DSLB v Comcare [2023] FCA 1222

Federal Court of Australia

DSLB v Comcare [2023] FCA 1222 Review of: DSLB and Comcare (Compensation) [2022] AATA 1369 and various decisions of Comcare and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal

File number: NSD 546 of 2022

Judgment of: KATZMANN J

Date of judgment: 16 October 2023

Catchwords: WORKERS COMPENSATION – where determination by Comcare to disallow claim for workers compensation set aside on reconsideration and claim accepted, whether open to Comcare on own motion to reconsider primary determination or substitute different decision for decision made on reconsideration ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – where Comcare purported to reconsider liability to pay workers' compensation after primary determination to decline liability had been set aside on reconsideration – where Comcare provided applicant with two weeks to be heard before liability revoked but not the material upon which the own motion reconsideration decision was based, whether applicant denied natural justice – whether relief should be refused in any event because of availability of merits review in Administrative Appeals Tribunal HIGH COURT AND FEDERAL COURT – suppression and non-publication orders – where applicant assigned pseudonym by Administrative Appeals Tribunal and applied to Court for order under s 37AF of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) prohibiting or restricting publication or other disclosure of information tending to reveal her identity – where evidence revealed applicant suffers from psychiatric disorders and disclosure of her identity would more likely than not precipitate an acute exacerbation of her symptoms and lead to increased risk of self-harm, whether order necessary to protect her safety