If staff are in doubt about actual or perceived conflicts of interest, they should consult their Assistant Director and complete the 'Declaration of interests' document, which is then to be placed on the claim file. The Assistant Director may then determine if a potential conflict of interest exists and, if so, make arrangements for the claim to be assessed and determined interstate.
The distinction between 'ignorance' and 'mistake' is not very important when considering late claims under the SRCA or the 1971 Act. It was however very significant under the 1930 Act as that Act made no mention of 'ignorance', ignorance of the law and of the workers compensation system was not included in 'mistake' and it did not provide an excuse for a late claim.
The SRCOLA 2007 amendments changed the definition of disease from 'material contribution' to 'contribution to a significant degree'. This amendment came into effect on 13 April 2007 and impacts any SRCA claimants where the date of onset of a disease is on or after this date (see discussion on date of onset at 21.2).
Read the discussion of the definition of 'injury' at 10.3 and the definition of 'disease' at 10.4 and 10.5.
You will see that where an employee suffers from an injury (i.e. a medical condition with the characteristics of an 'injury' as opposed to a 'disease') the Delegate must be satisfied that this injury:
If this minimum form of application is not complied with, the Delegate ultimately has the power to refuse to deal with the claim. Should the Delegate choose to take this line, the claimant must of course be informed in writing, i.e. as a Determination.
The notice of injury provisions and the provisions for making a claim for compensation are entangled together in S16 of the 1930 Act:
16(1) The Commissioner shall not admit a claim for compensation under this Act for an injury unless notice of the accident has been served upon him as soon as practicable after it has happened, and before the employee has voluntarily left the employment of the Commonwealth, and unless the claim for compensation has been made:
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.
Given the very wide latitude available in relation to late notification of injury, Delegates may wonder whether S53(1) of the SRCA represents a barrier to any sort of claim. In fact, exclusions for late notification of injuries are very rare for the SRCA.
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 of whether the Commonwealth has been prejudiced by that delay.
There are several circumstances where processing a claim for compensation could give rise to a real or perceived conflict of interest. These include but are not limited to;
