16.3 Date of Injury

The date of injury, disease or loss is the key date for determining entitlement to compensation in that it determines which Act was current at the time of the occurrence and thus which criteria governs access to benefits.

The date, on which a claim for compensation is made, is of small significance except when the Commonwealth has been prejudiced by the late lodgement of the claim.

Accordingly care must be taken to establish a precise date of occurrence of injury wherever possible.

In the case of an injury or the aggravation of an injury the appropriate date is the date when the event causing the injury occurred, e.g. the date of the fall or the motor vehicle accident.