News is just coming in that the Canberra public servant who tried to claim workers comp for injuries incurred while wrecking a hotel room with rough trade picked up in Nowra (and rough trade comes little rougher) has been ruled against by the High Court of Australia.
Her heroic efforts will, however, have implications for everyone else injured out of hours while on work trips.
The High Court’s thoughts on the matter are available:
The High Court allowed Comcare’s appeal. A majority of the High Court held that in order for an injury sustained in an interval or interlude during an overall period of work to be in the course of an employee’s employment, the circumstances in which the employee was injured must be connected to an inducement or encouragement by the employer. If the employee is injured whilst engaged in an activity at a certain place, that connection does not exist merely because of an inducement or encouragement to be at that place. When the circumstances of an injury involve the employee engaging in an activity at the time of the injury, the relevant question is: did the employer induce or encourage the employee to engage in that activity? On the facts of the respondent’s case, the majority held that the answer to that question was ‘no’.