Woollard v SAS Trustee Corporation [2016] NSWDC 221

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Woollard v SAS Trustee Corporation [2016] NSWDC 221 Hearing dates: 23-24 June 2016 Date of orders: 27 June 2016 Decision date: 27 June 2016 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Neilson DCJ Decision: I set aside the decision of the defendant made on 30 July 2015 and determine that the commencement date of the plaintiff's superannuation allowance is 6 March 1998

I order the defendant pay the plaintiff's costs Catchwords: POLICE SUPERANNUATION – Date of commencement of "Hurt on Duty" (HOD) pension – Plaintiff went on sick report on 28 June 1996 with a condition diagnosed as Lyme Disease – Claim made for that condition to be accepted as HOD – Plaintiff then seeks medical discharge – Prior to discharge withdraws application for Lyme Disease to be accepted as HOD – On evidence then available and currently available that application would have been unsuccessful – Plaintiff medically discharged on 5 March 1998 with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – On 16 November 2004 plaintiff consulted a psychiatrist who diagnosed PTSD as the condition which had incapacitated the plaintiff since 1996 – On 10 February 2010 PSAC certified plaintiff as unfit because of a Major Depression Episode – That condition was secondary to, or had the same aetiology, as PTSD – On 28 May 2015 COP accepted that Major Depression Episode was caused by plaintiff's being HOD – Relevant delay (between discharge on 5 March 1998 and making an application on 28 July 2005) was caused by misdiagnosis – HOD pension backdated to medical discharge – Delay not caused by an act or default of the plaintiff Legislation Cited: Police Regulation (Superannuation) Act 1906 Cases Cited: Daley v SAS Trustee Corporation [2016] NSWCA 111 Derrick Boland v SAS Trustee Corporation [1999] NSWIRComm 48 Mason v COP [2013] NSWDC 274 Millar v Dickson (Procurator Fiscal, Elgin) [2001] UKPC D4; [2002] 3 All ER 1041 SAS Trustee Corporation v Cox [2011] NSWCA 408 SASTC v Hazlewood [2009] NSWIRComm 157; (2009) 188 IR 174 SAS Trustee Corporation v Woollard [2014] NSWCA 75 Texts Cited: K R Handley, Estoppel by Conduct and Election (Sweet & Maxwell, 2nd edition, 2016) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Philip Woollard (Plaintiff) SAS Trustee Corporation (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr P O'Rourke (Plaintiff) Mr T Ower (Defendant)