Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2024C00866:section:70:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2024C00866
Segment Type: section
Provision Reference: s 70 (pt 1/8)
Character Range: 1238593–1241097

70  Eligibility for pensions by way of compensation to members of Defence Force or Peacekeeping Force and their dependants
 (1) Where:
 (a) the death of a member of the Forces or member of a Peacekeeping Force was defence‑caused; or
 (b) a member of the Forces or member of a Peacekeeping Force is incapacitated from a defence‑caused injury or a defence‑caused disease;
the Commonwealth is, subject to this Act, liable to pay:
 (c) in the case of the death of the member—pension by way of compensation to the dependants of the member; or
 (d) in the case of the incapacity of the member—pension by way of compensation to the member;
in accordance with this Act.
 (2) Where:
 (a) a member of the Forces or a member of a Peacekeeping Force has died;
 (b) the death of the member was not defence‑caused; and
 (c) the member was, immediately before the member's death:
 (i) a member to whom subsection 22(4) or section 23, 24 or 25 applied by virtue of section 73; or
 (ii) a member to whom section 22 so applied who was in receipt of a pension the rate of which had been increased by reason that the pension was in respect of an incapacity described in item 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 of the table in section 27;
the Commonwealth is, subject to this Act, liable to pay pensions by way of compensation to the dependants of the member.
 (3) Where a pension in respect of the incapacity of a member of the Forces or of a member of a Peacekeeping Force from defence‑caused injury or defence‑caused disease, or both, is granted, after the death of the member, as from a date before the death of the member, subsection (2) applies as if the member had been in receipt of that pension immediately before the member died.
 (4) For the purposes of this Act, the death of a member of a Peacekeeping Force shall be taken to have been defence‑caused, an injury suffered by such a member shall be taken to be a defence‑caused injury or a disease contracted by such a member shall be taken to be a defence‑caused disease if the death, injury or disease, as the case may be, resulted from an occurrence that happened while the member was rendering peacekeeping service.
Note: After the MRCA commencement date, compensation is provided under the MRCA (instead of this Act) for some new defence‑caused injuries, diseases and deaths: see section 70A.
 (5) For the purposes of this Act, the death of a member of the Forces (other than a member to whom this Part applies solely because of section 69A) or member of a Peacekeeping