Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023C00151:front:0:p7
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023C00151
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 15999–18791

or

    (b) a determination made by the Commission under subsection 340(2) or (3) of the Act.

VEA means the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.

veteran means a member or former member of the Defence Force (including a deceased person) under section 5 of the MRCA in respect of whom an injury or disease has been determined to be caused by that service.

war-caused injury and war-caused disease have the meaning given in section 9 of the VEA.

worksheet means a page or pages of this Guide, identified as such, that gives a structure by which certain calculations may be set out to assist in determining an impairment rating.

Definitions of words and phrases that are used in only one chapter are to be found in that chapter.

Acknowledgment of sources

The Guide to the Assessment of Rates of Veterans' Pensions Fifth Edition, Part A Chapters 1–12 and Part B Chapters 13-17 and Part C Chapters 18-21 are the basic tables for this Guide.

That publication acknowledges that the following published works were found to be useful in the preparation of the VEA Guide (GARP V) and therefore were basic to this Guide as well:

Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 4th edition, American Medical Association, 1993;

International Classification of Impairments, Conditions, and Handicaps, World Health Organisation, Geneva, 1980; and

Publication No 118 of the National Acoustic Laboratories, Improved Procedure for Determining Percentage Loss of Hearing, by J. Macrae, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1988.

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

The subject of assessment

This Guide is to be applied to assess the impairment points due to injuries or diseases, or both, that are determined to be service related.

In making any determination on the impairment the clinical features of injuries or diseases are to be taken into account. Sequelae of conditions can only be assessed after the sequelae have been determined to be service related.

The elements of whole person impairment and compensation

The two elements required to determine a periodic payment are medical impairment and lifestyle. Impairment is dealt with in Chapters 1 – 21 of this Guide. Lifestyle effects are dealt with separately and are described in Chapter 22 of this Guide.

Chapters 1 to 16 of this Guide contain two principal types of tables. Physical loss is to be rated against criteria in "Other Impairment" tables. Functional loss is to be rated against criteria in "Functional Loss" tables.

Greater emphasis has been given throughout this Guide to functional loss as a basis for assessment. It is measured by reference to an individual's performance efficiency compared with an average, healthy person of the same age and sex, in a set of defined vital functions. This is a means