Walters and Comcare (Compensation)

This matter concerned an appeal by Ms Walters against a decision by Comcare to deny her claim for workers' compensation. Ms Walters sought compensation for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), alleging it was contributed to, to a significant degree, by a viral infection contracted while she was posted in India for her employment with AusAID, which later became part of DFAT. The case was heard by Deputy Gary Humphries Ao P.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether chronic fatigue syndrome constitutes a "disease" for the purposes of the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Cth), and if so, whether Ms Walters' CFS was contributed to, to a significant degree, by a viral infection contracted during her employment in India. A further question was whether her employment contributed, to a significant degree, to her contracting that viral illness.

The court found that while Ms Walters met the diagnostic criteria for CFS, the condition did not satisfy the definition of a "disease" under section 5A of the Act. The court reasoned that CFS, as understood in the current state of the law, was a collection of subjectively reported symptoms without an accompanying identifiable physiological change or disturbance. Consequently, the court concluded that CFS did not meet the statutory definition of an injury for the purposes of section 14 of the Act.

Accordingly, the reviewable decision of Comcare, which denied liability under section 14 of the Act for Ms Walters' fatigue condition, was affirmed.