Joint Medical Examinations

The TAC can pay the reasonable cost of a joint medical examination (JME) for medico-legal purposes, when approved by the TAC and jointly requested by the TAC, a client or the client’s legal representative. A JME may be required to deliver entitlements to a client or to resolve disputes.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Joint Medical Examination Protocol 30 March 2026 and Joint Medical Examination Guidelines.

In this policy:

• Joint medical examinations (JME) aremedical assessments conducted by an approved joint medical examiner required to deliver entitlements to clients or to resolve disputes.
• Joint medical examiners are independent medical practitioners approved jointly by the TAC, the injured person and their legal representative to assess a client’s injuries and prepare medico-legal reports.
• Medico-legal reports are prepared by an approved joint medical examiner for the purpose of determining an injured client’s entitlement under the Act. The report is provided to the TAC, the injured client and their legal representative.
• Impairment Assessment is an examination and report completed by an accredited Impairment Assessor to assist in determining a client's level of impairment under the Act.

The TAC supports the use of joint medical examiners to reduce waiting times and minimize the number of medical examinations that a client is required to attend.

To foster collaboration and transparency between the parties, the medical examiner will prepare one report to address questions from both the TAC and the client’s legal representative. The medical examiner should not contact either party separately or vice versa.

This policy refers to medical examinations and reports prepared by Joint Medical Examiners for medico-legal purposes, required to deliver entitlements to clients or to resolve disputes.

Examination reports prepared by joint medical examiners differ from treatment reports provided by a client’s regular health practitioner. For information about reports written by a client's treating health practitioner, refer to the Clinical notes and treatment reports policy.

The TAC can pay the reasonable cost of approved JMEs for medico-legal purposes that are:

• required as a result of a transport accident injury
• reasonable, necessary and appropriate in the circumstances
• prepared for the purpose of determining a client’s degree of impairment under section 46A, 47(7), 47(7A), 54 and 55 of the Act
• prepared in order to respond to a decision of the Commission under Parts 3 Compensation and 4 Claims procedure of the Act
• prepared for the purposes of Part 6 or division 1 of Part 10 of the Act
• conducted by a suitably qualified medical practitioner in accordance with clause 4.3 of the JME Protocols (link)
• submitted on the published JME request form on the TAC website (link)
• received by the TAC at least 28 days prior to the examination date, unless extenuating circumstances apply.

The TAC may also pay reasonable cost of travel, accommodation and interpreter costs for a client attending a Joint Medical Examination.

The TAC will only accept and process invoices from joint medical examiners. The TAC will not accept invoices for JMEs submitted by the client or their legal representative.

The TAC will not pay for a JME request in the following circumstances:

• Where a request is not submitted using the published JME request form on the TAC's website
• For the purposes of proceedings at the VCAT or the Courts, unless a new issue is articulated
• Where a client does not have an accepted TAC claim
• For impairment, if a client is excluded from impairment entitlements in accordance with Sections 39 and 40 of the Act
• Where the examination request is for purposes other than medico-legal assessment, such as treatment planning
• For accidents that have occurred in the course of employment, where there is no entitlement to Section 60 of the Act for Medical and Like benefits.

The TAC may not pay for a JME request in the following circumstances, including, but not limited to, unless there are extenuating circumstances:

• Where no actual decision of the TAC pursuant to Parts 3, 6 or 10 of the Act is required
• Where, for an impairment assessment, the TAC considers that the client is unlikely to reach a degree of impairment more than 10 percent
• Where, for the purpose of an impairment assessment, the TAC considers a client is not stable, or expected to be stable at the time of the proposed examination date
• Where the TAC consider that the client is not stable or expected to be stable at the time of the proposed examination date
• For a psychiatry assessment within the first 12 months post-accident
• Where an examination by a practitioner from the same or similar discipline (and for impairment matters, the same chapter of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment
• Where an examination by a practitioner from the same discipline has been conducted within the previous 12-month period
• Where the TAC identifies reasonable grounds for real or perceived examiner conflict of interest
• Where the examiner does not meet the agreed criteria and requirements specified in clause 4.3 of the JME Protocol
• Where JME requests for Serious Injury or Common Law assessments follow a previous Impairment JME that was not initially designated for dual purpose assessment, and where the TAC does not require additional JME/s to make its serious injury or common law decision
• Where the requested examiner is located in a different state from where the client resides, and there are other accredited (for impairment purposes) or suitably qualified examiners available in the client's state.

Where a JME request is made by a client’s lawyer in situations involving interstate common law claims the TAC

• may authorise the JME request if it is for the purpose of assessing a client’s no fault benefit entitlements
• will not authorise a JME request for the purpose of common law

The TAC will not pay for telehealth services:

• provided by telephone or other non-face to face mediums
• telephone calls and telephone consultations between providers and clients, and between other providers, including hospitals.

For more details, please see TAC’s Telehealth Guidelines.

Requests for JME examinations need to be submitted on the JME request form and in accordance with procedures explained in the following documents

• the Joint Medical Examination Protocol 30 March 2026
• the Joint Medical Examination Guidelines

JMEs can only be provided by Joint Medical Examiners who meet the following criteria

• be a registered health practitioner within the meaning of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law; and
• hold current AHPRA registration with no conditions, undertakings, reprimands, limitations, or restrictions and not be subject to supervisory requirements; and
• have relevant clinical experience and meet recency of practice requirements in accordance with the JME Guidelines; and
• agree to operate within the TAC’s JME Protocols, including adherence to the JME Guidelines and the TAC’s JME Fee Schedule.

All JME requests must be submitted using the JME request form available on the TAC’s website.

If a client’s lawyer has arranged or proposes to arrange medical examinations, they must notify the TAC by submitting a JME request form at least 28 days before the scheduled examination date.

The TAC must respond within 21 days of receiving the JME request form to advise whether it agrees to the examination proceeding jointly. If the TAC does not respond within 21 days of receipt of a request, then the JME request will be deemed to be accepted.

If the proposed examination is scheduled within 28 days, the client’s lawyer must still submit the JME request form and contact the TAC directly via the Solicitor Contact Guide to explain the reason/s for the late request.

For clients represented by law firms that do not participate in the TAC Protocols, please contact jmerequests@tac.vic.gov.au for details of the process.

Where the TAC has arranged an Independent Medical Examination prior to the client’s lawyer notifying that they represent the client, the TAC will provide the examination details to the client’s lawyer within 21 days of notification.

The client’s lawyer can advise the TAC whether they agree to proceeding with the examination or not and may propose an alternative examination and provide reasons. The TAC must respond to the alternative proposal within 21 days.

The TAC can pay the reasonable cost of non-attendance where a patient cannot attend, or cancellation is not received within 48 hours of the appointment. The TAC will only pay for one occasion of non-attendance or late cancellation per approved JME specialty.

Letters of instruction and attached supporting documentation will be sent to the medical examiner in accordance with the agreed JME protocol process map.  The TAC and client’s lawyer agree to take all reasonable steps to avoid sending unnecessary duplicate or irrelevant material to the examiner.  The TAC Medical Examination Documentation Guide provides guidance on what should be sent to the examiner.

Submitted letters of instruction must use the specified templates (as jointly developed and approved by the TAC, ALA, and LIV).

The medical examiner should always submit a copy of their report and invoice with the applicable JME item code/s to the TAC for payment as per the JME Fee Schedule.

Refer to the How to Invoice the TAC information page

Examiners must put their concerns or comments in writing in the report negating the need to contact either party individually. The process must be collaborative, and the report must be independent. The same rationale applies when a client's presentation does not correlate with the examination findings. Such observations must be captured in the examiner's report.

Reports are to be completed and sent to the initiating parties within 10 working days of the examination. The initiating party should be contacted if this is unachievable.

Joint medical examiners must send their completed report simultaneously to the TAC and the client's legal representative by mail.

The TAC can pay the reasonable cost of a JME supplementary report if agreed to by both parties. The published JME supplementary report fee will apply.

Where the client’s lawyer is requesting the supplementary report, they must submit a TAC Supplementary request form, available on the TAC website

If agreement for a supplementary report cannot be reached, either party can obtain a supplementary report at their own expense. This may be claimed as disbursements, if applicable.