Australia, June 16 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement May 16:

1. In June and July 2021 Mr Wetere sustained physical injuries to both of his wrists while working for Coles as a delivery truck driver. He then suffered a further psychological injury at a time when he was performing light duties he had been given, which involved him standing at the front of a store supervising COVID check-ins. He felt overwhelmed by the hostility of customers and a meeting with his supervisor and regional manager, in which he claimed he had been harassed, verbally assaulted and bullied.

2. Mr Wetere has never returned to work. He has pursued treatment, including surgery, for the injuries to his wrists, as well as for the psychological injury he was diagnosed to have suffered. Namely, a major depressive disorder with anxious distress.

3. Still there was initially a dispute between the parties about whether he had suffered any psychological injury. That dispute was resolved in conciliation before the Personal Injury Commission in February 2024, Coles then conceding that he had suffered a work-related primary psychological injury. The Commission then ordered that the matter be remitted to the President for expeditious referral of that injury to a Medical Assessor for assessment pursuant to s 321 of the Workplace injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW).

4. The Medical Assessor later concluded that Mr Wetere had suffered 0% whole person impairment, having formed the opinion that his primary injury had resolved and that he was also suffering a secondary psychological injury which was not compensable: s 65A(1) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW).

5. Mr Wetere successfully appealed the resulting Medical Certificate the Assessor issued, with the Appeal Panel accepting that the Assessor had fallen into relevant error. It arranged to have him further assessed by one of its members, Dr Glozier and finally adopted his conclusions that Mr Wetere was suffering from a persistent depressive disorder, with resulting whole person impairment assessed at 7%. That being below the 15% statutory compensation threshold.

6. This judgment deals with Mr Wetere's application for judicial review of the Appeal Panel's decision under s 69 of the Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW). He seeks orders setting aside the Panel's resulting Medical Assessment Certificate, his case being that it also fell into jurisdictional error and/or error on the face of the record.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/196d1a5fd2fa44c279a1833f)

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