There are 3 classes of Military Superannuation, with Classes A and B being the most valuable.

While it is possible to move from Class B to Class A, once a veteran is classified Class C, they lose the right to be reclassified to either Class B or A. Consequently it is essential that the available Appeal processes be exhausted, within the necessary timeframes, if a veteran receives a C classification.

There are a number of Military Superannuation Funds, all of which are administered by the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (‘CSC’). However, the qualifying criteria for almost all of these is, the severity of the injuries the veteran was suffering from, at the time of his separation from the Australian Defence Forces, known as ‘retiring impairments’.

The Appeal Process

With all Military Superannuation claims, excepting DFRDB claims, the appeal process is as follows:

• An initial Decision is made by the CSC;
• If dissatisfied with this Decision, a Reconsideration is sought from the CSC;
• If dissatisfied with this Reconsideration, then an Appeal can be brought to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (‘SCT’), with the exception of DFRDB claims, which are brought in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (‘AAT’).

Caution Is Recommended

Military Superannuation is quite technical and a veteran should seek our carefully considered legal advice before accepting the superannuation classification offered to them, or, more preferably, should seek such advice before even claiming Military Superannuation  benefits.

Australian Federal Police Claims

These claims are covered by the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, 1998 (the ‘SRCA’), with Comcare being the relevant insurer.

The Benefits:

The available benefits can be summarised as follows:

• Incapacity Payments – these are to compensate for income loss and range from 75% of your pre-injury income up to 100% of your income, dependent on the percentage of your pre-injury hours which you able to work, if any. These benefits are paid until the age of 65 years. These are the most valuable benefits.
• Treatment Expenses – all reasonable treatment expenses and pharmaceutical expenses are payable until the date of your death.
• Lump Sum Payments for Permanent Impairment (‘PI’) – these require assessment by a medical specialist who is competent in applying the Comcare Guide or the GARP M, which are the appropriate assessment Tables. The PI lump sums payable for Operational Service are almost twice those which are payable for Peacetime Service.
• Domestic and Handyman Services [‘Household services’] and Attendant Care Services – these require that an Occupational Therapist undertaken assessment and report to DVA. It is quite difficult to get any more than 2 or 3 hours pw of domestic assistance and up to three hours per fortnight of gardening and handyman assistance.

The Appeal Process

With all SRCA claims, the appeal process is as follows:

• An initial Decision is made by Comcare;
• If dissatisfied with this by concur with respect to, a Reconsideration is sought from Comcare;
• If dissatisfied with this Reconsideration, then an Appeal can be brought to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Caution Is Recommended

For example, a resignation, or the acceptance of a voluntary redundancy package, could result in the loss of the claimant’s entitlement to incapacity payments for all time.

Comcare claims are quite technical and a claimant should seek our carefully considered legal advice before accepting a Decision by Comcare with respect to their entitlements, or, more preferably, should seek such advice before even claiming such Comcare benefits.

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