In Muscat v Comcare [2008] AATA 872, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered whether an employee was entitled to compensation under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act) in circumstances where he had settled an action for damages against the Commonwealth in the Dust Diseases Tribunal of NSW (DDT).

In making its decision, the AAT looked at the nature of the settlement of the damages action and considered the concept of 'injury' for the purposes of the SRC Act.

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Posted By: Craig Hill - Category: Arbitration

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Court Of Appeal Clarifies Scope Of Appeals Against Acquittal

December 27th 2008 05:37

The New South Wales Occupational Health & Safety Act (Act) permits the prosecutor to appeal to a Full Bench of the Industrial Court of New South Wales, against a verdict of acquittal. This is an exception to the normal principles of criminal law. Recently the New South Wales Court of Appeal was called upon to consider the scope of the orders which the Full Bench can make in determining such an appeal.

The case (Bros Bins Systems Pty Limited v Industrial Court of New South Wales [2008] NSWCA 292) is another example of the type of long running litigation to which, it appears, the Act is prone.

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Posted By: Craig Hill - Category: Arbitration

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Scrapped Work Choices Legislation and Unfair Dismissal Laws

November 21st 2008 23:04

Australian law firms are expecting the Federal government's upcoming move to end Work Choices legislation, in favour of Labor's new industrial relations law, will bring an influx of employment-related work. Unfair dismissal changes have historically prompted a significant number of clients to seek legal advice, according to Baker & McKenzie partner Michael Michalandos. He expects his workflow to increase if a new bill scrapping the legislation is passed by Parliament in late November. He pointed to how

"The last changes were so wide-ranging that they impacted on every employer - like dramatic changes to unfair dismissal rights in 2006. For example, employees were denied access to unfair dismissal rights if they lost their jobs on the grounds of a genuine redundancy. If these rights are reinstated, allowing employees to challenge a redundancy-based termination, then I expect that we will see an increase in this kind of work," he said.

At the moment Michalandos has not seen a major change in the type of work he receives, such as advising on termination and restructuring, setting up executive work contracts and policies.

If the bill were passed the firm would undertake both billable and non-billable work. "Our clients would expect us to provide them with base-level information regarding the changes without charge. This would come in the form of training sessions and document summaries. However, I also expect an increase in billable work but this would be balanced against non-billable hours reviewing the legislation," he said.

He said clients are cautious at the moment and treat redundancies as a last resort. Their first reaction is usually to review flexible work options and other forms of cost-cutting, such as job-sharing, part-time work, and reducing remuneration where necessary.

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Posted By: Craig Hill - Category: Arbitration

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