Stojcevski v Nisselle

In Stojcevski v Nisselle, the plaintiff sought compensation for industrial deafness sustained in part outside Victoria. The dispute involved the assessment of the degree of impairment under section 91(3) of the Accident Compensation Act 1985, which requires a determination of the degree of impairment due to the injury. The court was tasked with deciding whether the period during which the plaintiff suffered the injury outside Victoria was relevant to this assessment.

The primary legal issue was whether the period of injury occurring outside Victoria should be considered in determining the degree of impairment. Additionally, the court needed to determine if the consideration of irrelevant matters by the medical panel amounted to a denial of natural justice. The plaintiff argued that the medical panel erred by considering the period outside Victoria irrelevant, while the defendant contended that the location of the injury was not pertinent to the impairment assessment.

The court held that the period of injury occurring outside Victoria was relevant to the assessment of impairment under section 91(3). The court found that the medical panel had indeed considered irrelevant matters, which amounted to a denial of natural justice. Consequently, the decision was quashed and remitted for reconsideration. The court’s reasoning was grounded in the statutory provisions and the principles of natural justice, ensuring that all relevant factors were appropriately considered in the impairment assessment.