Lieschke and Telstra Corporation Limited (Compensation)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Lieschke against a decision by Telstra Corporation Limited regarding the calculation of his normal weekly earnings (NWE) for compensation purposes. The dispute centred on how an "at risk" component of Mr Lieschke's remuneration should be treated in determining his NWE under the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (SRC Act). The decision was made by Deputy K Bean P of the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether the period of two weeks preceding the date of injury fairly represented Mr Lieschke's weekly rate of payment, and specifically, how the "at risk" component of his remuneration should be calculated and characterised for the purposes of section 8 of the SRC Act. This involved assessing whether this component should be regarded as an allowance and how its inclusion or exclusion impacted the calculation of his NWE.

The Tribunal reasoned that the characterisation of the "at risk" component as an allowance or otherwise did not alter its fundamental nature for the calculation of NWE. The Tribunal found that Mr Lieschke was paid 100.71% of his "at risk" remuneration during the relevant period. In substitution for Telstra's previous decision, the Tribunal determined that Mr Lieschke's NWE as at 15 October 2009 was $1,239.11. The matter was remitted to Telstra for the determination of subsequent NWE amounts based on this finding.