22.4.5 ADF Firefighters

See also: ADF Firefighters Scheme.

The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Fair Protection for Fire-fighters) Bill 2011 was developed in recognition of the high level of exposure to toxins which is experienced by firefighters in the course of their employment and the subsequent medical conditions that may result from that exposure.

The Bill was introduced to the House of Representatives on 4 July 2011 and received Royal Assent on 6 December 2011.

The passage of the Bill resulted in amendments to the disease provisions contained in section 7 of the SRCA (now DRCA).  Specifically, subsections 7(8) and 7(9) were included to create a legal presumption in situations where one of twelve “prescribed” types of cancer is contracted by a firefighter who has been employed in that capacity for a particular amount of time and who has been exposed to the hazards of a fire scene within that period.  In situations where this is the case, their employment is taken to have contributed to a significant degree to the contraction of the disease for the purposes of the Act, unless the contrary can be established.  Delegates should not actively seek to disprove a link to service.

A complete copy of the amendments to the SRCA which established subsections 7(8) and 7(9) is available to view online at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2011A00182

The twelve primary cancer types and the minimum periods of service which a firefighter must have been employed, as set out in the legislation amendments commencing from 4 July 2011, are included in the following table.  Item 13 also provides for additional  types of cancer (and qualifying periods) to be prescribed at a later stage in accordance with section 122 of the Act.

These DRCA provisions are not retrospective in application, meaning that the “presumptive” decision-making only applies to conditions that manifested after 4 July 2011.  The amendments are therefore relevant to DVA clients if a former ADF member had the identified role of a firefighter and meets the requisite number of years of service prior to contracting one of the specified cancers.

Subsection 7(10) makes it clear that if a firefighter does not qualify under the new provisions then liability will continue to be assessed using the standard provisions in the Act (on the basis of specialist medical evidence).

From 5 October 2023, eight additional cancers were prescribed for the purposes of subsection 7(8) via amendments to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Regulations 2019.  These changes are prescribed in accordance with the provision in Item 13 of the table at subsection 7(8) of the DRCA, which allows for further conditions and qualifying criteria to be established via Regulations.

The eight new prescribed cancers and their qualifying periods are as follows:

The expanded prescribed conditions apply only to veterans covered by the DRCA.  All service by ADF firefighters rendered on or after 1 July 2004, is covered under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA).  Under the MRCA, there are no prescribed condition provisions.  As such, all claims for liability relating to service after 1 July 2004 must be assessed according to the factors set out in the Statements of Principles for the relevant condition where these have been determined by the Repatriation Medical Authority.