MILITARY REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION ACT 2004 - SECT 28 Main definition of service death

MILITARY REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION ACT 2004 - SECT 28

Definition of service death

  (1)   For the purposes of this Act, the death of a person is a service death if one or more of the following apply:

  (a)   the death resulted from an occurrence that happened while the person was a member rendering defence service;

  (b)   the death arose out of, or was attributable to, any defence service rendered by the person while a member;

  (c)   in the opinion of the Commission, the death was due to:

  (i)   an accident that would not have occurred; or

  (ii)   a disease that would not have been contracted;

    but for:

  (iii)   the person having rendered defence service while a member; or

  (iv)   changes in the person's environment consequent upon his or her having rendered defence service while a member;

  (d)   the injury or disease from which the person died:

  (i)   was sustained or contracted while the person was a member rendering defence service, but did not arise out of that service; or

  (ii)   was sustained or contracted before the commencement of a period of defence service rendered by the person while a member, but not while the person was rendering defence service;

    and, in the opinion of the Commission, the injury or disease was contributed to in a material degree by, or was aggravated by, any defence service rendered by the person while a member after he or she sustained the injury or contracted the disease;

  (e)   the injury or disease from which the person died is an injury or disease that has been determined under section   27, 29 or 30 to be a service injury or a service disease, as the case may be;

Note 1:   The effect of this paragraph is that, if the person has died from an injury or disease that has already been determined by the Commission to be a service injury or disease, the death is a service death. Accordingly, the Commission is not required to relate the death to defence service rendered by the person and sections   338 and 339 do not apply.

Note 2:   This paragraph does not apply to certain aggravations etc. of injuries and diseases (see subsection   (2)).

  (f)   the death resulted from an accident that occurred while the person was travelling, while a member rendering peacetime service but otherwise than in the course of duty, on a journey:

  (i)   to a place for the purpose of performing duty; or

  (ii)   away from a place of duty upon having ceased to perform duty.

Aggravations etc. that cease before death

  (2)   Paragraph   (1)(e) does not apply if:

  (a)   the service injury or disease mentioned in that paragraph is an aggravated injury or disease; and

  (b)   immediately before the death, the injury or disease was no longer aggravated or contributed to in a material degree.