8.1.1 S39, 1971 Act
39(1) Subject to this section, where an injury to an employee results in a loss specified in Subsection (2), the compensation payable in respect of that injury is $28,000**, or such higher amount as is prescribed, and that compensation is payable to the employee.
39(2) The losses referred to in Subsection (1) are as follows:
a)loss of, or total loss of sight of, both eyes, and
b)loss of, or total loss of sight of, a useful eye, the other being blind or absent.
39(3) Subject to this section, where an injury to an employee, not being an injury resulting in a loss in relation to which Subsection (1) applies, results in a loss specified in Subsection (4), the compensation payable in respect of that injury is an amount equal to such percentage of $28,000** or, if an amount is prescribed for the purposes of Subsection (1), of that amount as is specified in Subsection (4) in relation to that loss, and that compensation is payable to the employee.
39(4) The losses and percentages referred to in Subsection (3) are the losses and percentages set out in the following table:
|
Nature of Loss |
% |
|
Loss of, or total loss of sight of, an eye |
40 |
|
Total loss of hearing |
70 |
|
Total loss of power of speech |
70 |
|
Loss of arm at or above elbow |
80 |
|
Loss of arm below elbow, loss of hand or loss of thumb and four fingers of the one hand |
70 |
|
Loss of thumb |
30 |
|
Loss of forefinger |
20 |
|
Loss of middle finger |
16 |
|
Loss of ring finger |
14 |
|
Loss of little finger |
13 |
|
Total loss of movement of joint of thumb |
14 |
|
Loss of distal phalanx or joint of thumb |
16 |
|
Loss of portion of terminal segment of thumb involving one-third of its flexor surface without loss of distal phalanx or joint |
14 |
|
Loss of two phalanges or joints of forefinger |
12 |
|
Loss of two phalanges or joints of middle or ring finger |
11 |
|
Nature of Loss |
% |
|
Loss of two phalanges or joints of little finger |
10 |
|
Loss of distal phalanx or joint of forefinger |
10 |
|
Loss of distal phalanx or joint of other finger |
8 |
|
Loss of leg at or above knee |
75 |
|
Loss of leg below knee |
65 |
|
Loss of foot |
60 |
|
Loss of great toe |
20 |
|
Loss of any other toe |
8 |
|
Loss of two phalanges or joints of any other toe |
7 |
|
Loss of phalanx or joint or great toe |
10 |
|
Loss of phalanx or joint of any other toe |
6 |
39(5) If the one injury results in loss of, or total loss of sight of, one eye, and partial loss of sight of the other eye, by an employee, the last preceding subsection has effect in relation to the first-mentioned eye as if the reference in that subsection to 40% were a reference to 50%.
39(6) The compensation payable under this Act in respect of any injury resulting in partial loss of sight of an eye by an employee is such percentage of the amount of compensation that would be payable under this section in respect of an injury resulting in total loss of sight of that eye as is the percentage by which the injury to the employee resulted in the sight of that eye immediately before the injury being reduced.
39(7) For the purposes of the application of Subsection (6), if the injury resulting in partial loss of sight of an eye by an employee also resulted in loss of the other eye or total or partial loss of sight of the other eye, the amount of compensation that would be payable under this section in respect of any injury resulting in total loss of sight of the first-mentioned eye shall be taken to be $14,000** or such higher amount as is prescribed.
39(8) For the purposes of Subsections (5) and (7), two or more injuries to an employee that are sustained at the same time shall be treated as one injury.
39(9) The compensation payable under this Act in respect of an injury resulting in partial loss of hearing by an employee is such percentage of the amount of compensation that would be payable under this section in respect of an injury resulting in total loss of hearing by the employee as is the percentage by which the injury resulted in the hearing of the employee immediately before the injury being reduced.
39(10) The compensation payable under this Act in respect of an injury resulting in an impairment of speech of an employee is such percentage of the amount of compensation that would be payable under this section in respect of an injury resulting in total loss of power of speech by the employee as is reasonable having regard to the extent to which the speech of the employee immediately before the injury was impaired by the injury.
39(11) The compensation payable under this Act in respect of an injury resulting in partial loss by an employee of the efficient use of a part of the body specified in Subsection (4) or of the efficient use of such a part of the body for the purposes of the employment of the employee immediately before the injury, not being a loss referred to in Subsection (6), (7), (9) or (10), is such percentage of the amount of compensation that would be payable under Subsection (3) in respect of an injury resulting in the loss by the employee of that part of the body as is:
a)the percentage by which the injury resulted in the efficient use, immediately before the injury, of that part of the body being reduced, or
b)the percentage by which the injury resulted in the efficient use, immediately before the injury, of that part of the body for the purposes of the employment of the employee immediately before the injury being reduced,
whichever is the greater percentage.
39(12) A reference in this section to the loss by an employee of a specific part of the body shall be read as including a reference to:
a)the total loss of the efficient use of that part of the body, and
b)the total loss of the efficient use of that part of the body for the purposes of his employment immediately before the injury that resulted in the loss.
39(13) This section does not apply in relation to an injury resulting in a loss where that injury or another injury sustained at the same time results in the death of the employee.
39(14) An amount of compensation referred to in this section is not payable in respect of an injury so long as the employee is, or is likely to become, totally incapacitated for work where the incapacity for work results, or, if it occurs, will result, in whole or in part from that injury.
39(15) In this section, 'loss' means a permanent loss.
** Rates as at 1 September 1979, these statutory rates were increased on a regular basis, see below62.1.2.
Source URL: https://clik.dva.gov.au/military-compensation-srca-manuals-and-resources-library/permanent-impairment-handbook/ch-8-permanent-impairment-under-1971-act/81-table-losses-s39/811-s39-1971-act