Mead v Kerney [2012] NSWCA 215
[18] Having determined what he described as the respondent’s “theoretical work capacity” (Judgment [219]), his Honour proceeded to determine whether the respondent could, as a practical matter, utilise that capacity to obtain work in the geographic area in which it was reasonable for him to seek work. This reflected the proper approach identified in Nominal Defendant v Livaja [2011] NSWCA 121 as follows:
… Because an individual has a physical and mental ability to undertake certain tasks, it does not necessarily follow that he has a significant residual earning capacity. Earning capacity must be measured by reference to the individual, when viewed with all his or her characteristics, in the labour market. When a person in middle age has spent all his or her life in a skilled or semi-skilled occupation which, as a result of injury, is no longer available, the identification of occupations which are theoretically available is only part of the task. There must also be a practical assessment of the likelihood of the individual obtaining employment in some such occupation … ([65]).