{"id":"F2024L00035","name":"Statement of Principles concerning radiation burn (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 5 of 2024)","slug":"statement-of-principles-concerning-radiation-burn-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2024","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":442241,"registerId":"F2024L00035-fast-fetch-1775957290870","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Statement of Principles concerning radiation burn (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 5 of 2024)","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\n\n \n\nStatement of Principles\n\nconcerning\n\nRADIATION BURN (Reasonable Hypothesis)\n\n(No. 5 of 2024)\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 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 Application\n\n5 Definitions\n\n6 Kind of injury, disease or death to which this Statement of Principles relates\n\n7 Basis for determining the factors\n\n8 Factors that must exist\n\n9 Relationship to service\n\n10 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 radiation burn (Reasonable Hypothesis) (No. 5 of 2024).\n\n2 Commencement\n\n This instrument commences on 22 January 2024.\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 external burn No. 110 of 2015 (Federal Register of Legislation No. F2015L01330) made under subsections 196B(2) and (8) of the VEA is repealed.\n\n5 Application\n\nThis instrument applies to a claim to which section 120A of the VEA or section 338 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act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 radiation burn and death from radiation burn.\n\nMeaning of radiation burn\n\n(2) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, radiation burn:\n\n(a) means an injury to the skin and external body covering tissues due to transfer of energy into the tissue with external exposure to ionising radiation; and\n\n(b) includes ionising radiation burns of deep tissues and organs that are part of a multiple burn injury that includes injury to the skin and external body covering tissues; and\n\n(c) excludes:\n\n(i) ultraviolet radiation burns; and\n\n(ii) isolated ionising radiation burn of the internal body organs such as the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract and internal genitourinary tract.\n\nDeath from radiation burn\n\n(3) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, radiation burn, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's radiation burn.\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 radiation burn and death from radiation burn 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 radiation burn or death from radiation burn with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:\n\n(1) having exposure to ionising radiation sufficient to cause at least erythema at the affected area of the body within the 30 days before the clinical onset of radiation burn;\n\n(2) inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for radiation burn before the clinical worsening of radiation burn.\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, radiation burn where the person's radiation burn 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\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 radiation burn—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_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument replaces the prior \"external burn\" Statement (No. 110 of 2015) (section 4) and narrows scope to ionising radiation burns of the skin and external tissues while excluding ultraviolet burns and isolated internal-organ ionising burns (section 7(2)(a)–(c)). It introduces a specific clinical onset requirement (erythema within 30 days) and an alternative factor about inability to obtain appropriate clinical management (section 9), and it expressly applies to claims under sections 120A of the VEA and 338 of the MRCA (section 5)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-reference and application to existing compensation frameworks (VEA and MRCA) creates procedural linkage to those statutes (see sections 3 and 5).","Repeal and replacement of a prior instrument requires administrators and practitioners to update reliance models and precedents (section 4).","Technical medical threshold: requirement of exposure sufficient to cause at least erythema within 30 days sets a specific clinical onset window that claimants must satisfy (section 9(1)).","Second alternative factor (inability to obtain appropriate clinical management) imposes an evidentiary standard about care access and timing (section 9(2)).","Narrowed definitional scope and explicit exclusions (ionising only; excludes ultraviolet and isolated internal-organ ionising burns) alter which injuries are covered (section 7(2)(a)–(c)).","Death included where radiation burn contributed to a terminal event — requires linking cause of death to prior radiation burn and to defined terminal events in the Schedule (section 7(3); Schedule).","Limitation on how factors relate to service: factors must be connected to relevant service, and the management-related factor applies only in particular temporal/service-origin circumstances (sections 10(1)–(2)).","Interaction with other Statements of Principles may import additional factors or evidentiary pathways, increasing interpretive complexity for mixed injuries (section 11).","Administrative discretion remains in applying the \"reasonable hypothesis\" standard against medical evidence; claimants bear the practical evidentiary burden to meet the factors (sections 7–10)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Statement of Principles defines \"radiation burn\" (ionising radiation injury to skin) and sets the medical criteria that raise a reasonable hypothesis linking the condition to a person’s military or peacekeeping service. It applies to VEA and MRCA claims, specifies qualifying exposure (erythema within 30 days) or failure to obtain timely clinical management, and repeals the earlier external burn Statement."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a straightforward replacement of a 2015 Statement of Principles concerning external burns. The scope remains tightly focused on establishing the medical connection between radiation burns and military service. There is no evidence of scope creep; it maintains the standard format for Repatriation Medical Authority determinations under section 196B(2) of the VEA."},"complexity_factors":["Short document (approximately 1,500 words)","Only 5 defined terms in the Dictionary (MRCA, radiation burn, 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 refers back to the Dictionary and the parent Acts (VEA and MRCA)","Clear definitional boundaries with explicit inclusions and exclusions in section 7(2)","Single conditional limitation (section 10(2)) restricting the application of the second factor"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument sets the medical criteria for when veterans and current/former defence members can claim compensation for radiation burns (skin/tissue damage from ionising radiation) under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 or the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. It requires a \"reasonable hypothesis\" linking the burn to service — typically either exposure sufficient to cause skin reddening (erythema) within 30 days of symptoms or inability to obtain timely treatment for a burn that began before or during service. Sunburn and internal-only radiation injury are excluded."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-radiation-burn-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2024","history":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-radiation-burn-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2024/history","analysis":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-radiation-burn-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2024/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-radiation-burn-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2024/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-radiation-burn-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2024/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/statement-of-principles-concerning-radiation-burn-reasonable-hypothesis-no-5-of-2024/documents"}}