A finding in workers' compensation proceedings that a worker's injury arose 'out of or in the course of employment' under s 82(1) of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 (Vic) does not give rise to an issue estoppel in subsequent common law proceedings, because the statutory test (particularly the 'in the course of' limb, which requires only a temporal connection) is not identical to the common law requirement of proving that specific acts or omissions constituting breach of duty caused the injury. Evidentiary findings made as steps in reasoning towards an ultimate statutory conclusion (such as whether employer action was 'reasonable action taken in a reasonable manner' under s 82(2A)) are not findings as to ultimate facts capable of founding an issue estoppel, particularly where the judge relied on the combination of multiple findings rather than any single finding being individually indispensable.
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