{"id":"F2023L00514","name":"Statement of Principles concerning haemophilia (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 39 of 2023)","slug":"statement-of-principles-concerning-haemophilia-reasonable-hypothesis-no-39-of-2023","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":441846,"registerId":"F2023L00514-fast-fetch-1775957031749","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Statement of Principles concerning haemophilia (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 39 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\nStatement of Principles\n\nconcerning\n\nHAEMOPHILIA (Reasonable Hypothesis)\n\n(No. 39 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:
|\n| --- |\n|
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 haemophilia (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 39 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 haemophilia No. 23 of 2015 (Federal Register of Legislation No. F2014L01831) made under subsection 196B(2) of the VEA is repealed.\n\n5 Application\n\nThis instrument applies to a claim to which section 120A of the VEA or section 338 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act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 haemophilia and death from haemophilia.\n\nMeaning of haemophilia\n\n(2) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, haemophilia:\n\n(a) means one of a group of genetic disorders that involve defective clotting of blood through deficiencies in clotting factors VIII (haemophilia A or classical haemophilia), IX (haemophilia B or Christmas disease) or XI (haemophilia C or plasma thromboplastin antecedent deficiency); and\n\n(b) excludes von Willebrand disease and acquired haemophilia.\n\n(3) While haemophilia attracts ICD‑10‑AM codes D66, D67 or D68.1, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of haemophilia 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 haemophilia\n\n(5) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, haemophilia, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's haemophilia.\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 haemophilia and death from haemophilia 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 haemophilia or death from haemophilia with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:\n\n(1) inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for haemophilia.\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(1) applies only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, haemophilia where the person's haemophilia 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 haemophilia—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":{"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":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument maintains the standard scope of Repatriation Medical Authority Statements of Principles. It replaces the 2015 version (No. 23 of 2015) with updated references and formatting but does not expand beyond the traditional purpose of establishing whether haemophilia can be connected to military service for compensation purposes. The limitation to aggravation of pre-existing conditions (section 10(2)) is consistent with the original intent of providing limited pathways for genetic conditions."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused instrument (approximately 3 pages)","Only 7 defined terms in the Dictionary","Single operative factor in section 9 (inability to obtain appropriate clinical management)","Limited cross-referencing - only refers to other Statements of Principles in section 11 and standard definitions","Clear structure following the standard Repatriation Medical Authority template","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic beyond the limitation in section 10(2) restricting the factor to aggravation of pre-existing conditions","Straightforward application provisions linking to well-established veterans' compensation schemes"],"plain_english_summary":"This rule decides when Australian veterans and current/former defence personnel can get compensation for haemophilia (A, B, C) or death from it, under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 or the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. It excludes von Willebrand disease and acquired haemophilia.\n\nIt creates an exception to the usual “not caused by service” rule: if a person had haemophilia before or during service and service prevented appropriate treatment or worsened the condition, that service-related lack of care can ground a compensation claim."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The instrument repeals the 2015 Statement (s4) and replaces it with a Statement that narrows and clarifies scope: it explicitly excludes von Willebrand and acquired haemophilia (s7(2)), includes death from haemophilia via defined terminal events (s7(5); Schedule 1), and sets a single minimum factor— inability to obtain appropriate clinical management— as the basis for a reasonable hypothesis linking the condition to service (s9(1)). It also confines material contribution/aggravation to pre‑existing or during‑service conditions that did not arise out of service (s10(2))."},"complexity_factors":["Legal linkage to two statutes and defined 'relevant service' categories (Schedule 1; s5) increases cross‑reference needs.","Single, high‑level medical causation threshold — 'reasonable hypothesis' and one enumerated factor (s9(1)) — relies on interpretive judgement.","Precise definitional choices: haemophilia defined and limited, excludes von Willebrand disease and acquired haemophilia (s7(2)).","Inclusion of death via terminal events requires mapping clinical causes of death to the condition (s7(5); Schedule 1 terminal event).","Temporal and causation constraint: material contribution/aggravation only if haemophilia existed before or during but did not arise out of service (s10(2)).","Interaction clause referencing other Statements of Principles creates dependency on other instruments (s11).","Repeal of prior Statement (s4) requires practitioners to use the new text from commencement (s2).","Reference to ICD‑10‑AM codes for background classification (s7(3)–(4))."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument sets out a Statement of Principles for haemophilia that applies to claims under the Veterans' Entitlements Act and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. It defines haemophilia (excluding von Willebrand and acquired haemophilia), includes death from haemophilia via terminal events, and repeals the 2015 Statement.\n\nIt requires at least one specified factor — inability to obtain appropriate clinical management — to raise a reasonable hypothesis linking haemophilia to a person’s relevant service, and limits how service can materially contribute or aggravate the condition."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-haemophilia-reasonable-hypothesis-no-39-of-2023","history":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-haemophilia-reasonable-hypothesis-no-39-of-2023/history","analysis":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-haemophilia-reasonable-hypothesis-no-39-of-2023/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-haemophilia-reasonable-hypothesis-no-39-of-2023/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-haemophilia-reasonable-hypothesis-no-39-of-2023/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-haemophilia-reasonable-hypothesis-no-39-of-2023/documents"}}