2.1.1 General

Claims for compensation in respect of death can be usefully divided into two types:

• Claims where the death is the result of a disease (or possibly, delayed effects of a traumatic injury) for which the Commonwealth has already accepted liability for the injury or disease.
• Claims where there is no prior claim for injury, i.e. the nexus between the known cause of death and ADF employment has not already been the subject of a determination prior to the request for compensation following death.

Since the introduction of the Military, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA), most deaths covered under the SRCA will be as a result of diseases related to SRCA service.

Section 54 of the SRCA provides that no compensation is payable under that Act except where there has been a written claim 'in accordance with the form approved by Comcare'. The form currently approved by the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (MRCC) in lieu of Comcare is the DVA Form D9182: 'Claim for compensation of Funeral expenses and/or Compensation following death for Dependants of deceased members and former members of the Australian Defence Force'.

While section 54(5) provides that strict compliance with an approved form is not required and substantial compliance is sufficient, DVA would need to ensure there was sufficient information provided by the claimaint to enable reasonable investigation and determination of the claim. For more information about lodgement of claims refer to Chapter 6.3 of the SRCA Liability Handbook.