Davis and Repatriation Commission (Veterans' entitlements)

This matter concerned an appeal by the applicant, the widow of a deceased veteran, against a decision of the Repatriation Commission regarding a war widow's pension. The veteran died in a pedestrian-vehicle traffic accident. The core dispute revolved around whether the veteran's death was causally related to his osteoarthritis, and whether that osteoarthritis was war-related, thereby establishing a war-caused death for the purposes of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.

The Tribunal was required to determine the "kind of death" of the veteran and whether this kind of death was war-caused. This involved considering antecedent inquiries, including whether the claimant was a dependant of a deceased veteran, whether the veteran had died, and the medical cause or causes of death. The Tribunal also had to assess whether the veteran's osteoarthritis was war-related and if there was a reasonable hypothesis connecting the veteran's death to his service.

The Tribunal applied the principles outlined in *Collins* and *Codd*, which establish that the "kind of death" is a question of medical causation, determined independently of Statements of Principles. Once the medical cause of death is established, the *Deledio* methodology is applied to determine if the death is war-caused. In this instance, the Tribunal accepted the applicant's hypothesis that the veteran's death was war-caused, finding a reasonable connection between the veteran's death and his service, despite the immediate cause being a traffic accident.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the decision under review and substituted a determination that the veteran's death was war-caused within the meaning of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.