Harding v Westpac Banking Corporation

The appeal in Harding v Westpac Banking Corporation arose from a dispute between the applicant, Ms Harding, and the respondent, Westpac Banking Corporation, concerning workers’ compensation matters. The case was heard in the New South Wales Court of Appeal. The primary concern was whether the respondent was entitled to rely on fresh evidence in the appeal process and whether the primary decision-maker had failed to consider relevant submissions.

The legal issues the court needed to address included whether the respondent could introduce new evidence under section 352(6) of the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998, whether the decision-maker had considered all relevant submissions, and whether any errors in fact-finding warranted a revision of the original determination. The applicant argued that the introduction of new evidence would be inappropriate, while the respondent contended that the new evidence was crucial for a fair determination.

The court ruled that the respondent's application to rely on fresh evidence was not permissible under section 352(6) of the Act, as it was not within the scope of what the court had deemed admissible. Additionally, the court found that the decision-maker had failed to consider certain relevant submissions, leading to an error in the determination of the weekly compensation rate. Consequently, the court revoked part of the original certificate and substituted a new rate of compensation. The remaining parts of the original certificate were upheld.

The final orders of the court were to deny the respondent’s application for fresh evidence, to revoke a specific part of the original certificate and substitute a new compensation rate, and to confirm the rest of the original certificate.