Forensic & Medico-Legal Occupational Therapy
Independent, evidence-based occupational therapy assessments for legal, insurance and tribunal matters. We assess what a person can and cannot do, what care and equipment they genuinely need, and what that means in practical terms, then set it out in a report built to withstand scrutiny.
What is forensic occupational therapy?
Forensic (medico-legal) occupational therapy applies standard OT assessment skills to legal and insurance questions. Instead of writing a report for a health service, the OT acts as an independent assessor whose findings help a court, tribunal, insurer or scheme make a fair decision. The OT’s duty is to the decision maker, not to either side.
Function, not opinion
We measure what a person can actually do: personal care, domestic tasks, mobility, work tasks, parenting and community access, observed in their real environment rather than assumed from a diagnosis.
Care needs in real numbers
Where a matter turns on care, we quantify it: the type of assistance required, how many hours per week, whether needs are past, current or future, and what equipment or home modifications change the picture.
Reports built for scrutiny
Medico-legal reports are structured, referenced and defensible, written to meet the requirements of the court, tribunal or scheme requesting them. Findings inform decisions; the outcome always rests with the decision maker.
Medico-legal assessments we provide
Functional capacity for legal matters
Independent functional capacity assessments for personal injury, negligence and insurance matters, documenting the practical impact of injury or disability on daily life and work.
Care and domestic assistance reports
Assessment of past and future care needs, including gratuitous care provided by family, paid attendant care, domestic assistance and the equipment and home modifications required over time.
Capacity and guardianship evidence
Functional evidence to support capacity-related matters, such as applications to the NCAT Guardianship Division, focusing on a person’s ability to manage daily living, finances and decisions with and without support.
Work capacity and injury schemes
Assessments relevant to NSW workers compensation and CTP motor accident matters (schemes regulated by SIRA), including functional tolerance for work tasks and activities of daily living.
Life care and lifetime needs
For catastrophic injury, a structured picture of lifetime care, equipment, therapy and home modification needs to inform settlement planning.
NDIS access and justice-involved clients
Functional evidence to support NDIS access requests and planning for people in contact with the justice system, where clear functional documentation is often the missing piece.
Who requests forensic OT reports
Most referrals come from plaintiff and defendant lawyers, insurers, case managers and guardianship parties. We accept instructions from either side and from tribunals, because the assessment method and the duty of independence do not change with the referrer.
Instructions
Send your letter of instruction, the questions to be answered and relevant records. We confirm scope, timeframe and fee before starting.
Assessment
We assess in the person’s home, workplace or care setting, using observation, standardised measures and functional task analysis.
Report
A structured medico-legal report that answers the instructed questions, states the basis for every finding, and separates observation from opinion.
Clarification
We respond to supplementary questions and provide clarification where the matter requires it.
Forensic OT: your questions answered
What does a forensic occupational therapist do?
Is the report independent?
What matters can a forensic OT report help with?
Do you assess in the person’s home?
How is this different from a standard OT assessment?
How do I make a referral?
Need independent functional evidence for a legal or insurance matter?
Clear instructions in, defensible report out. We respond to every enquiry within 24 hours.
Forensic and medico-legal reports are written to the same evidence standard. Read our full assessment methodology, including the evidence standard every recommendation is written to.