Worker entitled to compensation for injuries when assaulted by a stranger (not a co-worker)

The Industrial Court of Queensland (ICQ) recently handed down a decision (Blackwood v Civeo Pty Ltd), which will affect certain claims for workers' compensation.

A male worker was assaulted by a stranger in the early hours of the morning while asleep in a donga at a Moranbah mining accommodation village. The assailant was not a co-worker, but had forcibly obtained a master key to the room with the help of a co-worker.

The question for the ICQ was whether the injury fell under the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (WCRA). The facts of this case are on the borderline of what had previously been considered an injury under the WCRA.

To fall under the WCRA, an injury must 'arise out of or in the course of' a worker's employment, and the employment must be a 'significant contributing factor' to the injury.