Commonwealth v Hobbins

[2004] HCATrans 143

[2004] HCATrans 143

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Office of the Registry
  Sydney  No S460 of 2003

B e t w e e n -

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Applicant

and

SHANE THOMAS HOBBINS

Respondent

Application for special leave to appeal

McHUGH J
HEYDON J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT SYDNEY ON FRIDAY, 30 APRIL 2004, AT 11.37 AM

Copyright in the High Court of Australia

McHUGH J:   This matter might be called outside the Court.

COURT OFFICER:   No appearance, your Honour.

McHUGH J:   This matter has been called outside the Court.  There is no appearance for the parties, and that was expected because the parties accepted that the matter would proceed without oral submissions.  The Court is in a position to give its reasons in the matter and I now proceed to do so.

The question raised by the application for special leave to appeal is whether the New South Wales Court of Appeal was correct in concluding that a cause of action in negligence brought by a Commonwealth employee for damages for non‑economic loss against the Commonwealth accrues when the employee makes an election under section 45 of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth). The applicant contends that the correct date is the date when the cause of action is complete at common law.

The Court of Appeal reached its conclusion by applying this Court’s decision in Austral Pacific Group Limited (in liquidation) v Airservices Australia (2000) 203 CLR 136. While the question is an important one, we are of the view that there are insufficient prospects of successfully challenging the correctness of the Court of Appeal’s reasoning to justify a grant of special leave. Accordingly, the application is refused with costs.

The Court will now adjourn to reconstitute.

AT 11.40 AM THE MATTER WAS CONCLUDED