1.10 Compensation under S17 of SRCA Not Payable Where No Dependants

S17(2) of the SRCA provides that:

'Subject to this section and Sections 16 and 18, if the employee dies without leaving dependants, compensation is not payable in respect of the injury'

• 'Subject to....Sections 16 and 18..' means that these sections are exempt from S17(2)'s requirement that payment not be made other than to a 'dependant'. Reimbursement of medical expenses associated with the death (S16) and reimbursement of funeral costs (S18) are of course payable directly to the person who incurred the costs or performed the service, and does not require existence of a dependant.

The definition of 'dependant' is discussed below at 1.11

• The scheme of the Act is to provide compensation for the notional, 'deemed' economic loss that the death represents to a defined 'dependant'. Persons who are either not defined 'dependants' and/or who wish to pursue compensation for emotional injury or for any non-economic inconveniences allegedly caused by the death, should be told to seek legal advice with respect to a legal action against the Commonwealth. (See 9.1 re: non-applicability of S44 in cases of Death.)