Tuckett and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Compensation)

This matter concerned a claim for workers' compensation by Aaron Tuckett against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Mr. Tuckett sought compensation for a psychological condition he alleged was caused by his employment. The Commonwealth Bank contended that any injury sustained by Mr. Tuckett was the result of reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner, which would exclude it from the definition of "injury" under the relevant legislation. The decision was made by Ms. A F Cunningham, Senior Member.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the workplace events and actions experienced by Mr. Tuckett, which he claimed led to his psychological injury, constituted "reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner." This required the Tribunal to determine what actions qualified as administrative action in respect of Mr. Tuckett's employment and to assess whether those actions were reasonable in their nature and execution, and if they were causative of his injury. The Tribunal also had to consider whether the Bank's actions, if found to be administrative action, were undertaken reasonably.

The Tribunal found that while certain workplace events, such as increasing sales targets and colleagues being performance managed, contributed to Mr. Tuckett's distress, they did not constitute "administrative action" in respect of his employment. However, the Tribunal identified two meetings, one on 2 December 2014 and a follow-up on 30 December 2014, as administrative actions that significantly contributed to Mr. Tuckett's psychological injury. Crucially, the Tribunal concluded that these meetings, despite their impact, were conducted as reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner. The Tribunal applied the principles of section 5A of the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth), which excludes injuries resulting from reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner from the definition of "injury."

Accordingly, the Tribunal affirmed the reviewable decision. It held that because Mr. Tuckett's injury was a result of reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner, it was excluded from the definition of "injury" under section 5A of the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth). Consequently, the Commonwealth Bank was not liable to pay compensation under section 14 of the Act.