The Appellant in these proceedings, a teacher, claimed they suffered a psychiatric or psychological injury arising out of, or in the course of, their employment. An application for workers’ compensation, pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (‘the Act’) was made to WorkCover Queensland which was rejected. An application was made to the Workers’ Compensation Regulator to review the WorkCover decision. The Regulator rejected the application for review. The Appellant appealed the Regulator’s review decision to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
The Appellant’s appeal was dismissed. It was found that the they suffered a psychological or psychiatric injury that arose in the course of her employment but their employment was not a significant contributing factor to the injury.
No action was taken by the Appellant in relation to the appeal for at least one year. These proceedings were to determine whether an order should be made allowing the Appellant to take further action on appeal. The Appellant failed to discharge onus to demonstrate grounds existed to take further action on appeal. The Appellant’s application was dismissed.
The judgment is published here.
Scott McLeod QC (with C-L Godfrey) appeared for the Workers’ Compensation Regulator, instructed directly.