Comcare takes compo
case to High Court

Comcare has lodged an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia following a decision of the Federal Court to grant compensation to an off-duty Public Servant injured having sex while on a work trip interstate.
   The female employee has been awarded workers’ compensation for injuries sustained after a light fitting was pulled from the wall of a motel during a sexual encounter on a business trip.
   The case was referred to the Federal Court in an appeal against the original decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), which ruled that the activity engaged in was not associated with the course of her employment and was not at the direction or request of her employer.
Seeks special leave to appeal
   However the Federal Court decided there was a relationship between the applicant’s injuries and her employment in that “they were suffered by her while she was at a particular place where her employer induced or encouraged her to be during an interval or interlude between an overall period or episode of work”.
   The original decision not to award compensation was hence overturned.
   Comcare has now released a statement saying it was taking action to seek a High Court ruling on the boundaries between private and business activities when employees were travelling for work purposes.
   “The issue is a significant one,” the statement said.
   “Workers need to be clear about their entitlements and employers should have an understanding of their responsibilities and how to support their staff.”
Edition 345, 22 January 2013
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