Is there a higher legal test for a psychological injury claim in Queensland?
No, not any more. A higher "major significant contributing factor" test for psychological injury was repealed for injuries sustained on or after 30 October 2019.
A lot of what circulates online about Queensland psychological injury claims describes a higher causation test than the one currently in force, and it is worth correcting directly: under the current Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, there is no separate, higher test for a psychological injury. s 32(1) states that an injury is personal injury arising out of, or in the course of, employment if the employment is a significant contributing factor to the injury, and the same section, in subsection (3), applies the same "a significant contributing factor" wording to a disease or an aggravation, psychological or physical alike.
What changed, and when
The Act's own transitional provisions confirm the shift: s 731 states that the current section 32 applies to a psychiatric or psychological disorder only where the underlying injury was sustained after the 2019 commencement, and that the former section 32 continues to apply to an injury sustained before it. That commencement date is 30 October 2019. Before it, a psychological injury claim needed to show employment was the major significant contributing factor to the disorder, a materially higher bar than the current "a significant contributing factor" standard. The change lowered the bar for a psychological injury claim to match the one that already applied to a physical injury; it did not raise it.
What this means if you are reading older material
If you have seen the phrase "major significant contributing factor" applied to a current Queensland psychological injury claim, that description is describing the law as it stood before 30 October 2019, not the law that applies to an injury sustained today. For an injury sustained on or after that date, the causation question is the same one asked of any other injury: was employment a significant contributing factor. The real, current difference between a psychological and a physical injury claim under this Act is not this test. It is the reasonable management action exclusion covered in the next guide, and the assessment pathway for permanent impairment.