Sabanayagam v St George Bank Limited [2016] NSWCA 145

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Sabanayagam v St George Bank Limited [2016] NSWCA 145 Hearing dates: 19 April 2016 Decision date: 27 June 2016 Before: Beazley P at [1]; Basten JA at [7]; Sackville AJA at [26] Decision: 1. Appeal allowed.

2. Set aside the orders made on 21 January 2016 by the Commission constituted by a Presidential Member and the determination made by the Arbitrator on 17 August 2015.

3. Remit the matter to the Commission constituted by an Arbitrator for determination consistently with these reasons for judgment.

4. The respondent (Bank) pay the appellant's (Worker's) costs of the appeal. Catchwords: WORKERS COMPENSATION – jurisdiction of the Workers Compensation Commission – whether an insurer's decision to terminate weekly compensation payments after 130 weeks was a "work capacity decision" – whether Commission deprived of jurisdiction to determine the Worker's challenge to the decision by s 43(1) and (3) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) (WC Act) – whether insurer was authorised to make the decision – whether the decision was a "decision to dispute liability" within s 43(2)(a) of the WC Act or a "decision that can be the subject of a medical dispute" within s 43(2)(b) Legislation Cited: Compensation Court Repeal Act 2002 (NSW), s 4(2) State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015 (NSW) Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 69 Workmen's Compensation Act 1910 (NSW), s 5 second schedule cl 1(2) Workers' Compensation Act 1926 (NSW) Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), ss 2A(2), 4, 9(1), 32A, 33, 36, 37, 38, 43, 43(3), 44, 44A, 44BB, 54;Pt 3, Div 2, 60(5), Sch 6, Pt 19H, cl 14 Workers Compensation Amendment Act 2015 (NSW) Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Act 2012 (NSW) Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW), ss 4, 60(2), 74, 105, 248, 287A, 288(1), 289A(1), 319, 321(1), 325(1), (2), 326(1), 327(1)-(3), 328(1), 351(1), 352(1), 352(5) 353(1), 353(2), 376(1)