Section 16 of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), like s 17, deems when an injury occurred only for the purposes of compensation claims and does not affect common law damages rights. Where a worker's exposure to injury spans the commencement of the Act, damages for pre-commencement exposure are assessed at common law unaffected by the modified regime. Awards for general damages at common law and non-economic loss under the Act are not directly comparable and cannot be added together to demonstrate error.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 4 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.