Bill to address Court of Appeal Neville Decision Passed by Parliament

The Workers Compensation and Injury Management Amendment (Common Law Election Validation) Bill 2024 passed through the Parliament on 23 October 2024.

The Bill addresses negative implications of the Court of Appeal decision of Neville v Choice One Pty Ltd [2024] WASCA 104, by:

• Retrospectively validating common law elections made under the former Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981 where the Director recorded the impairment assessment/agreement but did not do so before the purported election was made.
• Enabling new proceedings to commence, or current proceedings to recommence, if proceedings have been struck out, stayed, dismissed, or discontinued on the basis of an invalid election since 5 September 2024.
• Providing for a 12-month extension to the limitation period if a worker’s limitation period has expired, or will expire, before the amendment Act commences operation. This applies where proceedings have been struck out, stayed, dismissed, or discontinued on the basis of an invalid election since 5 September 2024.
• The Bill does not validate the worker’s election that was considered in the Court of Appeal decision due to his unique circumstances. This will preserve the effect of the Court of Appeal decision for only this worker and therefore not prevent him from seeking reinstatement of statutory compensation.

The new legislation comes into effect the day after it receives the Royal Assent.