Sills v State of New South Wales [2019] NSWCA 4

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Sills v State of New South Wales [2019] NSWCA 4 Hearing dates: 13 November 2018 Decision date: 07 February 2019 Before: Payne JA at [1]; Sackville AJA at [6]; Simpson AJA at [178] Decision: 1. Appeal allowed. 2. Set aside Order 1 and 2 made by the primary Judge on 10 May 2018. 3. Direct the parties to file and serve within fourteen days agreed calculations of: • the amount for which judgment should be entered for the appellant having regard to s 151A(1)(b) of the Workers Compensation Act; • the amount which is to be paid to the party which has paid weekly compensation to the appellant; • the amount of interest payable by the State to the appellant pursuant to s 151M of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW); and • short minutes of order giving effect to the calculations referred to above. 4. Order the State to pay the appellant's costs of the proceedings in the District Court. 5. Order the State to pay the appellant's costs of the appeal. Catchwords: TORTS – action by a former police officer against the State pursuant to the Crime Proceedings Act 1988 (NSW) – alleged breach of non-delegable duty to take reasonable care to prevent psychological injury – satisfactory procedures in place to identify officers at risk of post-traumatic stress – whether the New South Wales Police breached its duty of care to the police officer by failing to implement the system for detecting and addressing psychological injury – whether failure to act on recommendations by a Police Medical Officer and Police Psychologist constituted a breach of duty – whether the New South Wales Police were entitled to assume that the appellant's psychological problems had resolved on her return to work.