Hobday and Comcare (Compensation)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a review of Comcare's decision to reduce the weekly compensation payable to Mr Hobday. Mr Hobday had lodged a claim for workers' compensation after experiencing psychological distress arising from workplace incidents, which Comcare accepted. Comcare subsequently calculated Mr Hobday's normal weekly earnings (NWE) and commenced paying compensation based on this figure. However, Comcare later determined to reduce the weekly compensation payable from a specified date.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether Comcare's decision to reduce Mr Hobday's weekly compensation payments, effective from 19 May 2014, was correct. This required the Tribunal to interpret and apply the provisions of the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth), specifically section 8 concerning the calculation of normal weekly earnings and subsection 8(10) which provides for a reduction in compensation in certain circumstances.

The Tribunal's reasoning was guided by established legal principles concerning the operation of section 8(10). It noted that subsection 8(10)(a) applied to Mr Hobday's situation, which deals with employees who continue to be employed by the Commonwealth. The Tribunal affirmed that the purpose of compensation is to ensure an injured employee is not worse off due to their injury, but conversely, should not be better off. The correct test under section 8(10) is whether an incapacitated employee's NWE amount in any week after an injury exceeds the weekly earnings they would receive in continuing employment, not simply whether they are "better off" compared to their actual earnings post-injury. The Tribunal found that changes in an employee's individual circumstances, which affect their NWE, are not excluded from the operation of subsection 8(10), as demonstrated by the case of *Comcare v Simmons*.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the reviewable decision made on 27 February 2015 to reduce the weekly rate of compensation payable to Mr Hobday for incapacity from 19 May 2014.