Butler and Repatriation Commission (Veterans' entitlements)

This matter concerned an appeal by the applicant, Mrs Butler, against a decision of the Repatriation Commission concerning a claim for a War Widows Pension. The veteran, Mrs Butler's late husband, had died from Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. The applicant's hypothesis was that the veteran's death was attributable to his war service, specifically through passive smoking during that service. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal had affirmed the Commission's decision to deny the pension.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the veteran's death from Acute Myeloid Leukaemia was "attributable to" his war service, within the meaning of the relevant legislation. This involved determining the applicable Statement of Principles (SoP) and whether the facts of the case satisfied the criteria within that SoP to establish a causal link between the war service and the death. The court also considered the principle that there can be multiple medical causes of death and that a contributing cause is sufficient to establish "attributability".

The court noted that the applicable SoP, SoP No. 72 of 2015, did not contain any factors that could be relied upon by the applicant to establish a connection between passive smoking during war service and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. The court referred to established principles regarding "attributability" from cases such as *Repatriation Commission v Law*, which confirmed that war service need only be a contributing cause, not the sole or dominant cause, of death. However, without a relevant factor in the applicable SoP, the applicant could not establish the necessary link.

The decision under review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was affirmed.