4.2.3 Date of injury - loss of hearing cases

The date of injury for hearing loss claims is important in determining which legislation a subsequent impairment can be compensated under.  The date of injury will be determined as part of the liability assessment and determination process.  Further information about the date of injury for hearing loss claims can found in the Liability Handbook at Chapter 23.6 .

Apart from the dates mentioned earlier in Chapter 4.2.1 and 4.2.2, for DRCA hearing loss claims, there is an additional date of 1 October 2001 to be considered.

Section 24 of the DRCA was amended on 1 October 2001 so that PI compensation was payable for an accepted binaural hearing loss of 5% (i.e. 2.5% WPI) or more. This replaced the previous threshold of 20% binaural hearing loss (i.e. 10% WPI). Accordingly, the lower threshold only applies to hearing loss claims with a date of injury after 1 October 2001.