Hasan and Inco Ships Pty Ltd (Compensation)

This matter concerned an application by Mr Hasan for review of a decision by Inco Ships Pty Ltd (the Respondent) to refuse an extension of time to seek reconsideration of a determination of liability. Mr Hasan claimed to have been injured in the Respondent's employ on 7 October 2007, and the Respondent issued a determination denying liability on 12 December 2007. Mr Hasan sought to have this determination reconsidered, but the Respondent maintained its position that it was not obliged to do so, effectively refusing the request for reconsideration. The application before the court was for a review of this refusal.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the Respondent's solicitors' letter of 13 June 2017 constituted notification of a reviewable decision, and if not, whether the time for Mr Hasan to request a reconsideration of the original 2007 determination should be extended. The court was required to determine if the correspondence between the parties' solicitors amounted to a formal decision under the relevant legislation that could be reviewed by the Tribunal, or if the significant delay in seeking reconsideration warranted an extension of time.

The court reasoned that the Respondent's solicitors' letter of 13 June 2017, when read in its entirety, did not signify a change in the Respondent's position. Despite responding to the reasons provided by Mr Hasan's solicitors, the letter reiterated the Respondent's steadfast view that it had no obligation to reconsider the 2007 determination. Consequently, the court found that this letter did not constitute a reviewable decision made under section 78 of the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 (Cth). The court noted that the Respondent had consistently refused to reconsider its determination, and the delay in seeking reconsideration, which extended over eight years beyond the prescribed time, was not satisfactorily explained. Granting an extension would have unsettled established practices and generated uncertainty.

The court affirmed the reviewable decision, which was the Respondent's refusal on 20 September 2016 to grant Mr Hasan additional time to seek reconsideration of the original determination. As a result, the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to review the initial determination denying liability to compensate Mr Hasan, as the Respondent had not conducted its own review of that determination.