If a medical negligence claim succeeds, compensation is meant to put you, as far as money can, in the position you would have been in had the negligence not happened. It is not a windfall and it is not a punishment of the practitioner. It is an attempt to account for what the harm has actually cost you — past and future.
Compensation is grouped into "heads of damage". The mix that applies depends entirely on your circumstances, so the categories below are a guide to what can be claimed, not a list of what every claim recovers.
Compensation in a Victorian medical negligence claim is grouped into heads of damage: treatment costs, care and support, lost income and superannuation, and general damages for pain and suffering. Which of them apply depends entirely on your own circumstances and evidence.
There is no fixed tariff for a type of injury. Each head is proved separately, with its own evidence, and the total is built from those parts rather than taken from a table of awards. General damages are the exception in one respect: access to them is restricted by statute, and an injury must meet a threshold before they can be recovered.
| Head of damage | What it covers | Evidence it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| Medical and rehabilitation | Treatment made necessary by the negligence, past and future | Receipts, medical reports and treating opinion on future needs |
| Care and support | Help with daily tasks, including unpaid care provided by family | Care records and occupational therapy evidence |
| Lost income and superannuation | Earnings already lost and future earning capacity | Employment history, tax records and medical evidence on capacity |
| General damages | Pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life | Medical evidence, and only where the statutory threshold is met |
No figures are published here. The threshold and cap for general damages are set by legislation, are indexed, and change over time.
Medical and rehabilitation costs
You can generally claim the cost of treatment made necessary by the negligence — surgery, hospital stays, medication, rehabilitation, therapy and aids or equipment. This covers both what you have already paid and the reasonable cost of treatment you will still need. Future costs are estimated with medical evidence, so good records and expert input matter here too.
Care and support
If your injury means you need help with everyday tasks — personal care, household tasks, transport to appointments — the value of that care can be claimed. Importantly, this can include unpaid care provided by family or friends, not only paid services. There are specific rules about when and how care of this kind is compensated, so it is worth flagging early if someone has been looking after you.
Lost income and superannuation
Where the injury has affected your ability to work, you can generally claim for income you have lost and income you are likely to lose in the future. Loss of superannuation that you would have accrued can also form part of this.
Future loss is necessarily an estimate. It draws on your work history, your earning capacity before and after the injury, and medical evidence about your prognosis. This is one of the larger heads of damage in many serious cases, which is why getting the evidence right matters.
Can you claim for pain and suffering?
General damages compensate for the non-financial impact of an injury: pain and suffering, and the loss of enjoyment or amenity of life.
In Victoria, access to general damages is restricted. You generally cannot recover for pain and suffering unless your injury meets a "significant injury" threshold — a level of permanent impairment assessed under the legislation. There are also limits on the amount that can be awarded for general damages.
We have deliberately not put numbers on the threshold or the cap here. Both are set by legislation, are subject to indexation, and have been the subject of legal argument, so any figure needs to be confirmed against the current law before it goes on the site. The practical point is that not every injury will reach the threshold for pain-and-suffering damages — but the other heads above can still be claimable even where it does not.
How is compensation worked out?
There is no fixed tariff. Each head of damage is supported by its own evidence — receipts and medical reports for treatment costs, employment and financial records for economic loss, and impairment assessments for general damages. The total reflects your individual loss, which is why two people with a similar diagnosis can recover very different amounts.
This is also why we focus on resolving claims efficiently rather than running up the meter. The aim is to recover what you are properly owed, not to maximise process. You can read more about that approach in How it works.
How long do you have to claim?
What you can claim is one question; whether you can still bring the claim at all is another. Medical negligence claims have strict deadlines — see Time limits for medical negligence claims.
How do you find out what your claim involves?
The honest answer to "what is my claim worth" is that it depends on the evidence — and gathering that evidence is what an assessment begins. We will tell you plainly which heads of damage are likely to be in play and what proving them would take. The assessment is free, there is no obligation, and there are no guaranteed outcomes.
To find out which of these heads of damage might apply to you, start a free assessment. We will explain plainly what your claim could involve — there is no obligation, and no guaranteed outcomes.
Common questions
Can you claim for pain and suffering in Victoria?
Only if your injury meets a statutory threshold. Access to general damages is restricted under Victorian law, and an injury generally has to be assessed as significant before pain and suffering can be recovered at all. That assessment is a formal process based on medical evidence. Financial losses such as treatment costs, care and lost income are not subject to that threshold and can be claimed whether or not it is met.
Can family members be compensated for care they provide unpaid?
The value of that care can generally form part of the claim, even though no money changed hands. Where an injury means you need help with personal care, household tasks or transport to appointments, and a family member provides it, that assistance has a value which can be claimed. It has to be evidenced rather than estimated, usually through care records and occupational therapy assessment.
Is there a set amount for a particular type of injury?
No. There is no tariff that converts an injury into a figure. Two people with the same diagnosis can have very different claims, because compensation follows the actual effect on each of them: what treatment they need, what care they require, what work they can still do, and how long the effects will last. That is why a figure quoted without seeing your records and medical evidence is guesswork.
Can you claim for losses that have not happened yet?
Yes. Future losses are a normal part of a claim and often the largest part of it, covering future treatment, future care and future loss of earning capacity. Because they have not occurred, they are necessarily an estimate, built from your work history, medical evidence about your prognosis and expert assessment of what you are likely to need.