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27.1.1 Exclusion from liability for fraudulent misstatement at recruitment

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Where a person is aware of an existing illness or injury and wilfully withholds this or any other aspect of their medical history (including treatment, investigations etc.) at enlistment, S7(7) applies:

7(7) A disease suffered by an employee, or an aggravation of such a disease, shall not be taken to be an injury to the employee for the purposes of his Act if the employee has at any time, for purposes connected with his or her employment or proposed employment by the Commonwealth or a licensed corporation, made a wilful and false representation that he or she did not suffer, or had not previously suffered, from that disease.

Note that a failure to disclose the injury, illness, medical history etc. must be wilful, i.e. there must be no doubt that it was reasonable for the client to recall and reveal the information, and that the suppression of that information was a deliberate act.

If a Delegate is satisfied that misrepresentation or concealment of information is involved, S7(7) cancels any liability to pay compensation for that condition or any aggravation of that condition or any sequelae.

Furthermore, Delegates should note that such an act of wilful concealment represents fraud, which may also lead to dismissal from the ADF if that employee is still serving.