4Guide 4 of 6
If you caused the crash: at-fault drivers and injury claims
It depends on the state where the crash happened. Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory pay benefits whoever was at fault, NSW pays some benefits to every injured person for a limited period, and in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia a driver wholly at fault generally can’t claim CTP for their own injuries. Those three fault-based states each have a separate no-fault scheme for the most serious injuries.
General information, not legal advice. Who was “at fault” is decided by the insurer or a court, not by how a crash felt at the time. Ask the scheme in your state how its rules apply to you.
Crossing the border changes the answer
The same crash can be treated very differently a few kilometres apart, because each state decided for itself how much fault should matter. This table sets the schemes side by side for a driver who caused the crash.
| State | Your own injuries | Lump sum or common law | Very serious injuries |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Personal injury benefits can be claimed whoever was at fault, for a limited period. Published figures for that period differ and it depends on the crash date: check with CTP Assist | Only if you were not mostly at fault | Lifetime Care and Support, a no-fault scheme for catastrophic injuries |
| VIC | You can make a TAC claim even if the accident was your fault | A lump sum if you are eligible for compensation | Not checked for this guide: ask the TAC |
| QLD | No CTP claim if you were totally at fault, or if no one was | Not where you were totally at fault | NIISQ, for eligible serious injuries from 1 July 2016, regardless of fault |
| WA | Fault-based: if you were at fault you may not be eligible | Not checked for this guide: ask the Commission | Catastrophic Injuries Support Scheme, no-fault, from 1 July 2016 |
| SA | A claim is generally accepted only if someone other than the injured person was at least partly responsible | Not where no one else was responsible | Lifetime Support Scheme, regardless of fault |
| TAS | Treatment and support services regardless of fault | Only where someone else was at fault, or partly at fault | Not checked for this guide: ask the MAIB |
| ACT | Defined benefits whoever was at fault: treatment, care and income replacement for up to five years | Only if injured by someone else’s negligence and a threshold is met | Quality of life benefit for permanent injuries, on a no-fault basis |
| NT | Support regardless of who was at fault | Lump sum permanent impairment benefits are part of the scheme | Lifetime care and support, regardless of fault |
“Not checked” means this guide did not find a statement on the scheme’s own pages. That is not the same as no cover.
NSW in more detail
NSW sits between the two models, so it is worth a closer look. Anyone injured in a crash can apply for personal injury benefits, including income support, whoever was at fault. For how long an at-fault driver receives them, the published figures differ: SIRA’s own reform page gives both a six-month period and 52 weeks, and the Law Society of NSW says 26 weeks where injuries are minor or the driver was wholly or mostly at fault. After that period, fault matters more. Income benefits can continue for up to two years for people who were not at fault and whose injuries are more than threshold injuries, and lump sum damages are for people who were not mostly at fault.
The period that applies depends on the date of the crash. Confirm yours with CTP Assist on 1300 656 919.
Partly at fault
Many crashes aren’t all one driver’s doing. The schemes below say how shared blame changes what is paid.
- Queensland: you can still claim if you were partly at fault, but the amount of compensation may be reduced.
- NSW: lump sum compensation may be reduced for contributory negligence if you were partly at fault for the crash or your injuries, such as not wearing a seatbelt.
- South Australia: the insurer’s liability letter says whether it accepts liability fully or partly, and whether statutory reductions apply, for example for not wearing a seatbelt.
- Northern Territory: even in a no-fault scheme, benefits can be reduced or excluded; the scheme’s list covers, among other things, not wearing a seatbelt or helmet, alcohol and drugs, and an expired, cancelled or suspended licence.
Queensland’s regulator sums up the national picture: in every state and territory, benefits may be refused to people injured through their own serious wrongdoing, such as criminal activity or intoxication.
When no one was at fault
A kangaroo on the road, a sudden brake failure, a driver’s heart attack. In a fault-based state, a crash nobody caused can leave the injured with no CTP claim: Queensland gives a single-vehicle crash involving only your vehicle as an example.
Other schemes provide for these “blameless” accidents. NSW lists collisions with an animal, debris on the road, unforeseen mechanical failure and a driver’s medical episode as examples, and says people injured in them are not disadvantaged in getting benefits. In the ACT, a driver in a blameless accident may be deemed at fault so that others injured can make a common law claim.
Children who caused a crash
Two schemes treat young people differently. In South Australia, people under 16 at the time of the accident are covered even if they caused it. In NSW, children 16 and under at the time receive treatment and care for life if necessary, whoever was at fault.
If you were at fault in another state
The scheme of the state where the crash happened decides what you receive. Queensland’s regulator explains it from a Queensland driver’s side: at fault in another fault-based state, you may not be eligible; at fault in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT or the NT, you may be eligible for some compensation. Queensland and Western Australia both say their CTP still covers people you injure in a crash anywhere in Australia.
Whatever the state, deadlines still apply to at-fault drivers who can claim. See claim time limits, and CTP insurance explained for what each scheme pays.