Hi there. It is not clear how you sustained your injury. If a person suffers an injury at work, they may be entitled to workers’ compensation. In South Australia, the law requires an injured worker to make a claim for compensation within six months of the date of injury. However, if a claim is not made before this deadline, the worker may still be entitled to compensation if the claim can be properly decided without substantial prejudice. The late claim may also be allowed if the worker’s delay was caused by his or her ignorance, mistake, absence from South Australia, or other reasonable cause.

In your case, even though your six month time limit for making a claim has passed, you may still be able to make a claim if you have a reasonable cause for your delay, such as the recommendation from your union that you wait before making a claim. However, because there has been such a significant lapse of time since your injury, you may face some practical difficulties in making the claim, such as obtaining proper medical and employment records from that period. You should contact Return to Work SA (www.rtwsa.com) for more information about workers’ compensation claims.

If you were injured in a motor vehicle accident, different rules apply. A person injured in a car accident may be entitled to make a Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance claim for compensation. Generally these claims must also be made within six months of the date of the accident. For more information about CTP insurance, you should contact the Motor Accident Commission of South Australia (www.mac.sa.gov.au).