1.7 Reimbursement of costs of transport of the body - S16 of the SRCA

Subsection 16(9)(b) allows reimbursement of the costs of transport of the body of an employee who died in compensable circumstances to 'a hospital or suitable place, or a mortuary'.

Generally, this subsection should be interpreted liberally. There may be more than one journey involved prior to delivery to an undertaker for the funeral/burial. Delegates should approve payment for any reasonable sequence of moves.

Deaths overseas

Since WW2, the bodies of serving ADF members who died whilst serving overseas have been repatriated to Australia by the ADF at the ADF's expense. This is not expected to change.

However Subsection 16(9)(b) has been used at least once in the past, to assist the relatives of a client to repatriate the body of a discharged ADF member who died of a compensable disease whilst overseas on holiday. This precedent can be followed in the very rare instances in which it may recur, however it should not be applied to the cases of clients who were in fact permanent or long term residents overseas. Nor should proposals involving exhumations of existing overseas burials be contemplated.