Broadspectrum (Australia) Pty Ltd v Fiona Louise Wills [2018] NSWSC 1320

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Broadspectrum (Australia) Pty Ltd v Fiona Louise Wills [2018] NSWSC 1320 Hearing dates: 13 June 2018 Date of orders: 31 August 2018 Decision date: 31 August 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Administrative Law Before: Harrison AsJ Decision: I make declarations that:

(1) The certificate and statement of reasons issued by the fourth defendant dated 2 February 2017 is void and of no effect.

(2) The certificate and statement of reasons issued by the third defendant on 5 June 2017 is void and of no effect.

The Court orders that:

(3) The proceedings are referred to the Workers Compensation of NSW to be dealt with according to law.

(4) The plaintiff and first defendant are to pay their own costs. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – Judicial Review - Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW) – whether the Medical Appeal Panel failed to find a demonstrable error in the the Medical Assessment Certificate and statement of reasons of the AMS – whether the Medical Appeal Panel failed to revoke the Medical Assessment Certificate and conduct its own review in circumstances where there was a demonstrable error - whether the Medical Appeal Panel failed to perform its statutory task Legislation Cited: Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW) Cases Cited: Campbelltown City Council v Vegan [2006] NSWCA 284 Cole v Wenaline Pty Ltd [2010] NSWSC 78 Cullen v Woodbrae Holdings Pty Ltd [2015] NSWSC 1416 Elcheikh v Diamond Formwork (NSW) Pty Ltd (In Liq) [2013] NSWSC 365 Inghams Enterprises Pty Ltd v Lakovska [2014] NSWCA 194 McGinn v Ashfield Council [2012] NSWCA 238 Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Wu Shan Liang [1996] HCA 6; (1996) 185 CLR 259 NSW Police Force v Registrar of the Workers Compensation Commission of NSW [2013] NSWSC 1792 Nicol v Macquarie University [2018] NSWSC 530 Pereira v Siemens Ltd [2015] NSWSC 1133 Roger v De Gelder [2015] NSWCA 211 Ryder v Sundance Bakehouse Pty Ltd [2015] NSWSC 526 Sadsad v NRMA Insurance Limited [2014] NSWSC 1216 Siddick v WorkCover Authority of NSW [2008] NSWCA 116 State of New South Wales v Hill [2018] NSWSC 54 Vannini v Worldwide Demolitions Pty Ltd [2018] NSWSC 572 Vitaz v Westform (NSW) Pty Limited [2011] NSWCA 25 Walsh v Parramatta City Council (2007) 161 LGERA 118; [2007] NSWLEC 255 Wingfoot Australia Partners Pty Ltd v Kocak [2013] HCA 43, (2013) 252 CLR 480, 88 ALJR 52 Texts Cited: NSW Workers Compensation Guidelines for the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (Fourth edition, 1 April 2016) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Broadspectrum (Australia) Pty Ltd (Plaintiff) Fiona Louise Wills (First Defendant) Workers Compensation Commission of NSW("Second Defendant) Medical Appeal Panel of the Workers Compensation Commission of New South Wales constituted by Arbitrator Ross Bell and Approved Medical Specialists, Dr Lana Kossoff and Brian Parsonage (Third Defendant) Approved Medical Specialist Dr Wasim Shaikh (Fourth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: D J Hooke SC with E E Grotte (Plaintiff) E G Romanuik SC with J L Brazel (First Defendant)