Holdlen Pty Ltd v Walsh

Holdlen Pty Ltd appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision of a trial judge who had made an award to the dependants of a deceased worker. The dispute concerned whether the worker's death by suicide, which occurred some years after an injury sustained at work, resulted from that injury, and whether the worker's child was wholly dependent on the worker for support.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether the trial judge erred in law in finding a causal link between the worker's injury and his subsequent death by suicide. Secondly, whether the trial judge erred in law in finding that the worker's child was wholly dependent on the worker for support.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the trial judge's determination of a causal link between the injury and the suicide, noting that the evidence supported such a finding. The Court also considered, but did not find it necessary to decide, whether section 14(3) of the *Workers Compensation Act* could apply in a case of death by suicide. Regarding the dependency issue, the Court held that total dependency was not incompatible with the worker's wife in fact providing support, and that there was sufficient evidence upon which the trial judge could find total dependency.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.