Foyle Legal recently started acting for a work for the dole participant who suffered serious injuries in the course of his work for the dole programme.


Work for the dole participants in Western Australia are not workers within the meaning specified in the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981, and are therefore not entitled to payments under that Act. There is also no statutory compensation scheme to meet the medical costs of work for the dole participants. Injured work for the dole participants do not have to abide by the workers compensation restrictions in respect of common law damages, and can sue their work for the dole provider (and other negligent parties) in an action for damages at common law.


In the relatively recent case of Gregory Warren Thomson v Twin Towns Employment Enterprises Limited [2008] NSWDC 213 (Thomson v Twin Towns) the New South Wales District Court considered a personal injury damages claim and said as follows:


I find that the duty of care in this instance was akin to that of an employer to an employee to take reasonable care to avoid exposing a person in the position of the plaintiff to unnecessary risks of injury. That duty was to provide the plaintiff with a safe system of work, a safe place of work and appropriate work-place equipment. The contract between the defendant and the Commonwealth suggests these are the exact responsibilities the defendant contracted to fulfil in relation to the participants in the scheme


The duty of care that employers owe to employees is a non-delegable duty and has been found on several occasions be a relatively strenuous duty. It is clear from Thomson v Twin Towns that work for the dole providers have a similar duty of care.


One consideration that arises from such a case is to what extent the work for the dole participant would be able to claim past and future economic loss at a trial of the action. In the case of Thomson v Twin Towns the Plaintiff was able to obtain an award for economic loss, even though it was somewhat modest. In assessing the claimant’s economic loss the court looked at the claimant’s work history as a whole as well as his personal circumstances in coming to an award. The claimant also received an award for past and future medical expenses (treatment expenses), superannuation, past attendant care services and general damages. The general damages award was $62,000.00 which is probably more than the claimant could hope to achieve for the injury itself through the workers compensation system in Western Australia.


Should you wish to discuss an existing personal injury damages claim Foyle Legal provides no win no fee representation in the area of personal injuries compensation so that you can focus on your life and getting the treatment that you need. You can contact Foyle Legal for an obligation free consultation on 0408727343 or by email at [email protected]. If you would like to find out more about compensation claims you can visit our site at https://foylelegal.com/.