Weekly payments after a psychological injury claim: the step-down structure
Weekly payments step down at 26 weeks and again at 2 years, calculated from your normal weekly earnings or from QOTE, whichever is greater.
For a worker whose employment is not governed by an industrial instrument, s 151 sets weekly compensation for total incapacity in three steps. For the first 26 weeks, it is the greater of 85% of the worker's normal weekly earnings (NWE) or 80% of Queensland ordinary time earnings (QOTE). From the end of week 26 to the end of the first 2 years, it drops to the greater of 75% of NWE or 70% of QOTE. From 2 years to 5 years, a worker who demonstrates the injury could result in a degree of permanent impairment (DPI) of more than 15% keeps the greater of 75% of NWE or 70% of QOTE; otherwise the payment becomes the single pension rate, a Commonwealth figure this site has not sourced. Section 150 sets an equivalent structure for a worker whose employment is governed by an award or agreement, using the award rate rather than 80% of QOTE as the first-26-week floor.
What QOTE is, and the current rate
QOTE, Queensland ordinary time earnings, is set each year on 1 July and used as the floor calculation across these steps. WorkCover Queensland confirms the QOTE rate is $1,994.50 per week for the 2026–27 financial year, up from $1,953.70 the year before. Using that confirmed rate, the 80%-of-QOTE floor for the first 26 weeks works out to $1,595.60 per week, and the 70%-of-QOTE floor for the 26-week-to-5-year period works out to $1,396.15 per week. Both of those two figures are this site's own arithmetic applied to the Act's percentage formula, not numbers independently published by WorkCover Queensland, so treat them as illustrative rather than as your own entitlement.
In no case more than your own earnings
s 151 caps the weekly amount at the worker's own NWE regardless of which formula applies (subsection (2)). Weekly payments are calculated from your specific earnings history and circumstances, and this site does not calculate an individual entitlement; the figures above show how the formula works, not what any specific worker will receive.