Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003

An injury is personal injury arising out of, or in the course of, employment if the employment is a significant contributing factor to the injury.

However, employment need not be a contributing factor to the injury if section 34(2) or 35(2) applies.

Injury includes the following—

a disease contracted in the course of employment, whether at or away from the place of employment, if the employment is a significant contributing factor to the disease;

an aggravation of the following, if the aggravation arises out of, or in the course of, employment and the employment is a significant contributing factor to the aggravation—

a personal injury;

a disease;

a medical condition, if the condition becomes a personal injury or disease because of the aggravation;

loss of hearing resulting in industrial deafness if the employment is a significant contributing factor to causing the loss of hearing;

death from injury arising out of, or in the course of, employment if the employment is a significant contributing factor to causing the injury;

death from a disease mentioned in paragraph (a), if the employment is a significant contributing factor to the disease;

death from an aggravation mentioned in paragraph (b), if the employment is a significant contributing factor to the aggravation.

For subsection (3)(b), to remove any doubt, it is declared that an aggravation mentioned in the provision is an injury only to the extent of the effects of the aggravation.

Despite subsections (1) and (3), injury does not include a psychiatric or psychological disorder arising out of, or in the course of, any of the following circumstances—

reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way by the employer in connection with the worker’s employment;

the worker’s expectation or perception of reasonable management action being taken against the worker;

action by the Regulator or an insurer in connection with the worker’s application for compensation.