Veterans' Entitlements Treatment (Gulf War Health Study) Determination 2000 (Cth)

REPATRIATION COMMISSION

VETERANS’ ENTITLEMENTS ACT 1986

Veterans' Entitlements Treatment (Gulf War Health Study) Determination 2000

Instrument No. 22/2000

The Repatriation Commission makes this Determination under subsection 88A(1) of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 and under section 4 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.

Dated  8 December  2000

NEIL JOHNSTON
PRESIDENT BRIAN FLYNN
A/g DEPUTY PRESIDENT PAUL STEVENS
COMMISSIONER

Repatriation Commission

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Part 1        Introduction

1.1Name of Determination

This Determination is the Veterans' Entitlements Treatment (Gulf War Health Study) Determination 22/2000.

1.2Commencement

(a) On the commencement of Schedule 1 to the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Budget Measures) Act 2000, this      Determination is taken to have commenced on 1 July 2000.

Schedule 1 commences on Royal Assent.

(b)Any decision or request, by the Commonwealth, made under the Veterans' Entitlements Treatment (Gulf War Health Study) Determination 14/2000, that a veteran was a Control-Group Veteran or that a veteran participate in the Gulf War Health Study, respectively, shall be deemed to have been a decision or request, as the case may be, made by the Repatriation Commission.

1.3Definitions

In this Determination:

Act means the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986.

appropriately qualified person, means a person who is a medical scientist.

Control-Group veteran means a veteran, other than a Gulf War Veteran, who, in the opinion of the Repatriation Commission, which opinion is to be formed after considering the advice of an appropriately qualified person, possesses characteristics similar to those of a Gulf War Veteran that would be relevant for the purposes of comparing the health of Gulf War Veterans with the health of Control-Group Veterans.

Gulf War veteran means a veteran who rendered service after 1990 but before 2000 in the area described in item 10 of Column 1 of Schedule 2 of the Act or in the area described immediately hereunder:

·    the sea area comprising the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the northern Arabian Sea bounded by 61 degrees 50 minutes east longitude and 20 degrees north latitude, together with the ports contiguous to that sea area and the airfields and military facilities adjacent to those ports.

Gulf War Health Study means the medical-scientific study established in 2000, under the auspices of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Defence and pursuant to the Commonwealth initiative known as the "LINKS PROJECT", for the purpose of ascertaining if the health of Gulf War Veterans varied significantly to the health of Control-Group Veterans.

specified treatment means the treatment described in Part 3 of this Determination.

Treatment Principles means the document prepared by the Repatriation Commission under subsection 90(1) of the Act as in force from time to time.

veteran who participates in the Gulf War Health Study means a veteran who has been requested by the Repatriation Commission to participate in the Gulf War Health Study because the veteran is a:

(a)   Gulf War veteran; or

(b)  Control-Group veteran;

and the veteran has agreed to that request.

veteran means a person who is a veteran under Part V of the Act.

Note: "veteran" under Part V of the Act includes a member of the Forces and a member of a Peacekeeping Force.

1.4  Purpose

The purpose of this Determination is to enable the Repatriation Commission ("the Commission") to accept financial liability for the costs associated with the Gulf War Health Study.  These costs will be amounts necessary to pay for medical examinations of veterans who participate in the Study and for related diagnostic tests, radiology and pathology services.  The Commission will also reimburse the relevant veterans for any transport, accommodation and meal costs and loss-of-earnings they incur while participating in the Study. 

The provision of medical services and the provision of transport, accommodation and meals and leave from employment or work (social assistance) can constitute "treatment" under subsection 80(1) of the Act. This Determination, made under section 88A of the Act, is one means for establishing eligibility for that treatment. Once a veteran is eligible for treatment the Commission must take reasonable steps to ensure the treatment is provided (subsection 84(1A) of the Act).  The conditions on which the Repatriation Commission will provide treatment are set out in the Treatment Principles.

This Determination is in much the same terms as the repealed Determination entitled "Veterans' Entitlements Treatment (Gulf War Health Study) Determination 14/2000".

Part 2      Eligibility for Treatment

2.1Specified Class of Veterans Eligible for Specified Treatment

2.2        A veteran who participates in the Gulf War Health Study is eligible to be provided with specified treatment in relation to the Study, under Part V of the Act.

Note:although a veteran may be eligible for treatment under this Determination, the Treatment Principles govern the circumstances in which the Commission will accept financial liability for any such treatment.

Part 3Specified Treatment

3.1Kind of treatment veteran within specified class is eligible to receive

3.2For the purposes of section 88A of the Actand this Determination the following treatment is "treatment of a specified kind":

transport;

meals;

accommodation;

medical examination;

diagnostic test;

radiology service;

pathology service;

provision of unpaid leave from employment;

provision of absence from work.

Note:"treatment" under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 is very broad and

includes treatment to restore a person to physical or mental health, alleviate a person's

suffering or ensure a person's social well-being.

PART 4     TRANSITIONAL

4.1A veteran who, immediately before the commencement of Schedule 1 to the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Budget Measures) Act 2000, was eligible for treatment under the Veterans' Entitlements Treatment (Gulf War Health Study) Determination 14/2000, is eligible for treatment under this Determination.

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Repatriation Commission