'Significant contributing factor' in the Accident Compensation Act 1985 (Vic) means a contributing factor of considerable amount or effect, which is more than de minimis but does not require the employment to be the dominant or major factor. The requirement that injury 'arise out of' employment remains more stringent than the 'significant contributing factor' test even after the 1992 amendments. The absence of circumstances falling within s 5(1B)(e), (f) and (g) may tell strongly in favour of significant employment contribution and must not be treated as rendering those sub-paragraphs irrelevant. Where a magistrate's own findings establish that injury would not and could not have occurred absent the employment, a finding that employment was not a significant contributing factor is untenable.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 24 later cases that cite this judgment.
4 of the 24 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.