{"id":"F2023L00468","name":"Statement of Principles concerning chickenpox (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 29 of 2023)","slug":"statement-of-principles-concerning-chickenpox-reasonable-hypothesis-no-29-of-2023","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":441812,"registerId":"F2023L00468-fast-fetch-1775957014337","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Statement of Principles concerning chickenpox (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 29 of 2023)","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 22.10.0\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\nStatement of Principles\n\nconcerning\n\nCHICKENPOX (Reasonable Hypothesis)\n\n(No. 29 of 2023)\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 24 April 2023.\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:
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Professor Terence Campbell AM
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 chickenpox (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 29 of 2023).\n\n2 Commencement\n\n This instrument commences on 23 May 2023.\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 chickenpox No. 87 of 2015 (Federal Register of Legislation No. F2015L00919) made under subsection 196B(2) of the VEA is repealed.\n\n5 Application\n\nThis instrument applies to a claim to which section 120A of the VEA or section 338 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act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 chickenpox and death from chickenpox.\n\nMeaning of chickenpox\n\n(2) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, chickenpox:\n\n(a) means an infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus,\n\nusually manifesting with a vesicular eruption involving the skin or mucous membranes; and\n\n(b) excludes:\n\n(i) herpes simplex;\n\n(ii) shingles or postherpetic neuralgia;\n\n(iii) Mpox; and\n\n(iv) smallpox.\n\nNote: Chickenpox can also involve the lungs (pneumonia), the brain (encephalitis or meningitis) and other organs, and can produce disseminated intravascular coagulation. \n\n(3) While chickenpox attracts ICD‑10‑AM code B01, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of chickenpox 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 chickenpox\n\n(5) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, chickenpox, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's chickenpox.\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 chickenpox and death from chickenpox 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 chickenpox or death from chickenpox with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:\n\n(1) being exposed to the varicella-zoster virus:\n\n(a) between 10 and 21 days before the clinical onset of chickenpox; or\n\n(b) between 10 and 28 days before the clinical onset of chickenpox\n\nin someone who:\n\n(i) is in an immunocompromised state as specified; or\n\n(ii) has received varicella-zoster immunoglobulin or normal human immunoglobulin as prophylaxis following varicella-zoster virus exposure;\n\nNote: being exposed to the varicella-zoster virus and immunocompromised state as specified are defined in the Schedule 1 – Dictionary.\n\n(2) for vaccine strain chickenpox only, having live attenuated varicella vaccine between 5 and 45 days before the clinical onset of chickenpox;\n\nNote: vaccine strain chickenpox is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.\n\n(3) being prevented from accessing appropriate varicella-zoster vaccination in accordance with contemporary medical standards of the time, between 1 year and 10 years before the clinical onset of chickenpox;\n\n(4) being in an immunocompromised state as specified at the time of the clinical worsening of chickenpox;\n\nNote: immunocompromised state as specified is defined in the Schedule 1 – Dictionary.\n\n(5) being pregnant at the time of the clinical worsening of chickenpox;\n\n(6) inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for chickenpox.\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 factors set out in subsections 9(4) to 9(6) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, chickenpox where the person's chickenpox 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 being exposed to the varicella-zoster virus means:\n\n(a) being in close contact with a person who has infectious chickenpox;\n\n(b) being in close contact with articles contaminated with varicella-zoster virus within the previous two days; or\n\n(c) inhaling droplet nuclei contaminated with varicella-zoster virus.\n\nNote: being in close contact and droplet nuclei are also defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.\n\n being in close contact means having direct physical contact, or having direct contact with vesicle fluids.\n\n chickenpox—see subsection 7(2).\n\n chronic renal failure means:\n\n(a) having a glomerular filtration rate of less than 15 mL/min/1.73 m2 for a period of at least 3 months; or\n\n(b) a need for renal replacement therapy (dialysis or transplantation) for treatment of complications of decreased glomerular filtration rate which would otherwise increase the risk of morbidity and mortality; or\n\n(c) undergoing chronic dialysis.\n\n droplet nuclei means the dried residue formed by evaporation of droplets coughed or sneezed into the atmosphere or by aerosolisation of infective material.\n\n immunocompromised state as specified means a condition of substantially lowered immune function due to the following:\n\n(a) infection with human immunodeficiency virus;\n\n(b) treatment with an immunosuppressive drug;\n\n(c) a haematological malignancy;\n\n(d) chronic renal failure; or\n\n(e) undergoing solid organ, stem cell or bone marrow transplantation.\n\nNote: chronic renal failure as specified is defined in the Schedule 1 – Dictionary.\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 vaccine strain chickenpox means chickenpox attributed to the vaccine strain varicella-zoster virus by means of isolating the vaccine strain virus from the lesions.\n\n VEA means the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.\n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a standard replacement of an expired Statement of Principles under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. It maintains the same scope as its 2015 predecessor and other SOPs — establishing evidentiary criteria for a specific disease in the veterans' compensation scheme. No scope creep is evident; it follows the established template for Repatriation Medical Authority determinations."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple defined terms (12+ definitions in Schedule 1) including nested definitions ('immunocompromised state as specified' refers to 'chronic renal failure' which has its own 3-part definition)","Conditional time windows vary by circumstance: 10–21 days vs 10–28 days vs 5–45 days vs 1–10 years","Specific exclusion of related conditions (herpes simplex, shingles, Mpox, smallpox) requiring medical distinction","Bifurcated application: section 9(1)–(3) for initial contraction vs section 9(4)–(6) for worsening of pre-existing condition, with explicit limitation in section 10(2)","Cross-referencing mechanism in section 11 allowing incorporation of other Statements of Principles by reference","Dual statutory framework application (VEA and MRCA) with different service categories","Technical medical terminology requiring clinical interpretation ('vesicular eruption', 'disseminated intravascular coagulation', 'droplet nuclei', 'glomerular filtration rate')"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument updates the legal \"Statement of Principles\" setting when chickenpox (or death from it) can be presumed service-related for veterans and current/former defence members, replacing the 2015 version with new medical evidence. It matters because it defines the specific medical and exposure-related factors (including recent exposure, vaccine-strain infection, blocked vaccination, or worsened illness due to pregnancy, immunosuppression or lack of treatment) that must be met for compensation."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The instrument expressly repeals the 2015 Statement of Principles and issues a new Statement (s4). It restates the scope to apply to VEA/MRCA claims (s5) and specifies particular qualifying factors, timing windows and exclusions (s7(2), s9, Schedule 1), so the operative criteria and definitional boundaries for linking chickenpox to relevant service have been changed relative to the repealed instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Technical medical timing windows and multiple alternative timeframes for exposure and vaccine‑related onset (s9(1)–(3)).","Detailed clinical definitions and thresholds (immunocompromised state, chronic renal failure, terminal event) requiring medical evidence (Schedule 1).","Interaction with other Statements of Principles where factors reference different injuries/diseases (s11), creating cross-referencing and evidentiary layering.","Application linked to two different statutes and claim types (VEA and MRCA) which affect procedural routes and entitlement tests (s5, Schedule 1 definitions of relevant service).","Explicit exclusions and disease coding interplay (excludes shingles, herpes, mpox, smallpox; ICD‑10‑AM reference) requiring correct diagnostic identification (s7(2), s7(3)–(4)).","Administrative basis and evaluative discretion: the Repatriation Medical Authority states its view of the medical‑scientific evidence as the basis for factors (s8), leaving scope for interpretation in applying criteria.","Laboratory requirement for vaccine‑strain attribution (isolation of vaccine strain virus) adds evidentiary and diagnostic complexity (Schedule 1: vaccine strain chickenpox).","Repeal and replacement of prior instrument (s4) means practitioners and decision‑makers must adjust to changed wording and possibly different burden/thresholds (s2, s4)."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument replaces the 2015 Statement of Principles and, from 23 May 2023, sets the medical criteria that raise a reasonable hypothesis linking chickenpox or death from chickenpox to a person’s relevant military service for VEA/MRCA claims (ss 2,4,5,9). It defines the illness and exclusions, sets timing windows for exposure and vaccine‑strain cases, and lists clinical states (immunocompromise, pregnancy, inability to access vaccination or care) that, if related to service, can support entitlement (s7(2), s9, Schedule 1)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-chickenpox-reasonable-hypothesis-no-29-of-2023","history":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-chickenpox-reasonable-hypothesis-no-29-of-2023/history","analysis":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-chickenpox-reasonable-hypothesis-no-29-of-2023/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-chickenpox-reasonable-hypothesis-no-29-of-2023/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-chickenpox-reasonable-hypothesis-no-29-of-2023/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-chickenpox-reasonable-hypothesis-no-29-of-2023/documents"}}