Keillor and Comcare (Compensation)

This matter concerned an appeal by an applicant against a decision by Comcare regarding compensation for a psychological injury. The applicant sought compensation under section 14 of the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth) for a condition of anxiety and depression, alleging it was contributed to, in a significant degree, by a performance management process undertaken by their employer. The central dispute was whether Comcare was liable to compensate the applicant, which hinged on whether the performance management process constituted reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner.

The court was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether the applicant had suffered a "disease" as defined by the Act, meaning the condition was contributed to, to a significant degree, by their employment. Secondly, and crucially, the court had to consider whether the performance management process, which allegedly contributed to the applicant's disease, was reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner. If it was not, then the exclusion under section 5A(1) of the Act would not apply, and Comcare could be liable.

The court's reasoning was guided by the High Court's decision in *Comcare v Martin* (2016) 258 CLR 467. This precedent established that for the exclusionary phrase in section 5A(1) to apply, the administrative action must be a cause in fact of the disease, meaning the employee would not have suffered the disease if the administrative action had not been taken. The purpose of this exclusion is to insulate legitimate human resource management actions from compensation claims. However, the court found that in this instance, the administrative action undertaken by the ABCC was carried out in an unreasonable way.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision under review. In substitution, the Tribunal decided that Comcare was liable to pay compensation to the applicant pursuant to section 14 of the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth) in respect of the claimed psychological injury of anxiety and depression.