Alasi-Jones v State of Tasmania

The Full Court of the Supreme Court of Tasmania considered an appeal concerning the assessment and discontinuation of workers' compensation payments. The appellant, Alasi-Jones, had lodged a claim for compensation, and the respondent, the State of Tasmania, asserted that the appellant's incapacity had ceased within 84 days of the claim being made. The central dispute revolved around the appropriate procedural pathway for the employer to rely on this assertion to discontinue payments.

The primary legal issue before the Court was to determine the correct procedure an employer must follow under the *Workers' Compensation Act 1988* (Tas) when seeking to discontinue weekly payments of compensation on the basis that the worker's incapacity has ceased within the 84-day period prescribed by section 81(1)(a) of the Act. This involved interpreting the interplay between the employer's right to cease payments under certain circumstances and the procedural safeguards afforded to workers.

The Court reasoned that section 81(1)(a) of the Act, which allows for the discontinuation of payments if incapacity ceases within 84 days of the claim, does not grant employers an unfettered right to unilaterally cease payments. Instead, the Court held that an employer wishing to rely on this provision must first obtain a determination from the Director, or a tribunal, that the worker's incapacity has indeed ceased. This determination is a prerequisite to the employer's ability to discontinue payments, thereby ensuring that the worker has an opportunity to challenge the employer's assertion of cessation of incapacity. The Court emphasised that the statutory scheme requires a formal process for determining incapacity, rather than allowing an employer to make that determination themselves.

The appeal was allowed, and the matter was remitted to the Director for determination according to law.