Federal Workers’ Compensation

Our people are genuine experts in Commonwealth Workers’ Compensation. In fact, HBA was founded on federal compensation work back in 2011 (alongside injury liability).

Our long-standing national workers’ compensation practice is spread across our offices in Perth, Sydney, Canberra and Newcastle. We handle upwards of 150 ART matters across all Australian jurisdictions at any one time.

HBA is fortunate to be home to some of Australia’s most sought after and respected practitioners in this space, including Kate Watson, Brett Ablong and Claire Tota. Taking into account our broader team, we offer in excess of 100 years’ combined experience.

With a demonstrated track record of understanding the legal needs and issues facing self-insureds, our clients include blue chip companies, transport companies, financial institutions, and national retailers. 

The knowledge of our team when it comes to the SRC Act Scheme’s operating environment ensures we are always sensitive towards the requirements and duties of our clients that must comply with licensing conditions and the oversight of the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and Comcare.  

HBA’s practitioners regularly appear as advocates in ART proceedings, particularly in interlocutory/preliminary hearings such as extension of time and dismissal applications.

The team approach all claims on the basis that we are not merely looking for an outcome. Rather, we are entrusted with our clients’ reputations and repay that trust in every aspect of the way we conduct claims. 

Over the past decade we have built an enviable reputation for successful early dispute resolution. Our team includes accredited mediators and strong negotiators adept at facilitating the early resolution of matters on instructions from our clients and where the circumstance of the individual case justify it. 

The true value of our Commonwealth compensation team is not only in the legal representation we provide at the ART and in Court, but also in our strategic advice on claims and rehabilitation management, as well as compliance issues under the SRC Act.   

HBA prides itself on a strategic “cradle to grave” offering where we provide legal and claims management advisory services from the time an injury is first notified through until resolution of the claim. This means we work directly with your claims managers, rehabilitation providers etc, as well as any in-house legal team. 

Some of our most successful results have been in cases where we have been involved from first notification.  At some firms, this has meant that a client is charged for work done on an hourly basis and, because of this, we understand that clients can be wary of seeking advice early.  However, at HBA, the pricing we can deploy for Commonwealth compensation clients often does not depend on hours worked, but on value for legal services and outcomes achieved.

Things don’t end there; we take matters further and are skilled in utilising the recoveries provisions to recover compensation payments made to employees.  We will work with you to build a simple ‘flagging’ process that will enable potential recovery matters to be identified at claim assessment stage. We provide advice on the likelihood of successfully being able to recover, but also the commercial viability of pursuing recovery in light of the value of the claim.