Policy

Section 5(3) provides that the categories of person listed under that subsection may be covered under DRCA following a Declaration (via legislative instrument) by the Minister (the DRCA Declaration). 

A Declaration was signed by the Minister on 21 September 2018, and commenced on 1 October 2018.  This DRCA Declaration provides for the class of persons mentioned in column 1 of the following Schedule to be taken as persons employed by the Commonwealth where performing the class of acts mentioned in column 2.

SCHEDULE

Section 36 of the MRCA precludes the admission of liability under that Act for smoking-related diseases, in relation to periods of service on and after 1 July 2004.  This does not preclude smoking-related conditions being accepted under the DRCA with a date of injury on or after 1 July 2004.

If the disease caused by the smoking has been contributed to in a material degree by employment occurring on or after 1 July 04 or before and on or after that date, SRCA does not apply and the MRCA exclusion will apply.

The effect of prejudice – 1930 Act

All new claims for 1930 Act injuries or diseases are, by the terms of S16, 'out of time' by well over 30 years. Most of these cases therefore involve consideration o — f whether the Commonwealth has been prejudiced by that delay.

Any injury or disease suffered by a member or ex-member of the ADF as a result of that member's consumption of alcohol or illicit drugs should in most cases be considered to be a result of a personal choice by the member. It follows that alcohol consumption can not be considered to have been reasonably required, expected or authorised by the ADF in order for the member to carry out his/her duties. Consequently, those claims generally are not to be accepted for compensation purposes. There are only two exceptions to this general policy:

Section 61 of the SRCA requires that a decision on liability must be issued as a written determination informing the client, at a minimum:

a) the terms of the determination (i.e. meaning whether the claim has been accepted or rejected etc. and, if accepted, from what date); and

The investigation of the factual circumstances allegedly giving rise to an injury or disease is perhaps the most critical phase of the determination of liability.

Of course, many cases are very simple and straightforward and involve simple injuries clearly documented in accident reports and on the employee's ADF medical file. These raise few issues with regard to causation.

Although the SOPs are binding on VEA and MRCA delegates, they have no legal standing under the DRCA.  Nonetheless, SRCA delegates are advised that the SOPs can provide useful information about the aetiology (causation) of various medical conditions.  If referring to any SOP condition for DRCA purposes, it is important to remember that it is the BOP SOP – which applies to peacetime service – that must be used.   Although the SOPs can be a useful guide when making a determination under DRCA, they should never be the sole consideration, particularly where injurie