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Category: Workers compensation & RTW

Overriding the superior courts: The ACT Limitations Amendment and the Fatal Crisis Payment Mandate

Apr 14, 2026

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Drew McGiffert

583 words

2–4 minutes

The Australian Capital Territory Parliament has passed a major legislative reform package that fundamentally shifts the post-incident compliance landscape for employers and insurers. Through the formal passage of the Workplace Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (No 3), the territory has established a nation-first compulsory fatal crisis payment scheme. This legislative change forces businesses and their insurers…
The boundaries of remote work adjustments: The FWC upholds hybrid mandate in Huxhagen v Allianz Partners

Mar 26, 2026

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Drew McGiffert

820 words

3–5 minutes

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has confirmed that employers retain the legal right to enforce hybrid office attendance when permanent remote work compromises operational performance. In Huxhagen v AWP Australia Pty Ltd trading as Allianz Partners [2026] FWC 745, a travel help desk worker challenged his employer’s refusal to grant him a permanent full-time work-from-home…
The Death of the 1909 Barrier: How Elisha v Vision Australia Redefines Contractual Psychosocial Liability

Feb 5, 2025

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Drew McGiffert

701 words

3–4 minutes

For over a century, corporate counsel, human resource directors, and self-insurers operated with a powerful common law shield when executing aggressive organizational restructures or disciplinary procedures. Under a legacy rule traced back to a 115-year-old UK House of Lords decision, Addis v Gramophone Co Ltd [1909] AC 488, the judiciary maintained a rigid boundary: while…
The mandate for proactive psychosocial engineering—The High Court restores Kozarov’s landmark PTSD award

May 12, 2022

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Drew McGiffert

745 words

3–5 minutes

Case summary snapshot Within the administrative routine of professional service firms, corporate offices, and high-exposure public sector agencies, managing psychological trauma has historically been treated as a reactive human resources function. Boardrooms operated under a legacy legal assumption: unless an individual employee formally raised a hand, submitted a written complaint, or explicitly requested an adjusted…
The biological extension—Why cross-border business travel triggers million-dollar workers’ compensation claims

Dec 5, 2021

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Drew McGiffert

728 words

3–5 minutes

In a groundbreaking determination that fundamentally alters the financial risks of corporate travel, the New South Wales Personal Injury Commission (PIC) has ruled that contracting a biological virus while on an overseas business trip is a compensable workplace injury. In the landmark case of Sara v G & S Sara Pty Ltd [2021] NSWPIC 286,…
The cost of disregarding the workplace voice—The $5.2 Million bullying retaliation precedent

Mar 11, 2021

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Drew McGiffert

1,014 words

4–6 minutes

In one of the most severe general protections decisions in Australian industrial history, the Federal Court of Australia has fundamentally redefined the financial stakes of mismanaging internal safety grievances. In the milestone judgment of Roohizadegan v TechnologyOne Limited (No 2) [2020] FCA 1407, the court ordered an enterprise software employer and its chief executive to…
The shift in Northern Territory workers’ compensation—Journey claims and PTSD presumptions

Aug 18, 2020

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Drew McGiffert

655 words

3–4 minutes

The Northern Territory Parliament has passed a major legislative package that permanently alters the financial exposure of employers regarding commuting risks and mental health claims. Through the formal commencement of the Return to Work Legislation Amendment Act 2020 (NT) in late July 2020, the jurisdiction has reversed several legacy rollbacks that were introduced in 2015.…
Tortious Evolution: The Forensic Reclassification of PTSD as a Bodily Injury

May 18, 2015

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Drew McGiffert

761 words

3–5 minutes

For decades, common law legal systems maintained a strict separation between physical trauma and psychological damage. Within personal injury frameworks, workers seeking damages under specialized insurance schemes frequently faced severe legal hurdles if their condition lacked a direct physical injury. A fascinating case handled by the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Casey v Pel-Air…
Toxic Exposure vs. Lifestyle Choice: The Realities of Workplace Disease Claims

Oct 5, 2014

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Drew McGiffert

661 words

3–4 minutes

Evaluating causation in occupational disease claims is highly complex when a worker has distinct, non-work-related health risks. For decades, employers and statutory insurers have tried to defeat workers’ compensation claims for respiratory cancers by arguing that a history of personal tobacco use outweighs any historical industrial exposure. However, a significant judgment from the Victorian County…
The Death of Hatzimanolis: The High Court Rewrites the Rules for Work-Interval Injuries

Nov 12, 2013

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Drew McGiffert

622 words

3–4 minutes

For more than two decades, the boundaries of an employer’s workers’ compensation liability during work-related travel were governed by a relatively generous legal principle. Under the classic High Court ruling in Hatzimanolis v ANI Corporation Ltd (1992), an injury occurring during an authorized interval in a remote or temporary work assignment was generally compensable, provided…