Table 4.8: Definition of injury and relationship to employment — detailed | Safe Work Australia

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	Definition of injury and relationship to employment	Contribution of employment
New South Wales	Injury: means personal injury arising out of or in the course of employment, includes a disease injury, which means: a disease that is contracted by a worker in the course of employment but only if the employment was the main contributing factor to contracting the disease, and the aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration in the course of employment of any disease, but only if the employment was the main contributing factor to the aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration of the disease, and does not include (except in the case of a worker employed in or about a mine) a dust disease, as defined by the Workers’ Compensation (Dust Diseases) Act 1942, or the aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration of a dust disease, as so defined. Section 4, Workers Compensation Act 1987	No compensation is payable under this Act in respect of an injury (other than a disease injury except for exempt workers) unless the employment concerned was a substantial contributing factor to the injury — s9A(1), 1987 Act. Note. In the case of a disease injury, a disease contracted by a worker in the course of employment, where the employment was a contributing factor to the disease — s4, Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998.
Victoria	‘ ...an injury arising out of or in the course of any employment …’ — s39(1), Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013	Compensation is not payable in respect of the following injuries unless the worker’s employment was a significant contributing factor to the injury: a) a heart attack or stroke injury b) a disease contracted by a worker in the course of employment (whether at, or away from, the place of employment), or c) a recurrence, aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration of any pre-existing injury or disease — s40(2) and s40(3).
Queensland	‘ ...a personal injury arising out of, or in the course of, employment…’ — s32(1), Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003	A significant contributing factor — s32(1)
Western Australia	‘...a personal injury by accident arising out of or in the course of the employment...’ — s5(1), Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981	For disease only: a disease contracted by a worker in the course of his employment at or away from his place of employment and to which the employment was a contributing factor and contributed to a significant degree — s5(1).
South Australia	‘...injury if (and only if) it arises from employment. .’ — s7, Return to Work Act 2014 in the case of an injury other than a psychiatric injury – the injury arises out of or in the course of employment and the employment was a significant contributing cause of the injury; and in the case of psychiatric injury the psychiatric injury arises out of or in the course of employment and the employment was the significant contributing cause of the injury; and the injury did not arise wholly or predominantly from any action of decision designated under subsection (4).	‘…a significant contributing cause of the injury …’ — s7(2)(a) for non-psychiatric injuries ‘…the significant contributing cause of the injury …’ — s7(2)(b) for psychiatric injuries
Tasmania	Injury includes — a disease, and the recurrence, aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration of any pre -existing injury or disease where the employment was the major or most significant contributing factor to that recurrence, aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration. Except in some circumstances ‘injury’ does not include an asbestos-related disease within the meaning of the Asbestos-Related Diseases (Occupational Exposure) Compensation Act 2011 — s3(1), Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. The liability of employers to compensate workers for injuries, relates to: ‘An injury, not being a disease, arising out of, or in the course of employment’ — s25(1)(a) ‘an injury, which is a disease, to which his employment contributed to a substantial degree’ — s25(1)(b).	To a substantial degree, that is, employment is the ‘major or most significant factor’ (for diseases only) — s3(2A) Employment being the major or most significant contributing factor is also a requirement in relation to injuries that are a recurrence, aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration of any pre-existing injury or disease (s3(1) — in definition of ‘injury’).
Northern Territory	‘…a physical or mental injury…out of or in the course of employment…’ — s3A, Return to Work Act 1986	Material contribution, (for diseases — s4(6) and gradual process — [s4(5)] that is employment was the real proximate or effective cause (s4(8)). A mental injury is not an injury if due to management action taken on reasonable grounds and in a reasonable manner — s3A(2). See s3(1) for definition of ‘management action’ For heart attack or stroke injury — material contribution — s58 that is employment was the real proximate or effective cause — s4(8)
Australian Capital Territory	‘a physical or mental injury (including stress)…includes aggravation, acceleration or recurrence of a pre-existing injury…arising out of, or in the course of, the worker’s employment…’ — s4 and s31, Workers Compensation Act 1951	A substantial contributing factor — s31(2)
C’wealth Comcare	For injuries: ‘ …a physical or mental injury arising out of, or in the course of, the employee’s employment…’, or ‘...an aggravation of a physical or mental injury (other than a disease) suffered by an employee ...’ — s5A For diseases: ‘an ailment or aggravation of an ailment…that was contributed to, to a significant degree by an employee’s employment’ — s5B, Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.	To a significant degree (for diseases) — s5B, with matters to be taken into account being set out in a non-exclusive list and with ‘significant degree’ being defined as ‘substantially more than material’
C’wealth Seacare	For injuries: ‘an injury (other than a disease) suffered by an employee, being a physical or mental injury arising out of, or in the course of, the employee’s employment’, or ‘...an aggravation of a physical or mental injury (other than a disease) suffered by an employee’ — s3, Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 For diseases: ‘any ailment suffered by an employee, or the aggravation of any such ailment, being an ailment or an aggravation that was contributed to in a material degree by the employee’s employment’ — s3	To a material degree (for diseases) — s3
C’wealth DVA	MRCA An injury sustained or a disease contracted which: arose out of, or was attributable to, any defence service rendered by the person while a member; or resulted from an occurrence that happened while the person was a member rendering defence service Includes the aggravation of an injury, or its signs and symptoms, which was contributed to in a material degree by, or was aggravated by, any defence service rendered by the person while a member after he or she sustained the injury or contracted the disease, and/or aggravated by treatment provided by the Commonwealth. (MRCA s5, s27, s29(1), s29(2) and s30) DRCA For injuries: ‘ …a physical or mental injury arising out of, or in the course of, the employee’s employment…’, or ‘...an aggravation of a physical or mental injury (other than a disease) suffered by an employee ...’ — s5A For diseases: ‘an ailment or aggravation of an ailment…that was contributed to, to a significant degree by an employee’s employment’ — s5B,	Minimum material contribution required (‘arose out of, or was attributable to’) — MRCA, s27(b) and 27(c) In a material degree (for aggravations only) — MRCA, s27(d) and s30 To a significant degree (for diseases) — s5B, with matters to be taken into account being set out in a non-exclusive list and with ‘significant degree’ being defined as ‘substantially more than material’
New Zealand	A work-related personal injury is a personal injury that a person suffers: while he or she is at any place for the purposes of his or her employment — s28, Accident Compensation Act 2001	Not required, except for work-related gradual process, disease, or infection suffered by the person — s20(2)(e)