Fellowes v Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission

Fellowes (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (the respondent) to refuse compensation for a psychological injury. The applicant had served in the Australian Defence Force and claimed that his psychological injury arose out of, or in the course of, his service. The dispute concerned whether the applicant's psychological injury was a 'service injury' as defined by the *Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004* (Cth) (the Act). The matter came before Hayne and Bell JJ of the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was the proper interpretation of the term 'service injury' within the *Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004* (Cth). Specifically, the Court was required to determine whether a psychological injury, which manifested after the applicant's discharge from the Australian Defence Force, could be considered to have arisen out of, or in the course of, his service, notwithstanding that the causative events occurred during his service. This involved considering the temporal relationship between the service and the manifestation of the injury, and whether the Act required a direct causal link between the service and the *onset* of the injury, or merely that the injury *arose out of* the service.

The High Court held that the applicant's psychological injury was a 'service injury' under the Act. Their Honours reasoned that the phrase 'arising out of, or in the course of, service' in s 5(1) of the Act did not require the injury to manifest during the period of service. Instead, it required a causal connection between the service and the injury. The Court found that the applicant's psychological injury had a sufficient causal connection to his military service, even though it manifested after his discharge. The principles applied focused on the broad remedial purpose of the Act and a purposive construction of the statutory language, emphasising that the injury arose from the conditions of service.

The High Court allowed the appeal, set aside the decision of the Full Federal Court, and remitted the matter to the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission for redetermination in accordance with the Court's reasons.