Section 27(3) of the 1971 Act states:
If an injury to an employee is not intentionally self inflicted but is attributable to his serious and wilful misconduct, the Commonwealth is not liable...to pay compensation in respect of that injury unless the injury results in the death or serious and permanent disablement of the employee
Registration on Defcare also includes the claim in DVA's statistical monitoring of performance. It is expected that most liability cases will be resolved within 120 days, the nominal TTTP standard. However, some cases are destined not to achieve this nominal standard due to limited availability of documents, time needed to arrange medical examinations, additional time sought by clients to present more evidence and a host of other circumstances.
The issue of non-attendance without excuse and suspension from compensation is dealt with fully at 12.
Delegates should note that the SRCA and its predecessors are all 'no fault' Worker's Compensation Acts. This means that an injury received in the workplace has 'arisen out of or in the course of' employment and is compensable even if the injury was not due to negligence by the employer, and even if the injury was due to negligence by the employee.
'Voluntary' is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as:
voluntary 1. done, acting, or able to act of one's own free will; not constrained or compulsory, intentional...
Similarly, Rehabilitation Delegates may certainly engage an employee in general discussions about rehabilitation options and offer advice etc. prior to liability determination. In fact this strategy, in the interests of 'early intervention', is recommended. However, the Delegate must not commit Commonwealths funds to (e.g.) an assessment or a rehabilitation plan until liability has been conceded.
Section 14(2) of the SRCA states:
14(2) Compensation is not payable in respect of an injury that is intentionally self-inflicted.
Policy clarifying the application of this exclusion in relation to suicide is provided at Chapter 3.5 Suicides.
A notice of injury must have been given in writing to comply with the SRCA. The Act does not specify any particular form for a 'notice' other than it should be in writing. Thus, an accident report or an incident report or some notation in the Unit records may suffice. More significantly, a medical report or a clinical note indicating the subject injury occasioned attendance at a Regimental Aid Post, ship's sick bay or other ADF Health Service facility could reasonably be interpreted to be a 'notice' compliant with the Act.
A medical condition may still be 'self-inflicted' even if another person is also involved in the infliction of the injury. This would be the case if the injured member actively conspired with that other person and cooperated in the infliction of the injury or death, e.g. where an injured client requested shut-down of life support systems.
In order to consider liability for smoking related claims it is necessary to consider three important factors:
1. Was the applicant's smoking habit related to service?
Any smoking history of the member prior to and subsequent to commencing military service is an important consideration, as is the frequency of smoking.
