Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00246:reg:7
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00246
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 7
Character Range: 1661–3751

7               Kind of injury, disease or death to which this Statement of Principles relates
(1)          This Statement of Principles is about myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism and death from myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism.
Meaning of myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism
(2)          For the purposes of this Statement of Principles:
(a)          myopia means a refractive error in which rays of light entering the eye parallel to the visual axis come to focus in front of the retina in the unaccommodated eye; and
(b)          hypermetropia means a refractive error in which rays of light entering the eye parallel to the visual axis come to focus behind the retina in the unaccommodated eye; and
(c)          astigmatism means a refractive error in which eye refraction varies in different meridians, such that no two-dimensional object can be brought to focus on the retina, giving rise to blurred vision; and
(d)          excludes transient changes in refraction resulting from pharmacological agents.
(3)           While myopia attracts ICD 10 AM code H44.2 or H52.1, hypermetropia attracts ICD 10 AM code H52.0, and astigmatism attracts ICD 10 AM code H52.2, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism is that given in subsection (2).
(4)          For subsection (3), a reference to an ICD‑10‑AM code is a reference to the code assigned to a particular kind of injury or disease in The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD‑10‑AM), Ninth Edition, effective date of 1 July 2015, copyrighted by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, ISBN 978‑1‑76007‑020‑5.
Death from myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism
(5)          For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, myopia, hypermetropia or astigmatism, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's myopia, hypermetropia or astigmatism.
Note: terminal event is defined in the Schedule 1 – Dictionary.