Smith and Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (Compensation)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the entitlement to incapacity payments for Mr Smith, the applicant, in a dispute with the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission, the respondent. The core of the disagreement concerned the calculation of Mr Smith's normal weekly earnings (NWE) for the relevant incapacity period.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the Commission's decision, which affirmed Mr Smith's NWE as calculated for the incapacity period under section 8 of the *Defence Force Retirement Benefits Act* (DRC Act), was correct. This involved assessing the impact of annual adjustments made in accordance with the Wage Price Index on the initial NWE determined upon Mr Smith's discharge from the Army in 1983.

The Member of the Tribunal was satisfied that the respondent's decision accurately reflected Mr Smith's NWE for the incapacity period. The reasoning, though not detailed in the provided text, indicates that the annual adjustments to NWE in accordance with the Wage Price Index were correctly applied or considered in reaching the final determination. Consequently, the decision under review was affirmed.