Hewitt v Benale Pty Ltd

(2002) 27 WAR 91; [2002] WASCA 163

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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For Australian Law.

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Workers' Compensation
2. › Statutory interpretation
3. › Deemed employer provisions
4. › Principal contractor deemed employer 'for the purposes of this Act'
5. › Whether deeming extends to constraints on common law damages
6. › Whether leave required before commencing claim for damages against deemed employer
7. › Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 1981 (WA), ss 93B, 93C, 93D(4), 175
1. Statutory Interpretation
2. › Deeming provisions
3. › Scope of statutory fiction
4. › Whether deemed employer provision limited to compensation or extends to all purposes of Act
5. › Always speaking principle
6. › Purposive construction
7. › Interpretation Act 1984 (WA), s 8, s 18
1. Workers' Compensation
2. › Civil proceedings
3. › Constraints on award of common law damages
4. › Application to deemed employers
5. › Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 1981 (WA), Pt IV Div 2

Quick Take

The deemed employer provision in s 175 of the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 1981 (WA) extends to the constraints on common law damages in Part IV Division 2. Workers suing deemed employers (principal contractors) must comply with the same statutory restrictions — including leave requirements and disability thresholds — as apply to claims against actual employers. The purposes stated in s 3 of the Act are not exhaustive, and the 1993 amendments enlarged the Act's purposes to encompass constraints on common law damages.