Electricity Networks Corporation Trading as Western Power v Herridge Parties & Ors

The High Court of Australia considered the appeal in *Electricity Networks Corporation Trading as Western Power v Herridge*. The dispute concerned the proper interpretation of section 104(1) of the *Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2004* (WA) (the Act), specifically whether it conferred a right of indemnity on an employer against a third party in circumstances where the employer had paid compensation to an injured worker. Western Power, the employer, had paid statutory compensation to its employee, Mr. Herridge, who had suffered a work-related injury. Western Power then sought to recover these payments from a third party, alleging the third party's negligence caused the injury.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether section 104(1) of the Act, which provides that an employer who has paid or is liable to pay compensation to a worker is entitled to indemnity from any person who is liable to the worker in respect of the injury, could be invoked by Western Power to recover compensation paid to Mr. Herridge from the third party. This required the Court to determine the scope and application of this statutory indemnity provision, particularly in relation to the common law rights and liabilities between the employer and the third party.

The High Court held that section 104(1) of the Act did not create a new cause of action for an employer against a third party, nor did it alter the common law principles governing contribution or indemnity between tortfeasors. Instead, the Court found that the section merely codified the employer's existing right to be indemnified by a third party who was independently liable to the worker for the same injury. Because Western Power had not established that the third party was liable to Mr. Herridge in respect of the injury, the statutory indemnity could not be enforced. The Court therefore allowed the appeal, setting aside the orders of the lower courts.