Caring for people severely injured on the road
If you’ve been severely injured in a NSW motor accident, you may be eligible to become a Lifetime Care participant.
The Lifetime Care and Support Scheme pays for treatment, rehabilitation and care for people who have been severely injured in a motor accident in NSW.
We’re a no-fault scheme. This means we can provide support regardless of who was at fault in the accident, as long as you meet our eligibility criteria for both your motor accident and your injury.
Severe injuries that may be eligible for the Scheme include:
- spinal cord injury
- brain injury
- amputations
- burns
- permanent blindness.
Eligibility for the Lifetime Care and Support Scheme
- You were injured in a motor accident in NSW on or after 1 October 2006 (for children under 16) or on or after 1 October 2007 (for adults)
- Your injury was caused by the motor accident and the accident meets the criteria in the legislation
- The type and severity of your motor accident injury meet the injury criteria. Each application is assessed against specific criteria outlined in the Lifetime Care and Support Guidelines.
How we assess injuries
Whether you’re eligible for the scheme is partly determined by the severity of your injury.
As part of the application process, your medical specialist will need to complete a medical certificate to confirm the severity of your injury. There may also be some specific assessments for your particular type of injury to help determine if your injury will meet our eligibility criteria. These will usually be completed by your treating team.
Below are the assessment tools we use for each type of injury that may be eligible for the Scheme:
- Brain injuries and burns: FIM and WeeFIM
- Spinal cord injuries: American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Scale
- Amputations: no additional assessment tool, determined by the percentage loss of limb/s or assessment of equivalent impairment
- Permanent Blindness: no additional assessment tool, you must be legally blind in both eyes.
- How it works
- What we pay for
- How we are funded
- ACT motor accident injuries
About the scheme
- Permanent blindness
- Burns
- Brain injuries
- Amputations
- Spinal cord injuries