Determination of liability to pay compensation under S14 of the SRCA means the primary decision as to whether the SRCA has relevance to the employee's injury, i.e. it is the formal concession or denial of the Commonwealth's responsibility to pay compensation of any kind. It is no mere formality. Nothing is payable before/unless liability has been accepted.
This however does not prevent Delegates from gathering information and making all preparations to pay benefits (i.e. usually Incapacity) during the liability investigation process, i.e. in cases where there is urgent financial need and an eventual concession of liability appears likely. This is good client service. However, no actual payment can be made until after the date of the liability decision.
Similarly, Rehabilitation Delegates may certainly engage an employee in general discussions about rehabilitation options and offer advice etc. prior to liability determination. In fact this strategy, in the interests of 'early intervention', is recommended. However, the Delegate must not commit Commonwealths funds to (e.g.) an assessment or a rehabilitation plan until liability has been conceded.
Pre-liability rehabilitation is also possible for serving members identified for medical discharge, under the auspices of the Transition Management Service. (The TMS is administered by RCG Delegates for Dept of Defence.) Alternatively, Rehabilitation under the Veteran's Vocational Rehabilitation Scheme may be offered to employees who have no liability under a compensation Act but who qualify as a veteran for the purposes of the Veterans' Entitlements Act.
Links
[1] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/20444%23comment-form
[2] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/20097%23comment-form
[3] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/20494%23comment-form
[4] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/20252%23comment-form
[5] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/20518%23comment-form