Where a worker's injury gives rise to both a compensation liability in the employer and a damages liability in a third-party tortfeasor, s 151Z of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 applies to the employer's compensation payments, and the worker must repay those payments out of damages rather than having them deducted. Compensation paid by a second employer for subsequent non-tortious injuries that fall outside s 151Z must be deducted from damages under the common law rule against double compensation, but no deduction for future payments from that employer is required where the trial judge finds all disability stems from the original tort. Thackham is distinguishable where the tortfeasor is a stranger to the first employer, because s 151Z is then engaged.
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