Ballas v Department of Education (State of NSW) [2019] NSWSC 234

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Ballas v Department of Education (State of NSW) [2019] NSWSC 234 Hearing dates: 22 February 2019 Date of orders: 08 March 2019 Decision date: 08 March 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Wright J Decision: (1) The summons filed on 14 September 2018 is dismissed. (2) The plaintiff is to pay the first defendant's costs as agreed or assessed. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – judicial review – decision of a delegate of the Registrar of the Workers Compensation Commission as to whether appeal to Appeal Panel should be allowed to proceed – whether error of law – whether jurisdictional error – whether delegate failed to consider submission that "Approved Medical Specialist" took into account irrelevant considerations and failed to take into account relevant considerations – whether delegate erred in deciding that which matters were relevant to the categories in the Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS) was a matter of discretion rather than an application of the Workers Compensation Guidelines Legislation Cited: Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW) Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW) Cases Cited: Bunnings Group Limited v Peter Howard Hicks & Ors [2008] NSWSC 874 Collector of Customs v Pozzolanic Enterprises Pty Ltd (1993) 43 FCR 280; [1993] FCA 456 Ferguson v State of New South Wales & Ors [2017] NSWSC 887 Jenkins v Ambulance Service of New South Wales [2015] NSWSC 633 Kolundzic v Quickflex Constructions Pty Ltd [2014] NSWSC 1523 Mahenthirarasa v State Rail Authority of New South Wales [2008] NSWCA 101 Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Wu Shan Liang 185 CLR 259; [1996] HCA 6 Vannini v Worldwide Demolitions Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 324 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Fiona Ballas (Plaintiff) Department of Education (State of NSW) (First Defendant) Workers Compensation Commission (Second Defendant) Medical Appeal Panel of the Workers Compensation Commission of New South Wales (Third Defendant) Arbitrator of the Workers Compensation Commission (Fourth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr B McManamey (Plaintiff) Mr L Morgan (First Defendant) Submitting appearance (Second Defendant) Submitting appearance (Third Defendant) Submitting appearance (Fourth Defendant)