Esber v The Commonwealth of Australia

The High Court of Australia heard an application for special leave to appeal in the matter of *The Commonwealth of Australia v The Commission for the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation of Commonwealth Employees*. The Commonwealth sought to appeal a decision concerning the interpretation of legislation relating to compensation for Commonwealth employees.

The legal issues before the Court concerned two propositions of law advanced by the appellant. The first was whether an employee had an accrued right to redemption of a Commonwealth liability for further payments under the *Commonwealth Employees' Compensation Act 1971* (the 1971 Act). The second issue related to the effect of subsections 127(3) and/or 129(2) of the *Commonwealth Employees Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (the 1988 Act), specifically whether an application for review under the 1988 Act should be treated as if certain sections of the 1971 Act had not been repealed.

The respondent argued that the decision below was plainly correct and that there was no substance to the grounds of appeal. The Court was directed to consider section 49 of the 1971 Act, which permitted an employee to request a redemption of the Commonwealth's liability for further payments under section 46. The respondent highlighted that section 49(3) required the Commissioner to determine whether redemption would occur, with the Commissioner's power circumscribed by the conditions set out in section 49(5). The opposition to special leave was confined to demonstrating the lack of merit in these grounds.