Andrew Robert Jeisman and Kirsty Kneebone v South Australia No. SCGRG 92/2667 Judgment No. 4144 Number of Pages 7 Workers' Compensation (1993) 60 Sasr 595

The appeal in this case, brought by Andrew Robert Jeisman and Kirsty Kneebone against South Australia, revolves around the issue of workers' compensation and the potential settlement of a civil action. The dispute concerns whether the settlement of a civil action between the parties would prevent the State from recovering compensation from the defendant pursuant to the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Acts. The legal issues the court was required to decide included whether a right of subrogation exists and whether the settlement would prevent the State from recovering against Kneebone under the provisions of section 54 of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. The Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia, consisting of King CJ, Olsson and Debelle JJ, found that the appeal should be allowed and the injunction set aside. The Court held that there was no right of subrogation in favour of the State and that the settlement would not prejudice the State's right to recover compensation under section 54 of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. The Court's reasoning was based on the proper interpretation of section 54, which provides an express statutory right to sue the third party in the employer's own name to achieve the same end result, making the concept of subrogation foreign to such a situation. The Court also found that the decision in Seatainer Terminals Ltd v Dunn (1981) 27 SASR 21 did not apply to the provisions of section 54 of the present Act.