Personal Injury Update
This Live webinar will occur on the 25th of March 2026
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- The psychological injury eligibility test has fundamentally changedInterpersonal conflict and general work stress are no longer compensable under workers compensation. Claims that would previously have succeeded may now fail entirely. Every file needs to be reassessed against the new statutory definitions — and neither bill has yet commenced, so practitioners must be tracking the proclamation dates closely.
- Elisha opens a new parallel avenue for employment-related psychiatric injury The High Court’s decision in Elisha v Vision Australia [2024] HCA 50 overturns a 115-year-old precedent and confirms that psychiatric injury is recoverable as contract damages for breach of an employment contract. For clients who cannot meet the new workers comp eligibility threshold, a breach of an incorporated disciplinary procedure may now sound in uncapped contract damages, outside the Civil Liability Act entirely.
- Domestic violence is an under-utilised area of personal injury practice Section 3B of the Civil Liability Act removes all of the Act’s restrictions where the defendant acted with intent to cause injury. No 15% threshold, no $804,000 cap, no actuarial discount rate. Aggravated and exemplary damages are available. No prior criminal conviction is required. The criminalisation of coercive control (1 July 2024) and the Family Law Amendment Act 2024 (Cth) (commenced 10 June 2025) now make a parallel strategy — civil tort claim, family proceedings, and Victims Support Scheme — considerably more compelling than it has ever been.
- AI obligations are already in force — practitioners need to act now Every NSW court and tribunal has adopted formal AI rules. The Supreme, District and Local Courts from 3 February 2025; the Personal Injury Commission from 1 January 2026. AI-assisted expert reports are prohibited without prior leave. Every brief must now include the Practice Note and ask the question before the report is filed. Practitioners who have not yet briefed their experts are already exposed.
- The long-term value of most workers compensation claims has fallen Weekly compensation is capped at 130 weeks except in the most serious cases. The WPI thresholds for extended benefits escalate progressively in July 2026, July 2027 and July 2029. Every long-term quantum assessment and settlement recommendation needs to be rebuilt around these numbers.
1 CPD unit – Substantive Law
About your Speaker
Admitted to the Bar in 1989.
John has practised almost exclusively in personal injury and commercial litigation, arbitrations and advisory work since 1989. He has been a member of Hargrave Chambers since 1995.
An experienced practitioner and forceful advocate, John practices in causes of action arising in New South Wales, the ACT and in Queensland and has developed a specialist expertise in cross-border personal injury claims. He regularly appears in the following jurisdictions: –
• NSW Supreme Court
• NSW District Court
• ACT Supreme Court
• NSW Personal Injury Commission
His forensic strengths are in advocacy, assimilation of facts and immediate identification of the critical issues of a dispute. He acts extensively for plaintiffs, but also insurers, particularly in relation to negligence claims. John has particular expertise in drafting complicated pleadings and schedules. He is client friendly and known for his ability to assimilate complex instructions and respond rapidly with tactics and strategy including pre-emptive remedies when required.
John is an advocate of great experience who has significant experience of commercial, contractual and building disputes, personal injury claims, including complex road accident claims, workers compensation, and group litigation. He is experienced at acting for claimants over the whole range of matters including fatal accident litigation, brain damage, spinal injury, amputation and other high value claims including cases of injury of maximum severity, psychiatric damage, and injury to children. John has experience in health and safety, employer’s liability, serious industrial accidents, explosions, fires, manual handling, repetitive strain injury and workplace accidents, occupational stress and bullying, occupier’s liability claims and sporting injuries.
His practice is focused on Personal Injury negligence claims, workers compensation and motor vehicle claims.
John is also the Founder and CEO of Casenoter, a legal research management platform built specifically for legal practitioners. Casenoter was developed out of John’s own experience at the Bar — the recognition that finding legal research is only half the problem. The other half is keeping it, organising it, and finding it again when you need it. Casenoter solves that problem with one-click save, a structured keyword system, and a search function that works across everything a practitioner has ever saved.
