Fuller v Avichem Pty Ltd (t/as Adkins Building & Hardware) [2019] NSWCA 305
[45] The following principles are applicable to the determination of whether a plaintiff such as Mr Fuller has residual earning capacity:
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 (Nominal Defendant v Livaja [2011] NSWCA 121 at [65], followed in Mead v Kerney [2012] NSWCA 215 at [18] and Dal v Chol [2018] NSWCA 219 at [9]).