Under s 151AB(1)(a) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), the 'disease' referred to is the occupational disease for which the employer is liable in damages as formulated in the worker's claim. Where the disease is divisible (such as asbestosis), a worker may limit the claim to injury caused by a particular period of exposure, and the deemed date of liability arising is the end of that period — not the end of the worker's entire employment. This means the insurer on risk during the claimed period of exposure is the insurer liable to indemnify, and a worker's forensic choice to limit the claim period cannot be defeated by pointing to later periods of exposure when a different insurer (or no insurer) was on risk.
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