Prain v Comcare

This matter concerned an appeal by Mrs Prain against a decision by Comcare to discontinue her entitlement to compensation. The dispute centred on whether Mrs Prain continued to suffer from a compensable injury or disease, and whether her employment at the Canberra Hospital in April 2011 remained a significant contributing factor to her current condition. The case was heard by Deputy President Gary Humphries of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The Tribunal was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether Mrs Prain had sustained a psychological injury or a disease arising from her employment at the Canberra Hospital between 11 and 19 April 2011, applying the test for injury established in *Kennedy Cleaning*. Secondly, the Tribunal had to consider whether, as at 16 July 2015, Mrs Prain continued to suffer from an ailment and whether the circumstances of her 2011 employment were still contributing to that ailment to a significant degree.

The Tribunal reasoned that Mrs Prain's condition arising from her employment at the Canberra Hospital was a disease, not a sudden and ascertainable injury, as her loss of equilibrium appeared to be the result of a gradual build-up of hurt and resentment. Applying section 5B of the relevant legislation, the Tribunal accepted that her employment contributed significantly to the ailment she suffered at that time. In assessing whether her employment continued to be a significant factor, the Tribunal considered evidence suggesting a series of misfortunes had occurred since April 2011. Comcare argued these subsequent events had overshadowed the original work-related factors, rendering them a "spent force". Conversely, Mrs Prain contended that these later events were largely manifestations of the ongoing disability caused by the disruption to her core values and self-worth stemming from the Canberra Hospital incidents, thus maintaining an unbroken chain of causation.