South Australian Consolidated Acts

WORKERS REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION ACT 1986 - SECT 30

30—Compensability of disabilities

        (1)         Subject to this Act, a disability is compensable if it arises from employment.

        (2)         Subject to this section, a disability arises from employment if—

            (a)         in the case of a disability that is not a secondary disability or a disease—it arises out of or in the course of employment; or

            (b)         in the case of a disability that is a secondary disability or a disease—

                  (i)         the disability arises out of employment; or

                  (ii)         the disability arises in the course of employment and the employment contributed to the disability.

        (3)         A worker's employment includes—

            (a)         attendance at the worker's place of employment on a working day but before the day's work begins in order to prepare, or be ready, for work; and

            (b)         attendance at the worker's place of employment during an authorised break from work; and

            (c)         attendance at the worker's place of employment but after work ends for the day while the worker is preparing to leave, or in the process of leaving, the place; and

            (d)         attendance at an educational institution under the terms of an apprenticeship or other legal obligation, or at the employer's request or with the employer's approval; and

            (e)         attendance at a place to receive a medical service, to obtain a medical report or certificate (or to be examined for the purpose), to participate in a rehabilitation program or for the purposes of a rehabilitation and return to work plan, or to apply for, or receive, compensation for a compensable disability.

        (4)         However, a disability does not arise from employment if it arises out of, or in the course of, the worker's involvement in a social or sporting activity, except where the activity forms part of the worker's employment or is undertaken at the direction or request of the employer.

        (5)         A disability that arises out of, or in the course of, a journey arises from employment only if—

            (a)         the journey is undertaken in the course of carrying out duties of employment; or

            (b)         the journey is between—

                  (i)         the worker's place of residence and place of employment; or

                  (ii)         the worker's place of residence or place of employment and—

                        (A)         an educational institution the worker attends under the terms of an apprenticeship or other legal obligation, or at the employer's request or with the employer's approval; or

                        (B)         a place the worker attends to receive a medical service, to obtain a medical report or certificate (or to be examined for that purpose), to participate in a rehabilitation program, or to apply for, or receive, compensation for a compensable disability,

and there is a real and substantial connection between the employment and the accident out of which the disability arises.

        (6)         However, the fact that a worker has an accident in the course of a journey to or from work does not in itself establish a sufficient connection between the accident and the employment for the purposes of subsection (5)(b).

        (7)         The journey between places mentioned in subsection (5)(b) must be a journey by a reasonably direct route but may include an interruption or deviation if it is not, in the circumstances of the case, substantial, and does not materially increase the risk of injury to the worker.