Two work injuries, one house, and a payout after they split
- Together
- About 13½ years, married
- Children
- None together
- Net pool
- About $311,000 plus super
- Split
- 69% her / 31% him
Ms and Mr Oates lived together from 2003, married in 2005 and separated in February 2017, after about 13½ years. They had no children together, although her two children from an earlier relationship lived with them. He worked in factories and on farms. She worked part-time in customer service. What they owned was ordinary: his house, an investment property bought in 2016 with almost no equity, their cars and modest superannuation.
Both were injured at work. After her injury in 2006, Ms Oates received lump sums, and about $52,000 went into the offset account on his house. Together with $36,000 from the sale of her own house, she paid about $88,000 off his mortgage. Mr Oates was injured in 2013 and received $37,620, most of which went into the house. Judge Young noted that compensation for incapacity is generally treated as the injured person's own contribution. The judge found that she had contributed at least half of the financial contributions to the house.
In 2019, two years after separation, Ms Oates was paid $74,884 from the disability insurance attached to her superannuation, because of a significant incapacity. She had spent $29,299 of it on legal fees, and the judge added that amount back into the pool. The judge treated the whole payment as her contribution. It was 24% of the $310,529 net pool. Leaving it aside, contributions were 52% to her and 48% to him. With it, they were 63.5% to her and 36.5% to him.
Ms Oates, aged 53, was unemployed and had significant health problems from her work injuries. Mr Oates, aged 48, earned about $50,000. The judge added $17,534 so that she could own the investment property free of its mortgage, and decided that Mr Oates should pay her $115,000 within 90 days, or his house would be sold. That gave her 69% ($214,719) and him 31% ($95,810) of the pool outside superannuation, and a super split of $18,205 left her with 44% of the superannuation. Her spousal maintenance claim was refused. Her side was directed to file draft orders reflecting the reasons.
Injury compensation and insurance paid for an incapacity are often counted as the injured person's contribution, even when they arrive after separation. Money from the pool spent on legal fees can still be taken into account.
Decided before the Family Law Amendment Act 2024 took effect on 10 June 2025. The Act now lists wastage and liabilities as express considerations, so a court today might weigh the $29,299 spent on legal fees under those provisions rather than add it back into the pool. The treatment of the injury payments would be much the same. The published judgment gives the judge's reasons and directed draft orders to be filed; the final orders are not published.
A published decision of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, retold in plain English. Lawcaptain did not act in this case. Every outcome depends on its own facts. General information about Australian family law, not legal advice about your situation.
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