Inman v NSW Police Force

In the case of Inman v NSW Police Force, the applicant, Inman, sought compensation for a psychological injury she claimed to have suffered in the course of her employment with the respondent, the NSW Police Force. The dispute was heard and determined in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). The primary legal issue was whether Inman's psychological injury was caused or substantially contributed to by her employment and, if so, what the date of injury was. Additionally, the court had to determine if her employment aggravated an existing psychological condition.

The NCAT applied principles from previous cases such as State Transit Authority (NSW) v Chemler, Zinc Corporation Ltd v Scarce, and Stewart v NSW Police Service to assess the causation and aggravation of Inman's psychological injury. The tribunal found that Inman's employment with the NSW Police Force was indeed a contributing factor to her psychological injury and that her employment substantially contributed to the aggravation of her condition. The deemed date of injury for the primary disease was set at 22 September 2011, and for the aggravation, it was set at 4 November 2011.

The NCAT revoked the previous determination and made several orders, including that Inman suffered a disease injury and an aggravation injury, both of which her employment was a substantial contributing factor to. The deemed dates of injury were also specified. Furthermore, the NCAT ruled that the respondent was to pay Inman's costs of the arbitration and the appeal, and the matter was remitted to a different arbitrator for further determination of compensation and other issues. The tribunal also certified the arbitration as complex, resulting in a 30 per cent increase in the applicable costs for each party.