Scone Race Club Ltd v Cottom

Scone Race Club Ltd sought leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales against a decision of the Common Law Division. The dispute concerned the extent of Mr Cottom's whole person impairment for the purposes of workers' compensation. The Personal Injury Commission (PIC) medical appeal panel had considered late-filed documents in determining the appeal from a certificate of a medical assessor, without affording Mr Cottom an opportunity to address the panel regarding these documents.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the PIC medical appeal panel had committed a jurisdictional error by considering late documents without providing an opportunity for submissions, and whether those documents could have materially affected the panel's decision. The court also considered the scope of the medical appeal panel's functions and powers, specifically whether it was restricted to determining the appeal on the indicated grounds and reviewing only the injury the subject of the referral to the medical assessor.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the PIC medical appeal panel had erred by failing to provide Mr Cottom with an opportunity to make submissions on the late documents, which were capable of materially affecting the outcome. The court held that this failure constituted a jurisdictional error. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, the orders of the Common Law Division were set aside, and Mr Cottom's summons was dismissed.