The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) scheme in Victoria: where you are on the schedule
This is the Victorian transport accident line, drawn from end to end. The 18 month mark is where the TAC changes which benefit it pays, and it is the point most people are surprised by. Knowing where a point falls is not a decision about your claim.
- Loss of earnings benefits run for up to 18 months from the accident, at 80% of pre-accident weekly earnings. TAC LOE policy.
- At 18 months the TAC changes which benefit it pays: loss of earning capacity benefits can start where capacity is still reduced. Transport Accident Act s 53; TAC LOEC policy.
- Below 50% impairment, those benefits end 3 years from the accident. At 50% or more they can continue. TAC LOEC policy.
Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic), administered by the TAC. Citations below are TAC published policy and the sections it relies on.
Your line is drawn heavy. The lines that can run beside it are drawn lighter, and they stay labelled and clickable. Weight shows focus, not importance, and colour never carries a meaning on its own. Every marked point is repeated as text below, with its source.
Nothing on this map marks where you are. A position on a scheme timetable is a fact about the scheme. Where you sit on it is yours, and it is not something this page decides.
The marked points on this line
- Day 1
The five day wait
LOE (loss of earnings) benefits are not paid for the first five days of financial loss. The wait can be waived for acute financial hardship.
Source: Transport Accident Act s 43; TAC LOE policy · Checked August 2026 - Month 1
LOE benefits
LOE runs for up to 18 months from the accident, at 80% of pre-accident weekly earnings where there is no return to work, within set minimums and maximums.
Source: TAC LOE policy · Checked August 2026 - Month 18
LOE ends, loss of earning capacity can start
LOEC (loss of earning capacity) benefits can start where earning capacity is still reduced 18 months after the accident.
Source: Transport Accident Act s 53; TAC LOEC policy · Checked August 2026 - Timing varies
Impairment lump sum
A one off impairment benefit can be paid where impairment is assessed at 11% or more, once injuries are stable. It does not reduce other TAC benefits, and assessment can take time, in some cases up to 18 months.
Source: Transport Accident Act s 47; TAC impairment policy · Checked August 2026 - Year 3
The 3 year point
LOEC ends 3 years from the accident for a client assessed at less than 50% impairment. At 50% or more, LOEC can continue, with a review possible once in each 5 year period. The 5 year mark is a review cycle, not an end date.
Source: TAC LOEC policy · Checked August 2026
Lines that can run beside yours
These are separate systems with their own rules. One can run at the same time as the line above.
- Income protection (IP)
- Total and permanent disability and life cover
- Superannuation and incapacity
- Centrelink
- Return to work
One line does not decide another
The test that ends one scheme is not the test a total and permanent disability (TPD) or income protection policy uses. A termination under one scheme does not decide the other. A TPD policy is assessed under its own definition, set out in the policy document, not under a scheme’s whole person impairment percentage.
None of this means you have a claim, and nothing on this page is an assessment of one. It means the end of one entitlement is not a verdict on all of them. Here is how to find out what cover you hold, free, in one phone call.
Where to go next
- Back to What happens next, where you can switch systems and states.
- TAC income support changes at 18 months, and what that does not decide
Other lines with checked data
- Workers compensation, Victoria
- Workers compensation, New South Wales
- Workers compensation, Queensland
- Workers compensation, South Australia
- Comcare (national)
- Disability Support Pension (DSP), national
Check everything on this page
Every marked point above carries its own citation. These are the instruments and regulator pages behind them, all checked August 2026.
- TAC policy, how long loss of earnings benefits are payable
- TAC policy, loss of earning capacity benefits
- TAC, impairment benefits overview
If something here has changed since it was checked, tell us and we will fix it: contact.
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