Answer by Janelle Black, Brisbane 4000 QLD

• You can potentially make an application for workers’ compensation involving the employer because your brother was on his way to work. He may also be able to make a motor vehicle accident claim against the other driver who caused or contributed to the accident due to negligence.
• You should check the law in your state or territory but usually the workers’ compensation application in the first instance typically does not require any negligence to be proved. The employer or its insurer such as WorkCover will usually accept that there was an injury at work and will pay for medical expenses. They might arrange rehabilitation, time off work and make workers’ compensation payments. These are usually a percentage of a person's normal weekly earnings.
• For more information see our Workplace Injury and Workers Compensation  topics.
• The workers’ compensation application process is usually required prior to making a claim for compensation or damages against your employer personally. Your employer would be involved with your claim initially and be responsible for your injuries for a period of time until you were able to recover and return to normal duties at work.
• In a situation where you have been injured on your way to work it is not usually the negligence of your employer that would have caused you to suffer injury but the other person involved in the accident or driver of the other car. The claim for compensation or damages due to negligence is a motor vehicle accident claim. Your employer would be involved because it is a work injury suffered on a work related journey but the employer did not cause or contribute to the accident.
• You can find out more information in our Vehicle & Motor Accidents Law topic.