Lynch and Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (Veterans' entitlements)

This matter concerned an appeal by a veteran, Lynch, against a decision of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission. The dispute centred on whether the veteran's thoracic spine condition, characterised as a degenerative ailment of gradual onset, was contributed to by his military service to the requisite degree to warrant compensation under the relevant Act. The decision was made by Deputy Sosso P.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine the degree to which the veteran's thoracic spondylosis was contributed to by his service. This required the Tribunal to ascertain the date the veteran first suffered from the condition, as this date dictated whether the applicable test for contribution was "material" or "significant," following amendments to the Act in 2007. The Tribunal also had to consider the definition of "injury" for the purposes of the Act, specifically when an employee is taken to have sustained a disease or aggravation of a disease.

The Tribunal reasoned that the veteran's thoracic spine condition was an ailment of gradual onset and thus fell to be considered under section 5B of the Act. The date of injury was deemed to be 18 May 2018, when the veteran was examined by Dr John Nguyen and complained of chronic back pain and compressed vertebrae from parachuting, or alternatively, 3 January 2019, when a CT scan was performed. As both these dates were subsequent to 13 April 2007, the Tribunal concluded that the contribution of service needed to be to a "significant degree." However, the Tribunal found no evidence of the veteran suffering an injury on 10 June 1992, the date he claimed, noting a Paratroop Medical Certificate from 12 June 1992 stating he was free from minor ailments and fit for paratrooping. This, combined with a lack of corroborating medical evidence and the veteran's conflicting accounts, meant the Tribunal could not link the condition to his service to any degree.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the decision under review, finding that the veteran's thoracic spine condition could not be linked to his service to the requisite degree for compensation.