An article published in the Sydney Morning Herald reports that a rising
number of teachers in New South Wales schools are suffering from
psychological injuries caused by work pressure, bullying and
exposure to violence in schools, tripling the total bill for
injuries in the last six years. If you are a teacher and wish to
make a claim for compensation for a personal injury, it’s
important to know how to do so, and also what to expect. This
article details what teachers need to know about workers
compensation and provides a case summary on White v Secretary,
Department of Education [2023] NSWPIC 113.
A psychological injury can occur because of a specific event,
such as a traumatic incident, or as a result of exposure to
multiple and repeated events over a period of time, such as
bullying, harassment, violence of students, untoward work pressures
or a combination of them all. Psychological injuries can start out
as stress, and can be later diagnosed formally as depressive
disorder, adjustment disorder and even post-traumatic stress
disorder.
Sections 4 and 9A of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 are the relevant
sections for injured workers, including teachers, to be aware of
when making a claim for injury, including psychiatric injury. The
difference between sections 4 and 9A revolve around whether an
injury can be categorised as a ‘disease’ or a ‘personal
injury’. This usually turns on the medical evidence in a
claim.
To establish an injury under section 4, an injured teacher would
need to demonstrate an injury arose out of or in the course of
employment and that the employment was
the main contributing factor. For example, a disease is
caused, when a person is unable to repeatedly deal with stress
imposed upon them, and that ‘disease injury’ can be
acquired a little or a bit more each day.
For a personal injury to be established under section 9A,
employment needs to be the substantial contributing factor. There
are certain criteria that need to be considered for this section
including:
(a) the time and place of the
injury,
(b) the nature of the work performed
and the particular tasks of that work,
(c) the duration of the
employment,
(d) the probability that the injury or
a similar injury would have happened anyway, at about the same time
or at the same stage of the worker’s life, if he or she had not
been at work or had not worked in that employment,
(e) the worker’s state of health
before the injury and the existence of any hereditary risks,
(f) the worker’s lifestyle and his
or her activities outside the workplace.
This means to establish an injury under section 9A, the
connection to employment needs to be substantial but at
the same time, allows for other contributing factors.
It is important to understand how these sections work given the
complexity of work arrangements and industrial issues all employees
face, including teachers. Industrial issues can also be used by
insurers and employers to argue certain defences in claims, namely
section 11A of the Workers Compensation Act 1987.
An interesting case regarding psychological injury sustained by
a teacher is seen in White v Secretary, Department of Education [2023]
NSWPIC 113.
In this matter, Ms White was teaching a disabled student who
passed away. As a result, she sustained a psychological injury on 7
August 2021. Following, she sustained a further psychological
injury between 27 August 2021 and 8 November 2021 due to a COVID-19
vaccine mandate and how it was enforced by her employer. Live
issues in the matter included whether Ms White’s injuries were
caused by employment or if they were caused by reasonable action
taken by her employer in respect of the COVID-19 vaccine
requirements.
In her decision, Member Snell found thatboth injuries were
established, and the Department was unreasonable in how they dealt
with Ms White.
Considering the psychological injury resulting from the vaccine
mandate, Member Snell assessed the medical evidence which
highlighted that “the mandatory COVID vaccine has been
perceived by the claimant as being bullied and harassed. The
Claimant alleges that the behaviour of the principal towards her
was one of intimidating and bullying in nature, which the principal
has denied.”
The evidence established that the actions of the Department were
both the substantial and main contributing factors to her
psychological injury as “Ms White was already depressed by
the loss of the child for whom she was caring. The mandatory COVID
vaccination has resulted in exacerbation of her
symptoms.”
It is important to know how to make a workers compensation
claim, ensure your claim has the appropriate evidence and
understand the defences which can be relied upon by insurers.
#teachers #suffer #personal #injury #school #workers #compensation #Employee #Benefits #Compensation
