An arbitrator, or the Commissioner of the Dispute Resolution Directorate (DRD), may refer a question to a medical assessment panel. This can occur when there is a conflict of medical opinion about the nature or extent of an injury or a worker’s capacity for work between a doctor engaged by the worker and a doctor engaged and paid for by the employer, and one of the parties wishes the proceedings to continue.

Three medical practitioners are chosen by the Director of the DRD from a list provided by the Australian Medical Association, Western Australia to make up the panel. At least one medical practitioner will be a specialist in the relevant field. Medical practitioners who have treated or examined the worker are not eligible to sit on the panel.

The panel may examine the worker, request documents from the worker or require the worker to answer questions. No person can be represented before the panel because only medical questions will be determined (not questions of law).

A worker who does not attend a panel when required to do so, or who obstructs the panel, may have their right to further compensation suspended.

The panel must make its determination within 28 days of the examination. Within a further seven days, the panel must provide written reasons for its decision. The determination of the panel is final and binding on all parties and on any court or tribunal.