{"id":"F2019L00246","name":"Statement of Principles concerning acute meniscal tear of the knee (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 25 of 2019)","slug":"statement-of-principles-concerning-acute-meniscal-tear-of-the-knee-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-20","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439958,"registerId":"F2019L00246-fast-fetch-1775955778742","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Statement of Principles concerning acute meniscal tear of the knee (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 25 of 2019)","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 20.2\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n\n\n \n\nStatement of Principles\n\nconcerning\n\nACUTE MENISCAL TEAR OF THE KNEE (Reasonable Hypothesis)\n\n(No. 25 of 2019)\n\nThe Repatriation Medical Authority determines the following Statement of Principles under subsection 196B(2) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.\n\n \n\nDated 1 March 2019\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n| The Common Seal of the Repatriation Medical Authority was affixed to this instrument at the direction of:
|\n| --- |\n| 
Professor Nicholas Saunders AO
Chairperson
|\n\n\n \n\n \n\n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Repeal\n\n5 Application\n\n6 Definitions\n\n7 Kind of injury, disease or death to which this Statement of Principles relates\n\n8 Basis for determining the factors\n\n9 Factors that must exist\n\n10 Relationship to service\n\n11 Factors referring to an injury or disease covered by another Statement of Principles\n\nSchedule 1 - Dictionary\n\n1 Definitions\n\n \n\n\n\n\n1 Name\n\nThis is the Statement of Principles concerning acute meniscal tear of the knee (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 25 of 2019).\n\n2 Commencement\n\n This instrument commences on 25 March 2019.\n\n3 Authority\n\nThis instrument is made under subsection 196B(2) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.\n\n4 Repeal\n\nThe Statement of Principles concerning acute meniscal tear of the knee No. 55 of 2010 (Federal Register of Legislation No. F2010L01668) made under subsection 196B(2) of the VEA is repealed.\n\n5 Application\n\nThis instrument applies to a claim to which section 120A of the VEA or section 338 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 applies.\n\n6 Definitions\n\nThe terms defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary have the meaning given when used in this instrument.\n\n7 Kind of injury, disease or death to which this Statement of Principles relates\n\n(1) This Statement of Principles is about acute meniscal tear of the knee and death from acute meniscal tear of the knee.\n\nMeaning of acute meniscal tear of the knee\n\n(2) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, acute meniscal tear of the knee:\n\n(a) means an injury causing tearing of a meniscus of the knee joint resulting in a sudden onset of pain and tenderness; and\n\n(b) excludes chronic tear and degenerative disease of the meniscus.\n\nNote: Acute meniscal tear of the knee may be accompanied by the following symptoms and signs occurring within the 24 hours following the injury: pain exacerbated by twisting or pivoting movements, swelling, locking, or loss of functional ability.\n\n(3) While acute meniscal tear of the knee attracts ICD‑10‑AM code S83.2, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of acute meniscal tear of the knee is that given in subsection (2).\n\n(4) For subsection (3), a reference to an ICD-10-AM code is a reference to the code assigned to a particular kind of injury or disease in The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM), Tenth Edition, effective date of 1 July 2017, copyrighted by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, ISBN 978-1-76007-296-4.\n\nDeath from acute meniscal tear of the knee\n\n(5) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, acute meniscal tear of the knee, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's acute meniscal tear of the knee.\n\nNote: terminal event is defined in the Schedule 1 – Dictionary.\n\n8 Basis for determining the factors\n\nThe Repatriation Medical Authority is of the view that there is sound medical‑scientific evidence that indicates that acute meniscal tear of the knee and death from acute meniscal tear of the knee can be related to relevant service rendered by veterans, members of Peacekeeping Forces, or members of the Forces under the VEA, or members under the MRCA.\n\nNote: MRCA, relevant service and VEA are defined in the Schedule 1 – Dictionary.\n\n9 Factors that must exist\n\nAt least one of the following factors must as a minimum exist before it can be said that a reasonable hypothesis has been raised connecting acute meniscal tear of the knee or death from acute meniscal tear of the knee with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:\n\n(1) having a significant physical force applied to or through the affected knee joint at the time of the clinical onset of acute meniscal tear of the knee;\n\n(2) inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for acute meniscal tear of the knee.\n\n10 Relationship to service\n\n(1) The existence in a person of any factor referred to in section 9, must be related to the relevant service rendered by the person.\n\n(2) The factor set out in subsection 9(2) applies only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, acute meniscal tear of the knee where the person's acute meniscal tear of the knee was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person's relevant service.\n\n11 Factors referring to an injury or disease covered by another Statement of Principles\n\nIn this Statement of Principles:\n\n(1) if a factor referred to in section 9 applies in relation to a person; and\n\n(2) that factor refers to an injury or disease in respect of which a Statement of Principles has been determined under subsection 196B(2) of the VEA;\n\nthen the factors in that Statement of Principles apply in accordance with the terms of that Statement of Principles as in force from time to time.\n\n \n\n \n\nSchedule 1 - Dictionary \n\nNote: See Section 6\n\n1 Definitions\n\nIn this instrument:\n\n acute meniscal tear of the knee—see subsection 7(2).\n\n MRCA means the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.\n\n relevant service means:\n\n(a) operational service under the VEA;\n\n(b) peacekeeping service under the VEA;\n\n(c) hazardous service under the VEA;\n\n(d) British nuclear test defence service under the VEA;\n\n(e) warlike service under the MRCA; or\n\n(f) non-warlike service under the MRCA.\n\nNote: MRCA and VEA are also defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.\n\n terminal event means the proximate or ultimate cause of death and includes the following:\n\n(a) pneumonia;\n\n(b) respiratory failure;\n\n(c) cardiac arrest;\n\n(d) circulatory failure; or\n\n(e) cessation of brain function.\n\n VEA means the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.\n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument maintains its original narrow scope. It is a specific, condition-based Statement of Principles replacing an earlier 2010 version (No. 55 of 2010) concerning the identical medical condition. The scope remains tightly confined to acute meniscal tears of the knee and has not expanded beyond this specific injury type or the established veterans' compensation framework."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused instrument (approximately 1,500 words) dealing with a single medical condition","Only 5 defined terms in the Dictionary (acute meniscal tear of the knee, MRCA, relevant service, terminal event, VEA)","Simple binary structure: two alternative factors in section 9, with one limitation in section 10(2)","Minimal cross-referencing—only internal references to the Dictionary and the enabling legislation (VEA and MRCA)","Clear exclusion clause (subsection 7(2)(b)) distinguishing acute from chronic/degenerative tears","Single conditional limitation: section 10(2) restricts the 'inability to obtain appropriate clinical management' factor to aggravation cases only"],"plain_english_summary":"This Statement of Principles sets the medical test for whether an acute meniscal tear of the knee is service-related for claims under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, affecting current and former ADF members, veterans, peacekeepers, and decision-makers.\n\nTo meet the threshold you must link the tear to service—typically by significant physical force at injury or by service-related lack of appropriate treatment—so a reasonable hypothesis of service connection can be raised."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument expressly repeals and replaces the 2010 Statement of Principles (s4). The text here establishes the operative definition, qualifying factors and application to VEA/MRCA claims. Because the earlier instrument is not included, this document shows the scope has been formally changed by replacement but does not, on its face, allow determination of what substantive changes (if any) were made to the qualifying conditions or coverage compared with the 2010 text."},"complexity_factors":["Legal threshold: uses the statutory 'reasonable hypothesis' standard rather than a balance‑of‑probabilities test (instrument made under subsection 196B(2) of the VEA) (s3).","Technical medical definition and exclusions for the condition (acute meniscal tear defined; excludes chronic/degenerative tears) (s7(2)).","Use of external medical coding (ICD‑10‑AM reference) which requires cross‑checking clinical coding practice (s7(3)–(4)).","Narrow list of qualifying causal factors but with a nuanced application to pre‑existing conditions (two factors listed; 9(2) limited by s10(2)).","Inclusion of death via defined 'terminal event' categories, requiring causal linkage to the original injury (s7(5); Schedule 1).","Cross‑references to other Statements of Principles and to definitions of 'relevant service', MRCA and VEA in the Schedule, creating dependency on other instruments and definitions (s11; Schedule 1).","Repeal and replacement of a prior 2010 Statement (s4) — administrators must apply the current instrument from its commencement date (s2)."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument sets the medical test used to decide whether an acute meniscal tear of the knee (and death from it) can be connected to a veteran’s or service member’s relevant service for claims under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act or the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. It defines the injury, identifies the kinds of medical circumstances that may raise a reasonable hypothesis of service connection, and replaces the earlier 2010 Statement of Principles."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-acute-meniscal-tear-of-the-knee-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-20","history":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-acute-meniscal-tear-of-the-knee-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-20/history","analysis":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-acute-meniscal-tear-of-the-knee-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-20/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-acute-meniscal-tear-of-the-knee-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-20/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-acute-meniscal-tear-of-the-knee-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-20/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-acute-meniscal-tear-of-the-knee-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-20/documents"}}