A full Federal Court has granted Comcare another chance to dispute liability for a worker's 45-year-old injury, agreeing that critical medical evidence showing his condition might have been "normal" by the mid-1980s was overlooked by a decision maker.
An appeals court has upheld the acquittals of two PCBUs charged over the hypothermia death of a helicopter pilot, confirming that the "cascading" series of WHS measures they allegedly failed to adopt were not reasonably practicable.
A worker who claims she suffers from pain arising from an accepted work-related repetitive strain injury (RSI) sustained four decades ago has been denied compensation for ongoing medical treatment.
The powers of elected health and safety representatives and protections against safety discrimination in the offshore sector have been stepped up and aligned with those in WHS laws, in a Bill introduced some six years after a parliamentary inquiry warned the changes were needed to combat a "culture of fear and reprisal".
A company and its director have been charged with WHS recklessness, which was allegedly identified during an investigation into a helicopter crash that occurred just moments after a worker suspended under the aircraft was cut free and fell to his death.
A regulator's claim that to prevent double-dipping it is entitled to recover compensation payments from a worker who received a s-x-discrimination settlement, could, if accepted, have a "chilling effect on the bringing of such complaints" and undermine anti-discrimination laws, a full Federal Court has warned.
A full Federal Court has partially overturned a ruling made against a union and an official accused of refusing to comply with a worksite's WHS requirements, finding the site's rules only required the official to be "accompanied" rather than "escorted".