10.3 Only Certain Determinations can be Reconsidered

Not all determination are open to reconsideration under the SRC Act. Subsection 60(1) states that; 'a 'determination' means a determination, decision or requirement made under Section 8, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 21A, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 34, 36, 37 or 39, under paragraph 114B(5)(a) or under Division 3 of Part X'.

A request for reconsideration of a determination made under a provision of the SRC Act other than under those provisions quoted above can be 'rejected'. The employee or claimant could simply be advised that there is no provision for such a determination to be reconsidered. However, the employee or claimant should also be advised that if he/she is dissatisfied with the advice given, he/she may have a right to seek a review of that 'administrative decision' under the provisions of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977. It should also be mentioned that any such application would necessarily have to be made to the Federal Court of Australia and that whether the employee or claimant decides to seek legal advice is a matter for his/her decision and would necessarily be at his/her own expense.

Basically, a request for reconsideration can be made by a party to a determination. In the MRCC context, a party to a determination is the injured employee (that is, a member or former member of the Australian Defence Force) or his/her legal representative, a compensation claimant (for example, a member's widow in the case of the death of an employee) or the Commonwealth. In practice, it is quite rare for the Commonwealth to request a reconsideration of a determination. The only time that might occur is where the Commonwealth believes that it has incorrectly or unjustifiably been found liable to pay compensation to a given employee.