Paddison and Comcare

[2005] AATA 146

Administrative

Appeals

Tribunal

 

DECISION AND REASONS FOR DECISION [2005] AATA 146

ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL      )

)No Q2004/15, Q2005/31

GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION		)
Re		JANELLE DULCIE PADDISON

Applicant

And COMCARE

Respondent

DECISION

Tribunal Ms MJ Carstairs, Member

Date17 February 2005

PlaceBrisbane

Decision The Tribunal affirms the decisions under review. 

...........[Sgd]........

Member

CATCHWORDS

COMPENSATION – Injury – Whether injury sustained by applicant when riding a bicycle was while undertaking ‘medical treatment’ – Whether applicant’s hip injury arose out of or in the course of her employment – Whether applicant aggravated a wrist injury in the course of employment – Tribunal not satisfied that the applicant was undertaking ‘medical treatment’ – Neither hip injury nor wrist injury aggravation occurred in the course of employment – Decision under review affirmed.

Fyfe and Comcare [2000] AATA 769  

REASONS FOR DECISION

17 February 2005   Ms MJ Carstairs, Member

1.      This is an application by Janelle Paddison (the applicant) for review of  decisions made by Comcare in relation to three injuries which the applicant asserts arose out of or were aggravated by her employment.

2.      The applicant represented herself at the hearing on 3 February and 4 February 2005.  The respondent was represented by Mr C Clark of counsel instructed by Dibbs Barker Gosling, Solicitors.

3. The Tribunal had before it the documents lodged pursuant to s37 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 as well as exhibits marked A1 – A4 for the applicant and R1 – R3 for the respondent.

BACKGROUND

4.        The applicant was born on 15 September 1961.  She was employed by the Australian Protective Service as a Protective Service Officer from 1989 and worked at Brisbane Airport.   In 1998 she sustained a severe twisting injury to her ankle, cuts and bruising to her left elbow, and bruising to her back in a fall at work at the airport (the 1998 injury).    The respondent accepted her claim for compensation for the 1998 injury.

5.        In 2001, the applicant made a civil claim on Brisbane Airport Corporation for damages in relation to the 1998 injury.  This claim was settled in 2003 and the applicant received $350,000 plus costs however Comcare recovered $153,256.99 in compensation paid to the applicant (T153: Q2004/15).

6.        On 28 February 2001 the applicant was injured when she fell from her bicycle (the bicycle incident).  The injuries sustained in the bicycle incident were treated by the respondent at the time and for purposes of accepting liability for compensation, as an extension of the claim in relation to the 1998 injury.  Liability was accepted for left ankle strain, soft tissue injury to left elbow, secondary muscular strain of right hip (T89: Q2004/15).  Later, however, the respondent revoked the determination accepting liability for injury arising from the bicycle incident.  The delegate concluded that the bicycle incident was not compensable either as an extension of the 1998 injury (s48 of the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (the Act) would prevent this) nor in its own right, it being asserted by the…