Kotevski v Esselte Australia Pty Ltd

The Supreme Court of New South Wales, Court of Appeal, considered the dispute between Kotevski and Esselte Australia Pty Ltd concerning the application of a limitation period under the *Workers Compensation Act 1987* (NSW).

The central legal issue before the court was whether section 15 of the *Workers Compensation Act 1987* (NSW), which deems the date of injury for certain purposes, applied to the calculation of the limitation period for a common law claim for damages for personal injury. Specifically, the court had to determine the scope of the phrase "for the purposes of this Act" within section 15(1)(a) and whether it extended to common law rights or was confined to statutory compensation claims.

The Court of Appeal held that section 15 of the *Workers Compensation Act 1987* (NSW) was not intended to apply to common law rights. The court reasoned that the deeming provision in section 15 was enacted for the purposes of the statutory compensation scheme established by the Act, not for the purpose of determining the commencement of limitation periods for common law actions. Therefore, the date of injury for the purposes of the common law claim was the actual date the injury occurred, not the date deemed by section 15.

The appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the costs of the appeal.