The Court held that a VWA response under s 330(1)(a) of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic) is amenable to judicial review by way of certiorari and mandamus, distinguishing Gievski which concerned the discretionary consent function under s 330(1)(b)/s 335(2)(c). Where a worker's injury has been assessed at 30% or more whole person impairment and is therefore deemed a serious injury under s 335(1), the VWA has no discretion to refuse to advise the worker of that deeming under s 330(1)(a) — it cannot go behind the deeming by raising issues such as whether the injury arose out of employment, even though those issues remain open in any subsequent damages proceedings. The Court further reasoned that for workers whose impairment is assessed at 30% or more, the s 335(2)(d) court application gateway may not be available, making the s 330(1)(a) advice determinative of the worker's right to bring common law proceedings.
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