Speirs v Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales

The applicant, Speirs, sought reinstatement before the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales (IRC) under section 242 of the *Workers Compensation Act 1987* (NSW). This provision allows for reinstatement where a worker sustains an injury for which they are entitled to receive compensation. The central dispute concerned whether the IRC possessed the jurisdiction to determine an entitlement to compensation, or if this fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of the District Court, particularly in the context of a coal miner matter. The Court of Appeal of New South Wales was required to resolve this jurisdictional question.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the Industrial Relations Commission had jurisdiction to determine a worker's entitlement to compensation for the purposes of section 242 of the *Workers Compensation Act 1987* (NSW), or whether such a determination was exclusively within the purview of the District Court. This question was further complicated by the provisions of section 105 of the *Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998* (NSW).

The Court of Appeal reasoned that an entitlement to receive compensation, for the purposes of section 240(2) of the *Workers Compensation Act 1987* (NSW), subsisted independently of a formal court or tribunal determination. Consequently, the IRC was not precluded from determining this entitlement when considering an application for reinstatement under section 242. The Court quashed the order of the Full Bench of the IRC that had dismissed Speirs' appeal and remitted the matter back to the IRC for determination according to law. The second respondent was ordered to pay the applicant's costs.