Ozcan v Macarthur Disability Services Ltd

This matter concerned an appeal to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales by Ms Ozcan against a decision of a presidential member of the Workers Compensation Commission. The dispute centred on the assessment of Ms Ozcan's permanent impairment for the purposes of workers compensation, specifically whether injuries sustained in later incidents should be aggregated with an initial injury, given that the initial injury materially contributed to the subsequent injuries.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the presidential member had erred in law in their construction of sections 322(2) and (3) of the *Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998* (NSW). This involved determining whether all of Ms Ozcan's injuries, including those from later incidents, could be considered as having "resulted from" and "arisen out of" the first incident for the purpose of calculating her whole person impairment.

The Court found that the presidential member had erred in law. It reasoned that the legislative intent, as evidenced by the wording of the Act and the absence of specific amendments to counter a particular judicial interpretation, supported the aggregation of impairments where an initial injury materially contributed to subsequent injuries. The Court rejected the argument that the absence of amendment implied legislative acceptance of a narrow interpretation, finding it artificial to attribute such consciousness to Parliament. Consequently, the Court granted leave to appeal, set aside the previous orders, and ordered that compensation be paid on the basis of a 15% whole person impairment resulting from the initial injury.