From time to time, claims for compensation will be received in MRCC offices which relate to former members of the ADF who are now employed by the MRCC.
All staff should note that they must inform their local Manager if they lodge a claim for compensation benefits under the SRC Act in the MRCC office in which they currently work. The Manager of the office should, where necessary, make arrangements for the claim(s) to be assessed and determined in another MRCC office. This is to avoid any possibility of influence on the outcome of the claim by the claimant's proximity to the decision-maker.
On occasion, claims will also be received from family members of MRCC staff. If such a claim is lodged in a State/Territory office other than that where the MRCC staff member works, no action need be taken by staff to advise their local Manager unless they wish to do so. However, if the claim is lodged in the State/Territory office where the MRCC staff member works, the staff member must advise his or her local Manager that a claim by a family member has been lodged in the same office in which the MRCC employee works.
The procedures outlined above are intended to be helpful to State/Territory Delegates in determining these claims. It should be stressed that any questions regarding these or any other categories of claim should be raised either with more senior staff in State/Territory offices or with staff in the Policy and Procedures Section of the MRCC National Office.
The function of administering and determining claims lodged by persons living outside Australia rests with the MRCC State or Territory (Regional) office where the claim is first received. For example, Adelaide office would continue to have primary responsibility for administration of a claim received in that office from a claimant living outside Australia. If the claimant were subsequently to return to Australia and live in NSW, the compensation file and responsibility for administration of the claim could be transferred from Adelaide office to Sydney office in accordance with the usual procedure for transferring files.