Wright v State of New South Wales

The appeal concerned a dispute regarding the degree of permanent impairment of the appellant, Mr Wright, arising from a workplace injury. The appellant had been assessed by a medical assessor as having a whole person impairment of 19%. The primary judge had found that the medical assessor had exceeded his statutory jurisdiction due to an estoppel arising from the terms of a Certificate of Determination. The appeal was heard by Gleeson, Mitchelmore and Stern JJA of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the primary judge had erred in their construction of the Certificate of Determination, and consequently, whether the medical assessor had indeed exceeded their statutory jurisdiction. This involved an examination of the effect of the Certificate of Determination on the subsequent medical assessment of Mr Wright's permanent impairment.

The Court of Appeal determined that the primary judge had erred in their construction of the Certificate of Determination. The Court reasoned that the Certificate did not create an estoppel that prevented the medical assessor from making a fresh assessment of the degree of permanent impairment. Consequently, the medical assessor had not exceeded their jurisdiction. However, the Court found it necessary to remit the matter for further consideration.

Leave to appeal was granted, but the appeal was dismissed. The State of New South Wales' appeal against the decision of the Medical Assessor dated 16 August 2022 was remitted to the President of the Personal Injury Commission. This was for referral either for a further medical assessment under s 329 of the *Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998* (NSW) or for referral to a differently constituted appeal panel for hearing under s 328 of the same Act. Any further consideration was to be made consistently with the reasons of the Court, and each party was to bear its own costs of the appeal.