Contents Bill Rolfe appointed Repatriation Commissioner 2
Do sections 9A and 70A apply to the aggravation or material contribution of a sign or symptom of an injury or disease (see s 30 MRCA)?
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- Vietnam, 1966 – 1971
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Do sections 9A and 70A apply to the aggravation or material contribution of a sign or symptom of an injury or disease (see s 30 MRCA)?No. Subsections 9A(2) and 70A(2) prevent an injury or disease being accepted under the VEA if it was aggravated or materially contributed to by service rendered on or after 1 July 2004 unless the person chooses, under s 12 CTPA, not to claim under the MRCA. The aggravation or material contribution referred to in these sections has the same meaning as it has in sections 9 and 70. That is, it means the underlying injury or disease must have been made permanently worse and not merely that a sign or symptom of the injury or disease has been made worse (see Yates’ case24). If only a sign or symptom has been aggravated or materially contributed to by service since 1 July 2004, sections 9A and 70A do not apply to deny liability.
Does this mean that a person can apply for an increase under the VEA as well as claim the aggravation of a sign or symptom under the MRCA?Yes. If a person’s VEA disability has been temporarily worsened by the aggravation of, or material contribution to, a sign or symptom but the underlying injury or disease has not been made worse in a permanent kind of way, then the person may claim under s 319 of the MRCA to have liability accepted for the injury or disease on the basis of the aggravation of, or material contribution to, a sign or symptom of that injury or disease (s 30, MRCA). This enables the person to receive incapacity for work payments but only for the period of incapacity for work resulting from the aggravation of the sign or symptoms of the injury or disease (s 88, MRCA). They would be offset against any disability pension paid for that period for the same disability. ExampleClinical onset of disability 12 August 1993 MRCA started 1 July 2004 Clinical worsening of disability 7 April 2006 
Time Line   
Discharged 23 June 2008   
Enlisted 24 June 1985   
Service potentially related to the cause of the disability Service potentially related to aggravation of the disability In this example, the member enlisted in 1985 and had the clinical onset of the disability in 1993. This disability was accepted under the VEA as defence-caused as it was found to be related to service rendered between 1985 and the time of onset of the disability. The member continued to serve, and in 2006 there was a clinical worsening of the disability. Without the introduction of the MRCA, the fact that there had been a clinical worsening would mean that the person would have been entitled to make an application for an increase in pension (an AFI), whether that worsening was due to service or not. With the introduction of the MRCA, the CTPA, and sections 9A and 70A of the VEA, it is necessary to determine whether the worsening of the disability is due to service rendered on or after 1 July 2004. If it was made worse by service before 1 July 2004, and not by any service since that date, the AFI can proceed under the VEA and no claim can be made under the MRCA. If it has been made worse by service rendered on or after 1 July 2004 (either on its own or in conjunction with prior service), and the member makes an AFI, the member must be given the choice to make a claim in respect of the aggravation of the disability under the MRCA or continue with the AFI. If the member chooses to continue the AFI, the member cannot later claim in respect of that aggravation under the MRCA. The entire incapacity from the disability, including the effects of the aggravation, is then assessed and is pensionable under the VEA. If the member chooses to claim under the MRCA, the member cannot later choose to make an AFI. The disability is no longer taken to be a defence-caused injury or disease under the VEA, and if liability is accepted under the MRCA, compensation is payable under that Act in respect of the effects of the aggravation of the disability. Changes to eligibility Vietnam, 1966 – 1971On 26 October 2006 and 2 November 2006, the Vice Chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant General Gillespie AO DSC CSM, issued instruments of allotment for duty under s 5B(2)(a) of the VEA in relation to service in South Vietnam. The first instrument provided eligibility to members of the crew of AS3051 John Monash, and the second to members of Clearance Diving Team 1. Somalia, 1992 – 1994On 15 February 2007, the Vice Chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant General Gillespie AO DSC CSM, issued an instrument of allotment for duty under s 5B(2)(b) of the VEA in relation to service in Somalia. This instrument provided eligibility to a number of RAAF personnel who had not previously been included in an instrument of allotment. Sierra Leone, 2001 – 2003On 22 March 2007, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, on behalf of the Minister for Defence revoked an instrument of non-warlike service and determined an instrument of warlike service for members of the ADF assigned for service with the International Military Advisory Training Team in Sierra Leone on Operation Husky. Service in that role between 15 January 2001 and 28 February 2003 has now been upgraded from non-warlike to warlike service. Directory: pubs pubs -> Asilomar Conference on Circuits, Systems & Computers, Pacific Grove, ca, November 1978, pp. 55 58 pubs -> Caribbean Environment Programme United Nations Environment Programme pubs -> Chapter # The Complexity of Catastrophic Wind Impact on Temperate Forests pubs -> The Affective Dimension of Pervasive Themes in the Information Technology Curriculum pubs -> The neotectonic setting of Puerto Rico pubs -> B. Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities pubs -> Publications by John Tait pubs -> In the high court of justice chancery division patents court pubs -> Reconstruction of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer John Gustafson Download 0.59 Mb. Share with your friends:
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