20.2 No payment without liability

Delegates may only determine an entitlement to incapacity payments where the Commonwealth has already accepted liability for the injury that allegedly caused (or contributed to) that alleged incapacity.

In urgent cases where the liability claim and the request for incapacity payments are received together, the investigation of origins, duration, etc. of the incapacity may sometimes be completed before that in relation to liability. Regardless of the degree of urgency, under no circumstances is any incapacity payment – even one purporting to be an 'interim' payment – to be made prior to that determination of liability. Such payments are not lawful.