Policy

Where an ADF member submits to an abnormal risk of injury, it also must be established that he/she 'voluntarily and unreasonably' submitted to that risk. – i.e. both conditions must apply.

Section 4(1) of the SRCA includes the following definition of 'place of work':

'place of work', in relation to an employee, includes any place at which the employee is required to attend for the purpose of carrying out the duties of his or her employment

This definition makes it clear that a client's place of work is not just their usual 'work base' but also includes any other place where they are required to attend for the purposes of their employment, e.g. a parade, a training facility, a Board of Inquiry.

Liability to pay compensation only persists while the injury continues to give rise to medical consequences. For those injuries which do not produce ongoing or permanent impairments, payment of compensation ceases when the medical condition has been 'cured' and the client is no longer incapacitated or impaired by the accepted condition. Cessation of payments may also occur where a non-compensable condition has overtaken the compensable one.

The SRCA covers all Commonwealth employees, not just the categories referred to above. However, RCG is empowered under Part XI of the Act deal with military cases for service prior to 1 July 2004. In the event that an RCG office receives a claim from a Defence civilian or other non-ADF person, this claim should not be dealt with by an RCG Delegate, but referred instead to Comcare Australia.

Section 4(13) of the SRCA states:

4(13) For the purposes of this Act, an employee who is under the influence of alcohol or a drug (other than a drug prescribed for the employee by a legally qualified medical practitioner or dentist and used by the employee in accordance with that prescription) shall be taken to be guilty of serious and wilful misconduct.

In cases involving disciplinary action, a member may have the right to commence a grievance procedure against their supervisor or employer.

The processing of a claim for compensation should not be deferred pending the outcome of the grievance procedure, but should be decided on the facts and evidence available to the Delegate at the time of claim determination. This can be justified on several grounds:

The DI(G) also accredits a number of ADF Sports Associations.  Sports played under the terms of the relevant ADF Sports Association for the following sports (listed below) are to be accepted as approved sports for SRCA compensation purposes:

Some employees suffer from diseases of long latency such that it is not obvious that an 'injury' has occurred until the symptoms manifest themselves some considerable time after discharge (e.g. mesothelioma from asbestos exposure). In such cases, receipt of the claim for compensation itself may be taken to be a 'notice' under the relevant Act, providing it is submitted 'as soon as practicable' after the claimant became aware of the diagnosis.

The situation for reserves members injured on training nights or annual camps is quite different to that of a full time serving ADF member. Reservists do not receive general, full-time medical care from the ADF. They access their own on-going medical care on the same footing as the rest of the general population. This means that most of the medical and treatment notes are not owned by the Department of Defence but are scattered among whatever medical providers the reservist chooses to consult.