Capacity and work
Capacity assessment, fitness for duty, workers compensation and Comcare matters.
For legal and insurance professionals
Independent Addiction Medicine opinion
Independent specialist assessment and reasoned opinion for law firms, insurers and other instructing organisations. Each engagement addresses defined Addiction Medicine questions through review of the relevant medical evidence.
Strictly independent. Dr Hadinata accepts an instruction only where he has no current or previous treating relationship with the person to be assessed and no other conflict of interest.
Fees by quote. Each engagement is quoted individually and begins only after suitability, conflicts, scope, terms and fees are agreed.
Matters considered
Matters are considered case by case and may include:
Injury and liability
Motor vehicle, public liability and Wrongs Act matters.
Insurance
Life insurance, total and permanent disability, and income-protection matters.
Individual scope
Other formal assessment work may be considered according to the questions, available material, jurisdiction and required role.
Listing a matter type does not guarantee acceptance. Scope, fees, terms and timing are confirmed for each instruction.
What instructing organisations receive
- In-person independent medical examinations
- File reviews
- Supplementary reports
- Joint reports and conferences of experts
- Court attendance where required
Reports are prepared in accordance with the applicable expert witness code of conduct, and matters from all Australian jurisdictions are considered.
The expert is Dr Hadinata (MBBS, BMedSci, FRACGP, FAChAM), a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and of the Australasian Chapter of Addiction Medicine and recipient of the 2025 AChAM Nghi Phung Research Project Prize.
View qualifications and professional backgroundExpert reports
What each report sets out
Each report addresses the agreed questions, identifies the material relied on and explains the reasoning and its limits. The opinion is Dr Hadinata's own and is not shaped by either party's preferred outcome.
Booking and instruction pathway
Book and instruct through MEDirect
You do not need to email first. The instructing organisation registers with MEDirect and books Dr Hadinata there; referrer assistance is available on 1300 001 633. Conflict information, formal instructions, defined questions, the brief and supporting documents all go through MEDirect, never this website, the clinical referral pathway or the medicolegal email. Acceptance is subject to conflict checks, suitability and availability, and no engagement begins until the scope, terms and fees are agreed.
Assessment and report
MEDirect manages appointments, case progress, report delivery and invoicing. Dr Hadinata remains responsible for the assessment, the independent opinion and the report.
Optional preliminary enquiry
Most instructing organisations do not need to email. Please book directly through MEDirect, and use the preliminary email only if a suitability question must be settled before booking.
Clinical treatment and independent medicolegal work are different engagements, so Dr Hadinata's role, the questions to be addressed and the intended use of the opinion must be clear before instructions are accepted.
Before you email
Dr Hadinata accepts an independent expert instruction only where he has no current or previous treating relationship with the person to be assessed and no other conflict of interest.
Use the preliminary email only for
A brief, non-confidential suitability enquiry about a proposed engagement of Dr Hadinata as an independent medical expert in Addiction Medicine. Give the instructing organisation, required expert role, jurisdiction and relevant timing.
Use MEDirect for
Bookings, conflict information, formal instructions, case administration and documents. MEDirect handles all accepted or current matters through its specialised medicolegal IT services and risk-management processes.
The preliminary email is not a general legal or insurance enquiry address. Do not use it to request treating reports, certificates, forms, access to patient records, informal advice or a report outside an agreed engagement. It is not for clinical referrals, general clinical or administrative requests, patients or members of the public. Do not identify the person to be assessed or send instructions, party names, briefs, health records, reports or any confidential matter information by email.
To protect confidentiality, messages outside this scope are deleted unread. Please use MEDirect for current matters.
Eligible preliminary enquiry: medicolegal@dreric.net
Independent medical expert FAQs
Is this the same as a treating report?
No. A treating report describes care provided within an existing clinical relationship. An independent expert engagement is separate, has agreed questions and terms, and does not create a treatment relationship.
Can an independent expert report be arranged for a particular deadline?
Raise the required timing with MEDirect when you book. A booking request does not confirm that a deadline can be met.
What does the fee cover, and what if a party disagrees with the opinion?
Fees are quoted for each engagement because they depend on the complexity of the work. The fee pays for specialist time, expertise and analysis: reviewing the material, addressing the agreed questions and explaining the reasoning and its limits. It does not purchase a favourable report, preferred wording, a licence recommendation or any other predetermined clinical or legal outcome. Dr Hadinata will not alter an opinion to meet a preferred result, and instructions that depend on a guaranteed conclusion cannot be accepted.
Disagreement with an opinion never justifies abusive, threatening or coercive communication towards Dr Hadinata or practice staff. Staff cannot negotiate or influence an independent opinion, and such conduct will not be accepted.