CSR Timber Products Pty Limited v Weathertex Pty Limited

(2013) 83 NSWLR 433; [2013] NSWCA 49

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Workers Compensation
2. › Disease of gradual onset
3. › Liability for compensation
4. › Last employer under s 15(1)(b)
5. › Indemnity under s 151Z(1)(d)
6. › Whether earlier employer is 'person other than the worker's employer'
7. › Whether reference to 'worker's employer' in s 151Z(1) is to employer liable to pay compensation under s 9(1)
8. › Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), ss 9(1), 15(1)(b), 151Z(1)(d)
1. Estoppel
2. › Issue estoppel
3. › Workers Compensation Commission decision
4. › Disease of gradual onset
5. › Whether finding that last employer liable to pay compensation creates issue estoppel preventing indemnity claim against earlier employer
6. › Whether legally indispensable to Commission's decision that disease not contracted during earlier employment
1. Statutory Interpretation
2. › Workers compensation legislation
3. › Historical context of provisions
4. › Purposive construction
5. › Meaning of 'the worker's employer' in s 151Z(1)
6. › Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), s 151Z(1)

Quick Take

In relation to diseases of gradual onset under the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), the expression 'the worker's employer' in s 151Z(1) refers to the employer liable to pay compensation under s 9(1) — that is, the last employer under s 15(1)(b). An earlier employer in whose employment the disease was due is a 'person other than the worker's employer' and may be liable to indemnify the compensating employer under s 151Z(1)(d). A decision of the Workers Compensation Commission that the last employer is liable to pay compensation does not create an issue estoppel preventing the last employer from claiming indemnity from the earlier employer, because it is not legally necessary for the Commission to determine whether the disease was contracted during the earlier employment.