An Australian bureaucrat who was injured while having sex in a motel room during a business trip has won a five-year legal battle against the government for worker’s compensation.

The Associated Press on Monday read the reasons the Full Bench of the Federal Court gave last week for rejecting an appeal by the government’s insurer Comcare against an earlier court declaration that the woman was injured in the course of her employment.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was having sex with a male friend in her motel room when a glass light fitting was torn from its mount above the bed and landed on her face, injuring her nose and mouth.

Comcare is considering an appeal to the High Court.