The Judicial Registrar held that where a serious injury certificate under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 was expressly confined to injuries suffered on a specific date (17 August 2019 'only'), the plaintiff's statement of claim could not be broadened to include a 'throughout the course of employment' claim for injuries arising from heavy manual handling over the duration of employment. Applying Kruisselbrink v Nationwide Maintenance Services Pty Ltd [2010] VSC 260, the Court struck out parts of the pleadings that went beyond the scope of the serious injury gateway, holding that a common law proceeding can only be maintained in respect of the employment duties or tasks that gave rise to the certified serious injury.
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