Want and Comcare [2018] AATA 877
Key Points
- Whether a claimed psychological condition arose as a result of
reasonable administrative action (RAA) and whether condition would
not have arisen in absence of RAA.
- A lack of direct evidence on whether condition would
not have arisen in absence of RAA prohibited the
decision maker from applying the RAA exclusion.
Background
Mr Gary Want was a public servant who had served in the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) for 12 years. From 2006 to September
2014, Mr Want was employed at the Department of Defence in an
Executive Level 1 (EL1) position at a variety of locations.
In March 2010, Mr Want submitted a claim for "sciatica
and L5/S1 disc prolapse" sustained in February 2010 when
he fell off his chair at work while attempting to pick up a set of
keys from the floor. Comcare accepted liability for an
"aggravation of degeneration of intervertebral
disc" and "aggravation of sciatic (left)".
