Chick and Comcare (Compensation)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mrs Chick against a decision by Comcare to cease compensation payments. Mrs Chick had lodged a claim for compensation under the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth) (SRC Act) following an incident on 27 September 2017 during a defensive tactics recertification exercise, where she sustained a sudden, severe pain in her right knee. She later experienced further pain in her right knee in November 2017 while boarding a vessel. Comcare had accepted liability for these incidents, but subsequently ceased payments, leading to Mrs Chick's appeal to the Tribunal.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mrs Chick's incapacities for work and her medical expenses arising from the incidents of 27 September 2017 and November 2017 had resolved. This involved assessing whether the conditions for which she sought compensation constituted an "injury" within the meaning of the SRC Act, and whether any ongoing symptoms were attributable to those injuries or a pre-existing condition. The Tribunal also considered the onus of proof, noting that in compensation cases before it, there is no onus or burden of proof; rather, the Tribunal must satisfy itself of the relevant facts.

The Tribunal considered medical evidence, including reports from an orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Stanley-Clarke. Dr Stanley-Clarke opined that Mrs Chick's history was consistent with either a subluxation or dislocation of the right patella in September 2017, the symptoms of which had resolved. He also diagnosed early medial compartmental osteoarthritis of the right knee, exacerbated by the September and November 2017 incidents, but concluded that her ongoing symptoms were due to this pre-existing osteoarthritis. The Tribunal noted that the definition of "injury" under the SRC Act requires consideration of whether there was a sudden and ascertainable physiological change or disturbance, and whether this was distinct from an underlying pathology constituting a "disease".

Having found that both compensable injuries had resolved prior to 7 February 2018, the Tribunal affirmed Comcare's decision to cease compensation payments.