Harriss and Comcare (Compensation)

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Harriss against a decision by Comcare regarding compensation for household services. Ms Harriss had accepted conditions of occupational overuse syndrome and chronic regional pain syndrome, which she sustained in 1997 as a result of repetitive keyboard work. The dispute centred on the extent to which Comcare was liable to pay for household cleaning and lawn mowing services from 1 November 2018 onwards, following a determination that Ms Harriss's accepted condition had not deteriorated and that she had regained some capacity to perform household tasks. The decision was made by Ms A E Burke, AO Member.

The legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Ms Harriss continued to suffer from occupational overuse syndrome from 22 October 2020, and if not, what household services she was reasonably entitled to compensation for, and for what periods. This involved assessing the extent of her ongoing incapacity due to her compensable conditions and determining what constituted a reasonable standard of home maintenance given her circumstances and the provisions of section 29 of the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth).

The Tribunal considered evidence from an occupational therapist, Mr Angel, who assessed Ms Harriss's capacity for cleaning and gardening. Mr Angel testified that Ms Harriss was capable of light adaptive cleaning but not heavy household cleaning, and that encouraging independence in purposeful activities like cleaning was consistent with occupational therapy principles. Medical evidence from Dr George Chan indicated that Ms Harriss had a long history of chronic pain syndrome, which had been stable since 2017 and had not deteriorated or improved since her retirement in 2012. The Tribunal found that Ms Harriss did not continue to suffer from occupational overuse syndrome from 22 October 2020.

The Tribunal determined that Ms Harriss was entitled to compensation for household cleaning services of two hours per fortnight from 1 November 2018 until 22 October 2020. Additionally, she was entitled to compensation for lawn mowing services for two and a half hours every fortnight from 1 November 2018 to 31 March 2019, and for two and a half hours every three weeks from 1 April 2019 to 31 October 2019. These periods and durations were considered reasonable for a single woman to maintain an acceptable standard of cleanliness.