The SRCA Claims Process

How to claim
Onus of proof
What happens after the claim is lodged
Getting help with the claim
Having a decision reviewed

How to claim

To make a claim for compensation under the SRCA, you must complete the form D2020, "Department of Veterans' Affairs, Military Compensation Scheme, Claim for Rehabilitation and Compensation". Printed forms are available at Defence administration offices (orderly room/ships office/corporate support centre), and electronic forms are available through the link above. Forms can also be obtained by contacting your nearest MCRS office in you State or Territory, as listed in the MCRS Contacts section. You should complete the form and provide all the information requested on it. In particular, you should provide copies of:

any relevant Service medical records, including your Entry Medical Board documents; any report of injury and witness reports completed at the time you were injured (these will normally be held with your Service medical records); your Final Medical Board documents if you have been discharged; a statement describing how you attribute you condition to your ADF service; and
any other medical reports (including reports by civilian doctors) or information which may assist in establishing you entitlement to compensation.

If you are claiming for more than one injury or illness, you must lodge a separate claim form for each condition.If you are a serving member, your Service medical centre should hold your medical documents and let you obtain copies. If you are an ex-member, you can obtain a copy of your documents by contacting the relevant branch of the ADF's Health Service. When completed the form and all associated documentation should be sent to the nearest MCRS office at the address shown in the MCRS Contacts section. You should retain a copy of the form as a personal record.

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Onus of Proof

The onus of proof of the claim rests with the claimant. It is in your interests to provide as much information and evidence as possible in support of your claim(s). MCRS staff will help in investigating your claim(s), but it is the claimant’s responsibility to provide all relevant documentation and information requested on the claim form. For a claim to be accepted under the SRCA, the standard of proof applied is the balance of probabilities. In other words, there has to be a probable (rather than simply a possible) connection between an injury or illness and your service in the ADF before it is appropriate for a compensation Delegate to make a finding in your favour in relation to that injury or illness. This is another difference between the SRCA and the VEA, which uses both balance of probability and reasonable hypothesis standards.

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What happens after the claim is lodged

Once a claim has been lodged, a letter acknowledging receipt of the claim will be sent to you or your representative, if you have one, within 5 working days. The most urgent claims are given priority. These include "death" claims and claims by Reservists who have suffered a loss of income due to the effects of injury or illness related to ADF service. Any documents not supplied with the claim will be sought from either the claimant or a third party (such as ADF Health Records) who may hold them. In many cases, it will be necessary to arrange a medical appointment to obtain a diagnosis and to try to establish a connection between the claimed injury or illness and ADF service. If this link is established, the compensation Delegate can then accept liability for the injury or illness.At that stage, you would be contacted again to ascertain which benefits you wish to claim. It may then be necessary to arrange further medical or other examinations, depending on the benefits claimed. If the MCRS is advised of the type of benefits sought with the initial claim, it may be possible to arrange any necessary medical examinations at the one time. An individual determination is then made for each benefit claimed. If the benefits claimed involve payments directly to the claimant, bank account details will be requested to enable payments to be made. It may also be necessary for you to provide your tax file number for the same reason. Your tax file number cannot actually be requested by MCRS staff since such a request is illegal having regard to tax and privacy laws. However, without your tax file number, it would be necessary for MCRS staff to tax any weekly compensation benefits for incapacity for work at the maximum taxation rate applicable, including the Medicare levy.The process is completed as quickly as possible but is dependent on many factors which are often outside the control of the MCRS. Having all relevant evidence and documentation to support your claim will speed things up. If there is a change in a claimant’s financial circumstance before the claim is determined, the claimant should contact the local MCRS office.

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Getting help with the claim

MCRS and DVA VAN staff are available to help with completion of claim forms. MCRS staff regularly visit ADF bases to meet claimants and to conduct information sessions. If an appointment with one of these staff is desired, it can be arranged by contacting the local DVA office through the contacts page. Once the claim is lodged, a claims officer can provide advice on what else is needed to enable the claim to be determined. The claims process is intended to be a cooperative one in which claimants and compensation Delegates work together to obtain any necessary medical or other evidence to allow the Delegate to determine the claim. The process is certainly not intended to be an adversarial one as is commonly believed. MCRS compensation Delegates in fact have no wish or desire to deny compensation benefits to those who are entitled to receive them.Many ex-service organisations have advocates who are trained to assist claimants through the claim process and offer this service free of charge. They can be contacted through the local telephone directory or through DVA VAN offices. A number of claimants seek legal assistance with their claims. This would normally involve the payment of solicitors’ fees. The MCRS neither encourages nor discourages claimants in engaging legal assistance. However, in the very great majority of cases, claimants need not go to the expense of engaging a solicitor. If a claim is rejected, the claimant may then wish to consider whether it is appropriate or necessary to obtain legal advice.

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Having a decision reviewed

The SRCA provides you with the right to request a reconsideration (an internal review) of a decision to reject all or part of your claim. A senior delegate who has not previously been involved in your case will carry out any such reconsideration. In many cases, the reconsideration will be carried out in a different office to the one where the original decision was made. A request for reconsideration must be made in writing and must specify why you consider the original decision was wrong. You can ask that the initial decision be reconsidered if:

you have more evidence to support your claim, or
you are not satisfied that the reasons given are sufficient to reject your claim.

If you are not satisfied with the result of a reconsideration, you can apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of that decision. Your right to reconsideration and review will always be detailed in the letter telling you about the decision regarding your claim.

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