Section 6 (1A) indicates:
“For the purposes of this section:
(a)a journey from a place of residence is taken to start at the boundary of the land where the place of residence is situated; or
(b)a journey to such a place of residence is taken to end at that boundary.”
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OPERATIONAL ADVICE No 96/003 Amendments to the SRC Act |
This expansion of the Act means that, irrespective of the type of residence an employee has, in each case the boundary of the residence forms the commencement or finish of a journey.
Claims for injuries occurring within the residence boundary and sustained on and from 15/01/1996 are no longer compensable.
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Example |
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An employee leaves the front door of her residence to walk to the bus stop on her way to work. |
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She falls down her front steps and sustains an injury to both legs. |
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Compensation is not payable, as the journey has not yet commenced. The employee is still within the boundaries of her residence. |
However, boundaries relating to the place of work have not been clarified. Therefore, the rule of thumb for work boundaries is as follows:
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if the whole building is occupied by the employer, the main entrance to the building is the boundary;
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where a complete floor is used by the employer, the boundary begins and ends getting into and out of the lift/s on that floor; and
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where there is an office only situated on a floor, the door to that office is the boundary.