West v Allambi Care Limited

In the case of West v Allambi Care Limited, the worker appealed against the assignment of classes in three categories of the Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS): Travel, Social functioning, and Concentration. The dispute was heard in the relevant court, which needed to determine the appropriate classification of these categories based on the assessment conducted by a Medical Assessor. The worker argued that the post Medical Assessment Certificate (MAC) statement should be considered, as it indicated that the Medical Assessor did not make enquiries or did not record her answers relevant to these categories during the consultation. The case law of Pitsonis v Registrar of the Workers Compensation Commission & Anor and Lukacevic v Coates Hire Operation Pty Ltd was cited by the parties.

The court was required to decide whether the post MAC statement should be admitted and whether there were any errors in the classification of the PIRS categories. The court considered the principles established in the cited case law and found that in the circumstances, the post MAC statement of the worker should not be admitted. The court then proceeded to analyse the PIRS categories and found that there was an error in respect of the classification of Travel. However, no demonstrable error was found in the classifications of Social functioning and Concentration.

The court revoked the original MAC and issued a new one to reflect the Medical Appeal Panel’s determination in respect of the Travel category. The final orders of the court were that the post MAC statement should not be admitted, and the original MAC was revoked and replaced with a new one that reflected the corrected classification of the Travel category. The classifications of the Social functioning and Concentration categories remained unchanged.