Commonwealth legislation

Amendment of Statement of Principles concerning asthma No. 36 of 2004

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Collection

legislative instrument

Plain English Summary

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This instrument updates the medical definition of asthma used when assessing veterans' disability compensation claims.

What changed:

Replaces the previous definition with a detailed clinical description: a condition where the airways (bronchi) are overly sensitive to triggers, causing recurring sudden attacks of breathing difficulty (paroxysmal dyspnoea—essentially gasping for air) and wheezing due to airway spasms
Clarifies that while asthma typically responds quickly to medications that open airways (bronchodilators), the airflow blockage might not always be completely reversible (acknowledging permanent damage)
Explicitly adds reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS—an asthma-like condition often caused by single exposure to chemical irritants) to the definition
Also explicitly covers chronic airway obstruction caused by asthma

Who it affects: Veterans and service members claiming benefits for respiratory conditions. This new definition determines whether a breathing condition qualifies as "asthma" for compensation purposes under veterans' entitlements law.

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Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in Amendment of Statement of Principles concerning asthma No. 36 of 2004.

Amendment of Statement of Principles concerning asthma No. 36 of 2004

Instrument No. 36 of 2004

Amendment of Statement of Principles

concerning

ASTHMA

Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986

and

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004

The Repatriation Medical Authority amends, under subsection 196B(2) of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986, Instrument No. 85 of 2001, by:
in paragraph 2, deleting sub-paragraph (b) and inserting in its place the following:

“(b) For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, “asthma” means a condition marked by increased responsiveness of the bronchi to various stimuli manifested by recurrent attacks of paroxysmal dyspnoea, with wheezing due to spasmodic contraction of the bronchi which characteristically responds rapidly to bronchodilators. The airflow obstruction may not be completely reversible. This definition includes chronic airway obstruction due to asthma, and reactive airways dysfunction syndrome.”

The amendment made by this instrument applies to all matters to which Instrument No. 85 of 2001, section 120A of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 and section 338 of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 apply.

Dated this seventh day of October 2004

The Common Seal of the )

Repatriation Medical Authority )

was affixed to this instrument )

in the presence of )

KEN DONALD

CHAIRMAN

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.

1 Amendment of Statement of Principles concerning asthma No. 36 of 2004