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This guide is designed to help Australian's who have suffered an injury and adverse reactions from a Covid-19 vaccination apply for the government COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme. We've provided step by step information that should be useful if you complete the application yourself or seek expert legal advice.
While you can apply for the scheme yourself, calculating all the damages relating to factors such as future loss of income and providing sufficient level of proof can be extremely complex. Our COVID vaccine injury expert lawyers can provide free advice on your options and guide you through the whole process.
Naturally enough, the first important step to take is to seek out an appropriate medical practitioner for investigation, treatment and advice.
The opinions of your treating doctors form a vital part of the Vaccine Claims Scheme process too.
This field of medicine is not yet generally well understood. It is an evolving area. Different doctors can have different opinions too. If you’re not comfortable or confident in the advice you’ve been given from your doctor then you should seek a second opinion from another doctor who might:
Another important step to then take is to report any reaction you have (or might have) experienced.
You can do that by:
It is a good idea to keep a note or record of any formal report you do make.
This is a very important step. In most other compensation schemes, getting evidence from any suitable medical expert (including an independent medico-legal expert) is sufficient.
In the COVID-19 Vaccine Claim Scheme, however, a fundamental requirement is that your vaccine reaction is diagnosed by a Treating Practitioner. It is the definition of ‘COVID-19 Vaccine Related Harm’ in the Scheme which requires that.
A ‘Treating Practitioner’:
The type of vaccine reaction suffered will determine which type of treating specialist or expert is appropriate.
If you think you have suffered a vaccine reaction it will be important to work with a GP to get a referral to an appropriate specialist for a formal diagnosis.
There is nothing preventing you from seeking second or third opinions from other specialists if you remain unsatisfied with or unconvinced about the opinions of one doctor.
If your medical condition is a serious one with potentially long-lasting effects then it would also be beneficial to seek legal advice about your various options.
As with any scheme or legal right of recovery, you have the ability to lodge the claim yourself. The real question is whether you would be better off trying to navigate through the medical, legal and administrative complexities by yourself or with the assistance of a skilled and experienced injury lawyer.
The detailed and confusing policy which applies to these claims highlights the complexities involved: click here for link.
Our experienced vaccine injury lawyers offer a free no-obligation discussion to work with you to determine what your best options are and whether you are better to act alone or with some legal assistance. No-win no-fee arrangements are available for appropriate cases.
Before lodging the claim you need to make sure you have gathered all of the appropriate evidence which the Scheme operators (Services Australia) will consider in making a decision about your claim.
If there is insufficient evidence, your claim will be rejected.
Services Australia are the government agency who control and operate other services like Centrelink, Medicare Child Support Agency and so on. Knowing that helps give some insight into the type of approach which might be taken to dealings in this scheme.
Experienced vaccine injury lawyers will be able to help guide you through the process and ensure you put forward as strong a claim as possible.
Some of the evidence you will need is:
If you weren’t admitted to hospital then you’ll need to try to apply for a waiver of that requirement and get evidence from your doctors that the reason you weren’t admitted to hospital was because of :
You need to download and complete the COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme application form.
While you can complete the forms yourself, the odds of a successful claim and getting the right value of damages can be greatly increased with expert legal advice. Call our team of vaccine injury experts now on 1800 849 261 or start a live chat to request a call back.
One of the requirements of the scheme is that you obtain a report from your treating doctor (someone who has seen you for treatment or advice).
The report needs to be submitted in the approved COVID-19 Vaccine Claim medical report form (Form MO06).
You can download that medical report form here.
Because the medical report form asks the doctor to comment on the need for various matters in your claim (such as the need for out-of-pocket expenses, care services etc) it’s a good idea to have those claims detailed beforehand and available for the doctor so they can refer to that when completing their report.
Making the Claim Yourself:
If you are making the claim yourself then you can submit your claim online by using
If you can’t go online or aren’t eligible for Medicare, you can complete the COVID-19 vaccine claims scheme application form and then either:
Making a Claim for someone else
If someone is acting on behalf then it is necessary to also submit the following form:
When the claim has been submitted the Scheme operators should then respond acknowledging receipt of your claim.
If the claim being made is for more than $20,000 then external consultants (lawyers and doctors) are likely to be engaged by the Scheme operators. The claim will probably take longer to be assessed than a simpler claim.
If more information is needed to be able to make a decision on the claim you will then be contacted and asked for that.
Once a decision has been made you will then be notified.
If the claim is accepted then you will:
If the claim is rejected or you are unhappy with the proposed compensation you can ask for a review of the decision. The letter you receive should explain how you do that.
