“Disease” is defined in s 4(1) of the SRC Act:
“disease” means:
(a)any ailment suffered by an employee; or
(b)the aggravation of any such ailment;
being an ailment or an aggravation that was contributed to in a material degree by the employee's employment by the Commonwealth or a licensed corporation;
“Ailment” is also defined in s 4(1):
“ailment” means any physical or mental ailment, disorder, defect or morbid condition (whether of sudden onset or gradual development);
On its face, “ailment” could be given a very broad meaning, effectively displacing any real scope for “injury” as defined in paragraph (b) of the definition of “injury”. This would, however, defeat the overall statutory scheme which draws a clear distinction between the causal test for injuries (s 6) and for diseases (s 7).
As discussed in the commentary on “injury”, MCRS has adopted a simple and easily applied rule to determine whether a condition is an injury, ie. “an injury is a condition which arises from a single, identified traumatic event or from a series of similar, identified traumatic events”. Essentially any other claimed condition should be classified as a disease (or aggravation).
Accordingly, a disease includes:
- infections, fevers, viral conditions, etc;
- skin cancers and other cancers;
- “radiation” diseases;
- asbestosis, pleural plaques and other complex lung conditions;
- psychological conditions (eg. anxiety disorders, severe depression, etc);
- noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus
- shoulder and arm conditions of gradual onset (eg. rotator cuff syndrome, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc);
- degenerative conditions of the spine;
- knee and ankle conditions attributed to the rigours of Service life;
- pes planus and other foot problems.
When considering the classification of a “disease”, it is important to consider carefully whether the claim is in relation to the underlying disease or whether the claim actually relates to an aggravation of a disease or injury.
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
As a matter of policy, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is to be regarded as a disease even though it is usually caused by a single traumatic event (known as an “extreme stressor”).
This is primarily because, unlike other more common “injuries”, PTSD is, by its nature, usually diagnosed many years after the precipitating event and, as such, may be more easily recognised as a disease. Further, complex issues of legal interpretation arise in such cases, particularly in the light of recent Court cases which have considered the question of what constitutes an “injury” as opposed to a “disease”.