Decision notices and disputes

The Commission is an independent statutory tribunal within the NSW justice system committed to providing a transparent and independent dispute resolution service. The Personal Injury Commission Act 2020 (PIC Act) sets out the functions and powers of the Commission.

Personal Injury Commission Rules, procedural directions and policies

The Personal Injury Commission Rules 2021 (the Rules) provide operational direction to the Commission, covering matters of practice and procedure in proceedings.

Procedural directions provide a more detailed explanation of the Commission’s procedures.

The Commission’s policies set standards of practice for the Commission and the people who use the Commission’s services.

The legal disputes pathway is the most common pathway. The disputes that go through this pathway are about entitlements to weekly compensation, medical and related expenses compensation, lump sum compensation for permanent impairment and payments in respect of the death of a worker.

The issues in dispute could include whether an injury has occurred, whether the injury happened at work, whether work was a substantial or main contributing factor to the injury, whether medical treatment is reasonably necessary, whether the injured person was a worker, which body parts were injured, and the amount of compensation payable.

The Commission has developed a dispute resolution model incorporating a blend of informal negotiation and formal hearing.

The pathway begins with the use of informal dispute resolution techniques to try to resolve the dispute by agreement between the parties. Initially, this is done with the parties and their representatives attending a teleconference. If the parties cannot resolve the matter at this stage, it will proceed to a conciliation conference.

If the dispute is not resolved at the teleconference or conciliation conference, it will progress to a formal arbitration hearing where the Commission will decide the dispute.

The Commission provides multiple mechanisms for the conduct of the conciliation conference and arbitration hearing. Parties can attend in person, via telephone, or via videoconferencing, depending on the circumstances of the case and external factors.

More information on dispute pathways is available on the Commission website and in the Commission videos.

Publication of Commission decisions

Section 58 of the PIC Act requires the publication of decisions of the Commission and decisions of Appeal Panels for medical assessments. Rule 132 of the Rules allow for the de-identification or redaction of publishable decisions before publication.

Decisions of the Commission are published on the legal research databases of AustLII, BarNet Jade and Lexis Nexis.

An appeal of a member decision is made to the Commission constituted by a presidential member. An appeal is made by application to the President.

Appeals from a member’s decision are limited to the determination of whether a decision was or was not affected by errors of fact, law or discretion, and the correction of any such error. The appeal is not a review or new hearing (section 352 of the 1998 Act).

Procedural Direction WC3 – Presidential appeals and questions of law concerns the practice and procedure for an appeal to a presidential member as well as the referral of a question of law to the President.