Policy

There may be claims for compensation received in DVA offices which relate to former members of the ADF or current and former members of the Reserves who are now employed by DVA.

Employees should note that they must inform their Assistant Director if they lodge a claim for compensation under the MRCA, SRCA or VEA.  The manager of the office, in order to avoid perceived conflicts of interest, must make arrangements for the claim to be assessed and determined in an office other than the one in which the staff member works.

On occasion, ADF units may organise physically and mentally testing “adventurous” activities either as a voluntary adjunct to training, as “sponsored recreation” or as a public relations exercise.  Examples of these activities may include exploits such as winter ski touring in the Australian high country, sea kayaking, rock climbing, etc.

From September 2017, smoking policy has been updated. The changes are as follows:

Section 54(2)(b) of the SRCA provides that a claim form must be accompanied by a 'certificate by a legally qualified medical practitioner' and deems (S54(3)) that a claim has not been made until this certificate is provided. The purpose of the certificate is obviously to demonstrate that the employee does indeed suffer from an 'injury', i.e. a named medical condition. Note that such a certificate does not need to be provided with an ADF claim.

The ADF requires its members to meet defined physical fitness standards as part of the conditions of service.  Compulsory physical training and compulsory participation in some ADF-organised sporting events are conditions of service which apply to most members.  These are of course, on duty activities and the nexus with employment is clear.  Where an injury arises during ADF physical training or at an ADF sporting fixture, there is liability to pay compensation for that injury.  Unlike injuries sustained participating in “civilian sport”, there is no requireme

An exclusion from compensation on the basis that the client submitted to a greater than usual risk of injury occurs twice within the SRCA.

The first is contained within S6(2) which deals with prescribed travel (i.e. between home and work) and refers to injuries where the client chose a risky route or interrupted the journey in a way that increased the risk of injury. Delegates requiring more information on the provisions of S6(2) should refer to section 18.2 of this Handbook.

This section discusses the fact that prior to the amendments made to the SRCA by the Military Compensation Act 1994, none of the Commonwealth workers' compensation Acts covered injuries received during War service or 'operational' (warlike) service.

Ordinary recess is not defined in the SRCA, but can broadly be taken to mean formalised breaks in employment for meals or refreshment, or for safety-related purposes.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary includes the following relevant definitions:

ordinary – adj. 1 regular, normal, customary, usual ... commonplace

If a claimant is not actually prevented from completing and signing the claim form by reason of impairment, a representative's signature should not be accepted. For example, where a person physically capable of completing a claim form has engaged a lawyer who subsequently submits a claim form signed only by that lawyer as representative, the claim form should be returned to the lawyer for endorsement with the claimant's signature.