Mr Perera's employer leased and occupied the fifth floor of
a building. The leased premises included a common area immediately
in front of shopfronts forming the façade of the ground
floor of the building. The entrance to the building was set back a
few metres within this common area. Mr Perera injured his knee
immediately outside the entrance door of his employer's office
building whilst on his way to work. Had he reached his place of
work and why was this relevant?
Amendments effective from 13 April 2007 to the Safety,
Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth)
(Act) removed "journey" claims to and
from a place of work from being compensable under the Comcare
scheme. This was done to strike a balance between employers'
obligations to employees injured through employment and sustaining
reasonable costs of the scheme's maintenance. Employers were no
longer liable for injuries sustained by employees in such journeys
over which they had no practical control over.
