Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited v Frank Sosa Worker's Rehabilitation and Compensation Corporation v Frank Sosa Nos. SCGRG 94/1609 and SCGRG 94/1610 Judgment No. 5084 Number of Pages 9 Workers' Compensation

In the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia, Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited and the Workers' Rehabilitation and Compensation Corporation (WRCC) appealed against a decision of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Appeals Tribunal, which had ordered the continuation of weekly payments to Frank Sosa, a worker who had been injured on the job. The key issue was whether the discontinuance of weekly payments to Sosa was authorized by the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. Specifically, the Court needed to determine if the availability of suitable employment for Sosa, as claimed by Mitsubishi, could serve as a basis for discontinuing his weekly payments, or if such discontinuance required adherence to the statutory procedures outlined in the Act.

The Court found that the availability of suitable employment did not, by itself, authorize the discontinuance of weekly payments. The Court emphasized that Section 36 of the Act explicitly outlines the conditions under which weekly payments can be discontinued, none of which were met in this case. The Court held that the procedures prescribed by the Act for discontinuing or reducing weekly payments must be followed, and that these procedures were not complied with by Mitsubishi. The Court also noted that the entitlement to weekly payments under Section 35 does not inherently authorize discontinuance or reduction of those payments. The reasoning from previous cases, such as GMH v Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Corporation, was applied to reinforce that the statutory procedures for reviewing and adjusting weekly payments are meant to protect injured workers from arbitrary cessation of their livelihood.

The Court concluded that the discontinuance of weekly payments without following the prescribed procedures was not authorized by the Act. Therefore, the appeals by Mitsubishi and the WRCC were dismissed, affirming the Tribunal's decision to uphold the continuation of weekly payments to Frank Sosa.