{"id":"F2018L00008","name":"Statement of Principles concerning non-freezing cold injury (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 5 of 2018)","slug":"statement-of-principles-concerning-non-freezing-cold-injury-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439448,"registerId":"F2018L00008-fast-fetch-1775955469763","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Statement of Principles concerning non-freezing cold injury (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 5 of 2018)","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\nNON-FREEZING COLD INJURY (Reasonable Hypothesis)\n\n(No. 5 of 2018)\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 22 December 2017\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 Revocation\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 non-freezing cold injury (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 5 of 2018).\n\n2 Commencement\n\n This instrument commences on 29 January 2018.\n\n3 Authority\n\nThis instrument is made under subsection 196B(2) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.\n\n4 Revocation\n\nThe Statement of Principles concerning immersion foot No. 25 of 2009, made under subsection 196B(2) of the VEA is revoked.\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 non-freezing cold injury and death from non-freezing cold injury.\n\nMeaning of non-freezing cold injury\n\n(2) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, non-freezing cold injury:\n\n(a) means a disease of the sympathetic nerves and blood vessels affecting the tissues of a limb or limbs, most commonly the foot, due to prolonged exposure of the affected part to wet and non-freezing cold conditions; and\n\n(b) excludes tropical immersion foot, chilblains, frostnip and frostbite.\n\nNote 1: Non-freezing cold injury is also known as trench foot or immersion foot.\n\nNote 2: Non-freezing cold injury typically is accompanied by coldness and numbness in feet and hands exposed to wet and cold conditions, followed by pain and redness of the affected part on rewarming. Non-freezing cold injury causes ongoing cold sensitivity, altered sensation and less frequently, neuropathic pain of the affected part.\n\n(3) While non-freezing cold injury attracts ICD‑10‑AM code T69.0, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of non-freezing cold injury 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 non-freezing cold injury\n\n(5) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, non-freezing cold injury, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's non-freezing cold injury.\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 non-freezing cold injury and death from non-freezing cold injury 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 non-freezing cold injury or death from non-freezing cold injury with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:\n\n(1) exposing the affected limb to moisture and non-freezing temperatures below 21 degrees Celsius, for a period of at least ten hours within the 24 hours before the clinical onset of non-freezing cold injury;\n\nNote 1: Non-freezing cold injury is most commonly associated with temperatures just above freezing.\n\nNote 2: Exposure to moisture and non-freezing temperatures may occur during military training or exercises in the outdoors, but are also likely to occur in other circumstances, examples of which include the homeless, those who are intoxicated with alcohol, and those who have poorly controlled psychiatric illness.\n\n(2) inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for non-freezing cold injury.\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, non-freezing cold injury where the person's non-freezing cold injury 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 MRCA means the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004.\n\n non-freezing cold injury—see subsection 7(2).\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":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The instrument expressly revokes the earlier immersion foot Statement (s.4) and restates the condition as “non‑freezing cold injury” with explicit exclusions and a quantified exposure test (s.7(2); s.9(1)). It adds an alternative causal factor about lack of appropriate clinical management (s.9(2)) and expressly includes death caused by a terminal event contributed to by the injury (s.7(5)). These elements narrow and clarify the legal and evidentiary scope compared with the revoked instrument by specifying definitional limits, causation thresholds and interaction with other Statements (s.11)."},"complexity_factors":["Clear, narrow medical definition of the condition with listed exclusions (s.7(2)).","Single, quantitative exposure threshold for causation (wet, <21°C, ≥10 hours in 24 hours) reduces evidential ambiguity (s.9(1)).","Second, alternative factor about lack of appropriate clinical management introduces a non-exposure pathway and requires medical-record evidence (s.9(2)).","Requirement that factors be related to relevant service narrows scope but requires causal linking to service periods (s.10(1)–(2)).","Includes death tied to a terminal event contributed to by the injury, invoking the Schedule definition of terminal events (s.7(5); Schedule).","Revokes and replaces a prior Statement, so claimants and decision-makers must apply the new criteria (s.4).","Interaction rule references other Statements of Principles when factors overlap, creating cross-instrument dependency (s.11).","Applies only to claims under specified statutes (VEA/MRCA), so procedural and evidentiary frameworks of those Acts constrain application (s.5)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Statement of Principles sets the medical rules used to decide whether non-freezing cold injury (often called trench foot) or death from it can be connected to a person's military service for claims under the VEA and MRCA. It replaces the earlier “immersion foot” statement and clarifies what counts as non-freezing cold injury.\n\nA reasonable hypothesis is raised if an affected limb was exposed to wet, non-freezing conditions below 21°C for at least ten hours in a 24‑hour period before clinical onset, or if appropriate clinical management was unavailable. It affects veterans and service members making entitlements or compensation claims."},"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":"The instrument maintains its original narrow scope. It replaces the 2009 'immersion foot' Statement of Principles with a medically updated version covering the same condition under its modern clinical name. The scope remains tightly limited to establishing causal factors for one specific injury type in the veterans' compensation system."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused instrument (approximately 1,500 words)","Only 5 defined terms in the Dictionary (MRCA, non-freezing cold injury, 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 two governing Acts (VEA and MRCA)","Clear exclusion list in section 7(2)(b) (tropical immersion foot, chilblains, frostnip, frostbite)","Single conditional limitation: section 10(2) restricts the medical management factor to aggravation cases only"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument updates policy on non-freezing cold injury (e.g., trench foot), setting the threshold test for compensation: veterans and current/former defence members (including MRCA cases) can qualify if one specific factor links the injury to service — either qualifying wet/cold exposure or inadequate medical management that worsened a pre‑existing condition. It applies the lower \"reasonable hypothesis\" standard, making it easier to establish a service connection for disability entitlements."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-non-freezing-cold-injury-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2018","history":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-non-freezing-cold-injury-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-non-freezing-cold-injury-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-non-freezing-cold-injury-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-non-freezing-cold-injury-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-non-freezing-cold-injury-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2018/documents"}}