Davison and Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (Compensation)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a claim for compensation by the applicant, Mr. Davison, against the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission. The dispute concerned Mr. Davison's claim for compensation for coronary heart disease, with the applicant asserting that his employment with the Commonwealth was a contributing factor to his condition. The applicable legislation was the *Compensation (Commonwealth Government Employees) Act 1971*.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether Mr. Davison's employment by the Commonwealth was a contributing factor to the contraction of his coronary heart disease, or to its aggravation, acceleration, or recurrence, as required by section 29 of the *Compensation (Commonwealth Government Employees) Act 1971*. The Tribunal was also required to assess whether the evidence established this causal link on the probabilities.

The Tribunal reasoned that the *Compensation (Commonwealth Government Employees) Act 1971* did not specify the degree to which employment needed to contribute to a disease for it to be compensable, but that the causal connection must be established on the probabilities. Applying this principle, the Tribunal found that the incident on 17 September 1988, or any other aspect of Mr. Davison's Commonwealth employment, was not a contributing factor to his coronary heart disease. This conclusion was based on the expert opinion of Professor O’Rourke, which rejected such a connection, and a lack of cogent evidence demonstrating that it was more likely than not that his employment contributed to his condition.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review.