KTKY and Comcare (Compensation)

This matter concerned an appeal by the Applicant, KTKY, against a decision by Comcare to deny liability for compensation for an acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). The Applicant had suffered a heart attack on 2 December 2015, and Comcare had determined that this event was not caused by, nor related to, her accepted compensable conditions, nor did it arise out of or in the course of her employment. The Applicant sought review of this decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the Applicant's heart attack constituted a "disease" or an "injury (other than a disease)" for the purposes of the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth) (SRC Act), and whether there was a sufficient causal relationship between the Applicant's employment and her heart attack. The Tribunal was required to determine if the injury arose out of, or in the course of, the Applicant's employment.

The Tribunal considered evidence including a letter from a psychologist, Ms Torre, who detailed the Applicant's history of sustained stress related to a workplace injury, chronic pain, depression, and anxiety, as well as acute crises. While Ms Torre stated it was not within her professional expertise to draw direct causative links between stress and the heart attack, she noted that evidence-based research establishes such links and that the Applicant's accepted depression would increase her vulnerability to stress. Comcare's delegate had considered the heart attack an injury rather than a disease but was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the medical information established a link to the accepted condition or that it arose out of or in the course of employment.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review. It found that the Applicant had not established, on the balance of probabilities, that her heart attack was caused by, or related to, her accepted compensable condition, nor that it arose out of or in the course of her employment. Consequently, Comcare was not liable to pay compensation for the acute myocardial infarction.