An Australian civil servant will be compensated for an injury she suffered while having sex during a business trip, media reports say.

Justice John Nicholas ruled in the woman's favour after she appealed a workers' compensation ruling against her to Australia's federal court.

The woman, in her late 30s, worked in human relations for a government agency.

The agency had sent her to a town in New South Wales, where she and a colleague conducted budget reviews and met local staff. She was booked into a motel, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on its website.

The court said the woman, whose name hasn't been released, is entitled to compensation for facial and psychological injuries suffered when a light fixture fell off the wall in her motel room in November 2007, and landed on the bed she was occupying at the time with a male friend.

She suffered injuries to her nose, mouth and a tooth from the glass light hitting her face, the BBC reported. Her lawyer argued that sex is a normal activity in a motel room and should be covered, because the woman was on a work trip.

"If the applicant had been injured while playing a game of cards in her motel room, she would have been entitled to compensation," Nicholas said.