4.3 Interim Payment of Compensation for Permanent Impairment

4.3 Interim payment of compensation for permanent impairment

Provision to assess interim PI under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related) Act 1988 (DRCA) ensures the possibility of entitlement to a permanent impairment payment does not impede the rehabilitation process.

Key points:

• Compensation for accepted conditions may be payable in the form of permanent impairment payments where an ongoing impairment is both permanent and stable, and is assessed as reaching a minimum level of impairment points.
• Where an impairment is permanent but not yet stable, payment of interim permanent impairment compensation should be considered.
• Many conditions will have periods where symptoms may be more or less severe, including fluctuations of symptoms or ‘spikes’ as part of their normal manifestation. This may be especially true of mental health conditions.

For PI assessment purposes, the following definitions should be broadly considered:

• “Permanent” means that the condition is not likely to resolve.
• "Stable" simply means the condition is unlikely to improve to any major degree.