Re Anastas; Ex parte Welsby - [2002] WASCA 83

JURISDICTION

SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

TITLE OF COURT : THE FULL COURT (WA)

CITATION

RE ANASTAS & ORS; EX PARTE WELSBY
[2002] WASCA 83

CORAM

: ANDERSON J

STEYTLER J
MILLER J

HEARD

: 21 MARCH 2002

DELIVERED

: 21 MARCH 2002

PUBLISHED

: 16 APRIL 2002

FILE NO/S

:	CIV 1684 of 2001

MATTER

:	Application for a Writ of Certiorari against NICHOLAS C ANASTAS, DR F NG and DR S BLACKWELL members of the Medical Assessment Panel under the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 1981

EX PARTE
JOHN WELSBY
Applicant

Catchwords:

Prerogative writ - Certiorari - Workers' compensation - Degree of worker's disability - Medical Assessment Panel - Duty to give reasons for determination of degree of disability - Adequacy of reasons

[2002] WASCA 83

Legislation:

Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 1981, s 84ZH, s 93D, s 145C, s 145E

Result:

Application allowed

Category: B

Representation:

Counsel:

Applicant	:	Mr B L Nugawela
Amicus Curiae	:	Ms J C Pritchard

Solicitors:

Applicant	:	Leonard Cohen & Co
Amicus Curiae	:	Attorney General for Western Australia

Case(s) referred to in judgment(s):

Re Anastas & Ors; Ex parte Welsby [2001] WASC 178

Case(s) also cited:

Ansett Australia Ltd v The Medical Assessment Panel (1998) 19 WAR 395
Craig v South Australia (1995) 184 CLR 163
Palazzolo v Brown & Ors [2002] WASCA 49

R v Gillett & Ors, Members of a Medical Assessment Panel; Ex parte Rusich

[2001] WASCA 111

R v McWilliam & Ors, Members of a Medical Assessment Panel; Ex parte Juras, unreported; FCt SCt of WA; Library No 960637; 7 November 1996

[2002] WASCA 83

R v Wong & Ors, Members of Medical Assessment Panel; Ex parte Maria Stella

Hays, unreported; FCt SCt of WA; Library No 980575; 5 October 1998

Re Babban; Ex parte Suleski [2001] WASCA 289
Re Croser; Ex parte Rutherford & Anor [2001] WASCA 422

[2002] WASCA 83

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT: This is the return of an order nisi for a writ of certiorari granted by McLure J (Re Anastas & Ors; Ex parte Welsby [2001] WASC 178) on 6 July 2001. The order nisi called upon the three members of a medical assessment panel constituted under s 145C of the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 1981 to show cause before the Full Court why a writ of certiorari should not issue against the panel to quash its determination of 23 November 2000 that the applicant's degree of disability, as assessed in accordance with s 93D of the Act, was 15 per cent.

2 The Court came unanimously to the view that the order nisi should be made absolute and that order was made on 21 March 2002, with reasons to be delivered later. These are the reasons of the Court.
3 The applicant, an injured worker, sought an order quashing the
determination of the medical assessment panel on a number of grounds which may be distilled into the single complaint that…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2002] WASCA 83
Decision Date: 21 MARCH 2002

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In this case, the petitioner, Welsby, sought a writ of certiorari to quash a decision made by a Medical Assessment Panel concerning the degree of disability of a worker, Anastas, under the workers' compensation scheme. The decision was made pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Act. The Federal Court of Australia was tasked with determining the legality of the panel's decision and whether it complied with the requirement to provide adequate reasons.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Medical Assessment Panel had a duty to provide reasons for its determination of the degree of disability of the worker and, if so, whether the reasons provided were adequate. The petitioner argued that the panel's reasons were insufficient and did not meet the legal standard required for a just and fair determination. The respondent argued that the panel's decision was within its jurisdiction and that the reasons provided were adequate.

The court found that the Medical Assessment Panel did have a duty to provide reasons for its determination of the degree of disability. The court held that the reasons provided by the panel were inadequate, as they did not clearly explain the basis for the panel's decision and did not address the key issues raised by the petitioner. The court concluded that the panel's failure to provide adequate reasons rendered the decision unlawful. As a result, the court granted the writ of certiorari, quashing the panel's decision and directing the panel to reconsider the matter with adequate reasons.

Orders