Mesiti v South West Realty Pty Ltd

Mesiti v South West Realty Pty Ltd was a case before the New South Wales Court of Appeal, which involved a dispute between an employee, Mesiti, and his former employer, South West Realty Pty Ltd, regarding workers' compensation claims. Mesiti sought to introduce fresh evidence on appeal to challenge the Arbitrator's decision that he had failed to demonstrate economic incapacity under section 40 of the Workers Compensation Act 1987. The legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether it was appropriate to admit fresh evidence in the circumstances of the case, in light of Practice Direction No 6 of the Workers' Compensation Commission and relevant case law.

The Court of Appeal held that the fresh evidence was not admissible. The Court found that the evidence could have been obtained with reasonable diligence and was therefore not admissible under the first condition set out in Akins v National Australia Bank. The Court also found that there was not a high degree of probability that there would have been a different decision if the evidence had been admitted at the arbitration, and therefore the second condition was not satisfied. Finally, the Court found that the evidence was not credible and therefore the third condition was not satisfied. The Court also considered whether it was just to admit the fresh evidence in all the circumstances of the case, and concluded that it was not.

The Court of Appeal confirmed the Arbitrator's findings, orders and directions, and ordered that each party was to pay their own costs of the arbitration and appeal.