{"id":"F2025L00147","name":"Statement of Principles concerning clonorchiasis (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 25 of 2025)","slug":"statement-of-principles-concerning-clonorchiasis-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-2025","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":442733,"registerId":"F2025L00147-fast-fetch-1775957683745","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Statement of Principles concerning clonorchiasis (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 25 of 2025)","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![RMA Australian Government Coat of Arms](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nStatement of Principles\n\nconcerning\n\nCLONORCHIASIS  (Reasonable Hypothesis)\n\n(No. 25 of 2025)\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    18 February 2025.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nProfessor Terence Campbell AM\n\nChairperson\n\nby and on behalf of\n\nThe Repatriation Medical Authority\n\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\n\n\n1.                Name\n\n\nThis is the Statement of Principles concerning clonorchiasis (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 25 of 2025).\n\n1.                Commencement\n\n\n              This instrument commences on 25 March 2025.\n\n1.                Authority\n\n\nThis instrument is made under subsection 196B(2) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.\n\n1.                Repeal\n\n\nThe Statement of Principles concerning clonorchiasis (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 47 of 2016) (Federal Register of Legislation No. F2016L00561) made under subsection 196B(2) of the VEA is repealed.\n\n1.                Application\n\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\n1.                Definitions\n\n\nThe terms defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary have the meaning given when used in this instrument.\n\n1.                Kind of injury, disease or death to which this Statement of Principles relates\n  1.           This Statement of Principles is about clonorchiasis and death from clonorchiasis.\n\n\nMeaning of clonorchiasis\n\n1.           For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, clonorchiasis means an infestation of the biliary system by the trematode Clonorchis sinensis.\n2.           While clonorchiasis attracts ICD‑10‑AM code B66.1, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of clonorchiasis is that given in subsection (2).\n3.           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\n\nDeath from clonorchiasis\n\n1.           For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, clonorchiasis, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's clonorchiasis.\n\n\nNote: terminal event is defined in the Schedule 1 – Dictionary.\n\n1.                Basis for determining the factors\n\n\nThe Repatriation Medical Authority is of the view that there is sound medical-scientific evidence that indicates that clonorchiasis and death from clonorchiasis 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\n1.                Factors that must exist\n\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 clonorchiasis or death from clonorchiasis with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:\n\n1.           ingesting the skin or flesh of raw, undercooked, iced, pickled, or smoked freshwater fish, at least 3 weeks before clinical onset;\n\n\nNote: Countries where Clonorchiasis is endemic include China, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.\n\n1.           inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for clonorchiasis before clinical worsening.\n\n\n1.            Relationship to service\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  2.           The factor set out in subsection 9(2) applies only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, clonorchiasis where the person's clonorchiasis was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person's relevant service.\n2.            Factors referring to an injury or disease covered by another Statement of Principles\n\n\nIn this Statement of Principles:\n\n1.           if a factor referred to in section 9 applies in relation to a person; and\n2.           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\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                                clonorchiasis—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 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":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument repeals the 2016 Statement (s.4) and sets enumerated qualifying factors (s.9) and a tighter rule on the \"inability to obtain appropriate clinical management\" factor when clonorchiasis pre‑existed or was contracted before/during (but did not arise out of) service (s.10(2)). Those textual changes indicate a substantive re‑specification of the conditions that raise a reasonable hypothesis; the exact extent of change compared with the prior Statement cannot be determined from this instrument alone because the prior text is not provided."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow, rule‑based causation test: only two listed qualifying factors (s.9) reduce interpretive complexity.","Specific temporal exposure requirement for ingestion (at least 3 weeks before clinical onset) creates a clear but rigid evidentiary threshold (s.9(1)).","Limited medical definition cross‑referencing to ICD‑10‑AM for coding only — the instrument defines clonorchiasis by infestation of the biliary system (s.7(1)‑(3)).","Relationship‑to‑service requirement: any qualifying factor must be related to the person’s relevant service, adding an evidentiary link between exposure and service (s.10(1)).","Special rule for inability-to-treat factor: it applies only as material contribution or aggravation where infection pre‑existed or was contracted before/during (but did not arise out of) service — this creates a nuance for aggravation claims (s.10(2)).","Interaction with other Statements of Principles can create overlap or referral to other instruments where factors reference other diseases (s.11).","Repeal of the 2016 Statement (s.4) may create transition or evidentiary issues for legacy claims.","Death definition includes a list of terminal events in the Schedule, affecting causal chains in mortality claims (Schedule 1).","Applies only to claims under specified statutes (VEA/MRCA), so administrative scope is legally bounded (s.5)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Statement sets the medical criteria the Repatriation Medical Authority will use to decide whether clonorchiasis (a liver‑fluke infestation) or death from it can be connected to a person’s military or peacekeeping service. It applies to claims under the Veterans' Entitlements Act and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act (s.5). To raise a reasonable hypothesis a claimant must show at least one specified factor — for example, eating raw/undercooked freshwater fish ≥3 weeks before symptoms, or inability to obtain appropriate clinical management before worsening — linked to relevant service (s.9–10)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a straightforward re-enactment of a 2016 Statement of Principles with no expansion of scope. It maintains the same narrow focus on clonorchiasis as a specific parasitic infection and uses the same two-factor test structure. The instrument remains tightly scoped to its original purpose of determining service connection for this single rare condition."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused instrument (approximately 3 pages) dealing with a single medical condition","Only 7 defined terms in the Dictionary (clonorchiasis, MRCA, relevant service, terminal event, VEA, plus two self-referential definitions)","Simple binary test structure: only 2 factors in section 9, requiring just one to be satisfied","Minimal cross-referencing: only refers to parent Acts (VEA and MRCA) and one repealed instrument","Straightforward logical structure with no nested exceptions or conditional chains beyond the basic 'at least one factor' requirement","Single medical condition with clear causal pathway (foodborne parasite)"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument sets the medical rules for when Australian veterans and defence members can claim compensation for clonorchiasis — a bile-duct parasitic infection from eating raw or undercooked freshwater fish — and replaces a 2016 version. It affects veterans, peacekeepers and current/former defence personnel who served in operational, hazardous, peacekeeping or nuclear-test-related contexts.\n\nTo succeed, a claimant must show at least one qualifying factor: exposure by eating raw/undercooked/treated freshwater fish before illness, or lacking timely medical treatment that worsened the condition."},"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-clonorchiasis-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-2025","history":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-clonorchiasis-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-clonorchiasis-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-clonorchiasis-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-clonorchiasis-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-clonorchiasis-reasonable-hypothesis-no-25-of-2025/documents"}}