Policy

Calculating the amount of economic loss can be tricky and each case will need to be determined on its own merits.

The delegate must consider the following factors and nothing else:

1. The financial loss suffered by the dependant as a result of the death

2. The length of time that the dependant would have been dependent on the deceased employee.

It is important to remember that the death lump sum is compensation for loss of economic support and does not compensate for emotional distress as a result of the death.

Where an injury to an employee results in death, section 17 provides for the payment of lump sum compensation to the dependants of the employee, who were wholly or partly dependent on the employee at the date of the employee's death.

Determination of the amount of lump sum compensation payable under section 17 requires the delegate to establish whether the various 'dependants' – i.e. those who are candidates for sharing in the payment – were wholly or partially dependent (on the deceased employee) for economic support.

The term 'prescribed child' is defined in section 4(1) of the SRCA.  It broadly means a person under 16, or a person aged 16 and up to 25 years, in full time education and not generally in employment.  Refer to Part 1.18 for explanation of the 'prescribed child'.

Section 18 provides that in cases of a compensable death, the Commonwealth is liable to pay or contribute to the cost of the funeral.

The amount payable is, '..as Comcare considers reasonable..' but up to a maximum amount which is also indexed on 1 July each year.

Guidelines about the provision of aids and appliances can be found in chapter 10 of the Rehabilitation Guide. This chapter also includes information about:

• All treatment must be accompanied by a current referral by the treating doctor.
• Treatment will only be approved for conditions for which the client has accepted liability.
• Treatment Authority will exist for clients to receive physiotherapy treatment, as long as there is a valid referral for that treatment, and it is provided for accepted condition/s only.
• In instances where a progress report has been requested, the maximum payable fee should not exceed the cost of a standard consultation.

All requests for footwear must be accompanied by a current recommendation from a podiatrist registered to prescribe footwear and a referral from the treating doctor.

Footwear will only be approved for conditions for which the clients has accepted liability and only where depth, custom made or specific footwear is necessary to accommodate a physical deformity.

Depth footwear may be prescribed for some corrective insoles or to accommodate forefoot abnormalities such as bunions, hammer toes, swelling etc.

• The treating doctor is expected to supply a list of script and non-script medications necessary for the management of the client's accepted liabilities. A standard letter exists on Defcare that can be used for all clients. These medications need to be recorded on Defcare/Employee Note under a Pharmacy heading so that pharmacy accounts can be matched to the approved list of medications prescribed by the Nominated treating doctor.