your lawyer about changes. A new diagnosis, surgery or a change in your ability to work can change when the injury can be assessed.
• Answer requests promptly. A Medical Panel's 30 days runs from the last information it asks for. Delay on either side lengthens every stage that depends on it.

None of this changes what the evidence shows, and none of it guarantees a quicker result. It removes the delays that come from the claim waiting on paperwork.

Where do you start?

With the dates and the records. You do not need to know how long your claim might take before you ask about it, and you do not need an expert report to begin.

Clever Legal uses technology to organise medical records and build the chronology, and our lawyers review the evidence and make every legal decision. If you think something went wrong with your care, start a free assessment. You will be told plainly where your claim stands and what the next step would be, with no obligation and no guaranteed outcome. If another firm has already declined your claim, Your claim was rejected: what happens next is the place to start.

Common questions

How long does a medical negligence claim take in Victoria?

There is no fixed timetable. The length depends on how quickly the records and independent expert opinion can be obtained, on when the injury has stabilised enough to be assessed under Part VBA of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), and on whether the claim settles before or after proceedings are issued. In the County Court's Medical List, the court's practice note says the trial date will ordinarily be about 12 months after the standard timetable orders are submitted. A claim can settle at any stage.

What are the stages of a medical negligence claim?

The usual stages are obtaining the medical records, getting independent expert opinion on the standard of care and causation, waiting for the injury to stabilise, obtaining a certificate of assessment if you are claiming for pain and suffering, putting the claim in writing to the other side and negotiating, and, if the claim does not settle, issuing proceedings in the County Court or Supreme Court, where it may resolve at mediation, by settlement or after a trial.

How long do medical negligence claims take to settle?

No law sets a time, and no one can tell you in advance when a particular claim will settle. A claim can settle after the written claim is put, after the Part VBA process, at mediation or before trial. In the County Court's Medical List, the court fixes a date by which the parties must mediate that is no later than two months before the trial.

Why do you have to wait for your injury to stabilise before claiming?

Because damages for pain and suffering depend on an assessment of the impairment you are left with, and that cannot be measured properly while the injury is still changing. Under Part VBA of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), an approved medical practitioner can issue a certificate 6 months after a first assessment of an unstable injury, and a Medical Panel can defer its assessment for up to 12 months.

Sources

• Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) — sections 51, 59, 28LB, 28LE, 28LH, 28LN, 28LNA, 28LV, 28LW, 28LWA, 28LZG, 28LZGA and 28LZH (version 130, in force 25 February 2026)
• Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic) — section 27D (version 112, in force 25 February 2026)
• Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) — sections 22, 25 and 66 (version 021)
• County Court of Victoria, Common Law Division Practice Note PNCLD 1-2025 (first revision) — section 27 (Medical List), service of originating process, applications for approval of compromise, and not-reached trials
• County Court Civil Procedure Rules 2018 (Vic) — rule 5.12 and Order 26
• Supreme Court of Victoria, Personal Injuries List — and Practice Note SC CL 3 Personal Injuries Litigation
• Health Records Act 2001 (Vic)
• Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic)