The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is a Victorian no-fault accident compensation scheme for Victoria’s registered motor vehicles.

When you register your vehicle within Victoria, you take out insurance covering you if you’re injured in a transport accident or if you injure another person in a transport accident.

You may be eligible to file a TAC claim if your road accident occurred in Victoria or involved a Victorian-registered vehicle anywhere in Australia.

If another party is at fault, either fully or partially, for your road accident, your compensation claim can be covered by TAC.

TAC is a government organization in Victoria that provides compensation to individuals injured in transport accidents. The specific compensation and benefits you are entitled to will vary significantly based on the circumstances surrounding your injury.

Barbante Personal Injury Lawyers can assist you in navigating the TAC claims process and provide guidance throughout.

Your first step will usually be to lodge a TAC compensation claim. Barbante Personal Injury Lawyers will be able to advise you with this process.

This process generally involves:

• Reporting the accident to the police.
• Submitting a TAC claim form
• Providing a special medical certificate with your claim, which your doctor will complete

Once your TAC claim is lodged and accepted, you can be eligible to receive medical benefits and loss of income payments very quickly.

Once you’ve lodged your claim with the TAC, they have 21 days to accept, reject or request more information from you to help them make a decision.

If you’re seeking compensation for time taken off work, you will need to provide a medical certificate from your doctor and evidence of your earnings. Additionally, you’ll have to submit monthly medical certificates to the TAC for as long as you are unable to or restricted at work.

If you’re injured in an accident, you could be entitled to the following benefits and compensation:

Medical and Associated Expenses

If you have been injured in a transport accident, you could be entitled to reasonable medical and like expenses for your accident injuries. Some examples of what the TAC can pay for include:

• Medical expenses including surgical treatment, ongoing treatment, rehabilitation and medication
• Travel expenses for attending medical appointments and other essential appointments
• Household support services for expenses related to maintaining your household while you are injured

Impairment Benefit

A one-off lump sum payment is available if you have a permanent physical or psychological condition caused by your transport accident.

Your injury will need to be assessed by an independent medical examiner under the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Specially trained doctors will test your injuries for function and range of motion, measured against what is considered normal for most people. Each injury is given a percentage rating based on the level of impairment. You will be entitled to a lump sum if you score a Whole Person Impairment (WPI) of more than 11%. This amount is indexed each year.

Before your impairment can be assessed, your injuries must be considered stable — meaning they are not expected to change over time, for example following surgery. If your injuries have not yet stabilised, the TAC can make a partial payment until they have, that is, until your injury is unlikely to get any better or worse. The impairment benefit is paid in addition to other TAC benefits such as medical expenses, income support and common law damages. Please note your right to apply for an impairment assessment may expire six years from the accident date.

Loss of Income

If your transport accident injuries prevent you from working, the TAC can pay you income support. The following figures are current as at 1 July 2025 and are indexed annually.

Please note TAC income support figures are indexed annually on 1 July each year. The figures above are current as at 1 July 2025. Source: TAC Indexation of Benefits Schedule — tac.vic.gov.au

To be eligible for Loss of Earnings (LOE) Benefits, you must be considered an ‘earner’ by the TAC. An ‘earner’ can include:

• People who were receiving TAC or workers compensation benefits before the accident
• People who became unemployed shortly before the accident
• People who had agreed to start a new job but were unable to do so because of the accident

Earners also include self-employed people, employees, casual workers and apprentices who worked in the period leading up to the accident. The TAC will look at your work history in the two years before the accident.

To receive income support from the TAC, you must:

• Obtain certificates of incapacity from your doctor and provide them to the TAC for the entire period you are seeking income support
• Provide your tax returns and other wage documentation to the TAC
• Notify the TAC immediately if you return to work while receiving loss of earnings benefits — failure to do so could result in prosecution and damage to your claim
• Seek advice from a lawyer experienced in TAC claims to ensure you receive all benefits you are entitled to

You must continue lodging monthly medical certificates from your doctor with the TAC to keep receiving payments.

Common Law Compensation

In addition to medical expenses, an impairment benefit and income support, the TAC may also be required to pay compensation through a common law claim.

As the TAC is the insurer for road accidents, in most cases it will pay compensation on behalf of the person at fault for the accident.

If the accident was caused or partially caused by someone else, you may be entitled to common law damages, which can include:

• Pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life
• Past and future economic loss

To succeed in a common law claim, you need to establish that:

• The accident was caused or contributed to by another party (negligence)
• You have sustained a ‘Serious Injury’

A ‘Serious Injury’ is a legal test requiring detailed consideration of your circumstances and a supporting medical opinion. Serious injuries can include:

• Permanent impairment of 30% or more
• Long-term physical injury or loss of body function which impacts your working, social, domestic or recreational life
• Long-term severe psychological injury which impacts your working, social, domestic or recreational life
• Serious scarring or disfigurement
• Loss of a foetus

Once a ‘Serious Injury’ has been established, court proceedings may be commenced to claim common law damages.

We encourage you to contact us as early as possible to ensure your rights are protected and you receive the full benefits you are entitled to.

Yes, if you were injured while driving an unregistered motor vehicle, you are still covered by TAC, provided that the vehicle was capable of being registered with VicRoads.

Yes, if you were the victim of a hit-and-run and the driver cannot be found, you are still entitled to claim compensation through the TAC.

If you sustain injuries as a driver in a single-vehicle accident, the TAC you are likely to be covered by TAC for benefits, including payment of medical expenses, loss of wages and a lump sum payment for your permanent impairment.

Unless you can establish that the accident was caused or contributed to by a third party, you are unlikely to receive compensation for pain and suffering or long-term loss of earning capacity.

Yes. Because the TAC is a no-fault scheme, you can claim medical expenses and income support even if the accident was entirely your fault.

However, fault becomes relevant if you want to claim common law damages — a lump sum for pain and suffering and economic loss. For common law damages, you must show that another party was at fault or partly at fault AND that you have a ‘serious injury’ under the Transport Accident Act 1986.

If you are injured in a transport accident while working, you could be entitled to compensation under the WorkCover system. You may also have common law rights to compensation under the Transport Accident scheme. Contact Barbante Personal Injury Lawyers for advice as to how this works.

You must make a claim within one year of the date of the injury or the date you first realised you were injured due to a transport accident. However, the TAC may consider a claim made outside this time limit – for up to three years – if reasonable grounds exist for the delay.

TAC may also consider a claim made outside the one-year limit if reasonable grounds exist for the delay in making a claim. Extending on reasonable grounds is limited to making a claim within three years from the date of the accident or the date you first realised you were injured.

TAC will only consider claims made outside of the three years if the person is less than 18 years of age at the time of the accident.

To challenge a TAC decision is limited to 12 months and cannot be prolonged. If you disagree with the TAC’s decision, you can request an internal review or escalate the issue to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for resolution. However, it’s important to note that you must commence the process within 12 months of the initial decision.

If the decision is disputed formally via a lawyer, this 12 month period is effectively suspended for the duration of the dispute.

You may also be entitled to other benefits such as:

• Total and Permanent Disablement or Permanent Incapacity claims within your Superannuation Scheme
• Income Protection

These schemes depend on your policy as they all operate with different and specific requirements that need to be satisfied.