Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) (Specified Diseases and Employment) Amendment Instrument 2021

This instrument operates by amendment to an earlier legislative instrument. Its legal mechanism rests on three interlocking concepts: the ICD-10-AM reference, the Schedule-based specification of diseases and employment, and the targeted application to a defined cohort of firefighters.

ICD-10-AM reference. The instrument inserts into section 4 a definition of "ICD-10-AM reference" that fixes the alphanumeric coding scheme as "ICD-10-AM, as in force on 1 July 2019" (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 1). Practically, that means the disease descriptions in the Schedule are tied to that edition and modification of the WHO classification as adapted for Australia. The instrument also includes a non‑operative Note indicating where the text of the ICD-10-AM could, in 2021, be viewed (the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority’s website), but the legal effect is the definition itself. By fixing an edition and date, the instrument excludes later updates of the coding scheme from automatic application.

Schedule-based specification. The instrument changes the 2017 instrument so that it applies to a "disease specified in Schedule 1" (Schedule 1, Part 1, items 2 and 3) and then inserts a new Schedule 3 listing specific diseases alongside ICD-10-AM references and a fixed employment description (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 8). The table format has three columns: disease (column 1), ICD-10-AM reference (column 2), and employment description (column 3). The effect is to make the instrument's scope disease‑by‑disease and employment‑by‑employment, using ICD codes as the authoritative cross‑reference.

Deeming for paragraph 7(1)(b). The instrument adds subsection 7(2) to say that, for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act, a disease specified in Schedule 3 by ICD reference "is a disease related to employment" of the kind specified in column 3 of that Schedule (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 6). The textual formulation is limited to the purposes of that paragraph of the Act: the instrument does not purport to amend the Act itself but declares how the instrument is to be applied for the statutory paragraph cited.

Spatial, temporal and role constraints. Section 5A and the Schedule specify the cohort tightly: the employment must be firefighting service, participation in a firefighting training course, or instruction of such a course, at RAAF Base Point Cook and only if that service occurred between 1 January 1957 and 31 December 1986 (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 4). Section 5A(2) clarifies that the disease need not have been sustained during that period; it can manifest later. The application provision in Part 2 further limits the instrument’s practical reach to claims made on or after 20 September 2021 and to deaths on or after 11 May 2021 when claims are made by a personal representative (Part 2, item 9).

Interaction between instruments and the Act. The instrument is expressed to amend the 2017 instrument (section 4) and is made under paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act (section 3). The legal operation therefore is that this subordinate instrument alters the content and application of a prior subordinate instrument, determining which diseases are to be treated as related to specified employment for a specified subset of claimants when applying paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act.

Terminology choices matter. The amendment uses both "employee" (in the inserted section 5A(1)) and introduces a defined "firefighter" in Part 2, item 9(2). The use of the ICD-10-AM coding references, including ranges (for example, C00-C96 for malignant neoplasms), means interpretation of whether a given clinical diagnosis falls within a Schedule item will depend on mapping to those codes as they stood on 1 July 2019.

The instrument nominates a narrowly defined group of potential claimants and, by prescribing how certain diseases are to be treated for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act, it affects the processing and determination of claims under the Defence-related Claims scheme. The immediate categories the instrument affects, as set out in Part 2 (item 9) and in the new section 5A, are:

• Firefighters who served at RAAF Base Point Cook between 1 January 1957 and 31 December 1986. "Firefighter" for the application provision is defined in item 9(2) to mean a person who served as a firefighter, participated in a firefighter training course, or was an instructor of a firefighter training course at RAAF Base Point Cook between those dates. The phrase appears in both the Schedule 3 employment column and in the defined "firefighter" (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 4 and Part 2, item 9(2)).

• Persons who participated in firefighter training courses or instructed such courses at RAAF Base Point Cook between 1 January 1957 and 31 December 1986. Section 5A(1) explicitly includes participation and instruction as ways in which an "employee sustains" a disease in relation to those roles at the specified location and dates.

• Personal representatives of such firefighters, but only where the firefighter's death occurred on or after 11 May 2021. Part 2, item 9(1) extends the application of the Part 1 amendments to claims made on or after 20 September 2021 by a personal representative of a firefighter whose death occurred on or after 11 May 2021.

• Decision-makers applying paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act. The inserted subsection 7(2) instructs that, for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b), the listed diseases are to be treated as related to the kinds of employment specified in Schedule 3. That direction changes how administrators and adjudicators must classify those conditions under that paragraph.

• Medical certifiers and advisers engaged in claim assessment. Because the Schedule ties diseases to ICD-10-AM references and fixes the edition as at 1 July 2019, clinical diagnoses will need to be mapped to that coding scheme when preparing or verifying claim medical evidence.

Who is not directly affected by the instrument (on the face of the amendment) is also relevant: the instrument confines its operation to claims under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (Part 2, item 9(1)), and it operates only in the specific spatial and temporal window for RAAF Base Point Cook. The instrument does not purport to change entitlements for firefighters who served elsewhere, for other time periods, or to extend beyond the Act’s processes. The instrument likewise does not create new statutory offences, employers’ duties outside the Act, or monetary obligations outside the compensation claims process covered by the Act; its textual changes concern eligibility and deeming for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act (see section 6 inserting subsection 7(2)).

In short: claimants who meet the location, date, role and disease criteria and who lodge claims under the Defence-related Claims Act on or after 20 September 2021 (or personal representatives for certain deaths) are the primary affected group; administrators, medical advisers and adjudicators under the Act are affected in how they must apply paragraph 7(1)(b) with respect to the listed diseases and the fixed ICD coding scheme.

The instrument primarily prescribes application and classification rules rather than express duties or new independent rights. Nevertheless it alters legal characterisations that produce practical duties for administrators and evidentiary expectations for claimants. The key legal effects that translate into duties and rights are the following.

Deeming for paragraph 7(1)(b) , administrative duty to treat listed diseases as related to specified employment. The insertion of subsection 7(2) (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 6) states that, for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act, a disease specified in column 1 of a Schedule 3 item by reference to the ICD-10-AM reference in column 2 "is a disease related to employment" of the kind specified in column 3. That textual formulation operates as a deeming direction for the specific statutory paragraph. Administrative decision-makers charged with applying paragraph 7(1)(b) therefore have a duty, insofar as they apply that paragraph, to classify those listed conditions as related to the specified employment described in column 3, subject to the instrument’s limits (location and dates).

Duty to apply the fixed ICD edition. The inserted definition of "ICD-10-AM reference" (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 1) fixes the coding to the Australian modification of ICD-10-AM as it stood on 1 July 2019. The practical duty is for decision-makers and medical certifiers to map diagnoses to that edition when identifying whether a disease matches a Schedule 3 item.

Application to RAAF Base Point Cook service roles. The new section 5A makes clear the instrument applies in relation to diseases for employees whose disease was sustained "in relation to" the relevant roles at RAAF Base Point Cook between 1 January 1957 and 31 December 1986 (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 4). Administrators must assess whether claimants’ service aligns with that location and those dates and whether their role was one of the three specified.

Temporal application and claims timing. The application provision limits the amendments to claims made on or after 20 September 2021 (Part 2, item 9(1)). For personal representatives, there is an additional temporal limit on the death date (personal representatives of a firefighter whose death occurred on or after 11 May 2021). The right to have a claim considered under the amended instrument (and thus the benefit of the Schedule 3 deeming) therefore attaches only to claims lodged on or after the specified commencement date.

Right to have a disease treated as related to employment under paragraph 7(1)(b). For claimants who match the locational, temporal and role criteria and whose diagnoses correspond to the ICD references in Schedule 3, the instrument produces a right,expressed in terms of the Act’s paragraph 7(1)(b) application,to have the disease treated as related to the specified employment for the purposes of that paragraph. The instrument does not itself create an entitlement to payment or benefits beyond what the Act provides; it changes the legal predicate for considering whether a disease is "related to employment" under that paragraph.

No express creation of offences or monetary obligations in the instrument. The instrument does not append penalties, enforcement provisions or administrative sanctioning mechanisms. It is a rules‑of‑application instrument that changes which diseases are taken, for a statutory purpose, to be related to specified employment. Any duties to supply evidence, pursue review rights, or to meet procedural requirements remain those established by the Act and by the administrative apparatus that gives effect to claims under that Act; the instrument itself does not set new procedural duties.

Potential practical consequences for record-keeping and evidence. Because the instrument specifies the role, base and dates, claimants and administrators will need to establish service at RAAF Base Point Cook between the stated dates and correlate medical diagnoses to the specified ICD-10-AM edition. That creates an operational duty for claimants to assemble proof of the service and medical diagnosis, and a duty for administrators to verify those facts against the Schedule’s criteria when applying paragraph 7(1)(b).

In sum, the instrument creates a legally operative classification (a deeming for the purposes of a statutory paragraph), fixes the medical classification standard, and channels which claimants have the right to invoke the Schedule’s effect. Those changes impose duties on administrators to apply the new subsection and on claimants to produce the evidence necessary to show they fall within the instrument’s specified cohort.

The amendment instrument contains no provisions that create criminal offences, civil penalties, or new enforcement mechanisms. Its textual changes are confined to definitions, the insertion of a targeted application provision, a deeming provision for the purposes of a specified paragraph of the principal Act, and the addition of a Schedule listing diseases with ICD references and employment descriptions.

Specific points in the text illustrating the absence of penalties are:

• Section 3 states the instrument is made under paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act. The instrument does not itself purport to amend the Act’s enforcement or penalty provisions.

• The inserted section 5A (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 4) contains an application rule and a temporal/spatial scope; it does not create sanctioning language.

• The new subsection 7(2) (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 6) is a classification/deeming provision for how diseases are to be treated "for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act." It does not specify enforcement steps or penalties for non‑compliance.

• The application provision in Part 2 (item 9) specifies which claims the amendments apply to; it does not prescribe enforcement outcomes.

Because the instrument does not set out penalties, enforcement of entitlement or refusal remains the province of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 and the administrative processes that implement that Act. Any sanctions for fraudulent claims, provision of false evidence, or breaches of procedural rules would be governed by the Act, regulations, or other applicable law rather than by this instrument itself. The instrument therefore changes the substantive criteria for classifying certain diseases as related to specified employment (for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b)) but does not add or change statutory penalties or enforcement mechanisms in the subordinate instrument text.

Practically, that means administrative enforcement will continue according to the Act and existing processes: decision-makers who assess claims must apply the amended instrument’s classification rules, but the instrument offers no direct enforcement tools. Where disputes arise about classification, the Act’s dispute-resolution and review mechanisms (not modified by this instrument) would govern any contested determinations; the instrument itself does not set or change those mechanisms.

This instrument is expressly made under paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (section 3). Its legal operation is therefore as a subordinate instrument aimed at altering how a prior subordinate instrument (the 2017 instrument) operates when applied in conjunction with the Act. The interaction is confined and specific on the face of the text; the instrument does not purport to amend the primary Act itself, but it alters the operative content of the 2017 instrument that is used when referring to paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act.

Key interactions identifiable from the text are:

• Relationship to the 2017 instrument. The instrument explicitly amends the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) (Specified Diseases and Employment) Instrument 2017 (section 4 and Schedule 1,Amendments). All inserted sections, the new Schedule 3, and the heading changes operate by altering that 2017 instrument’s content.

• Relationship to paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act. The newly inserted subsection 7(2) tells administrators that, for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act, the diseases listed in Schedule 3 by ICD reference "is a disease related to employment" of the kind specified. The instrument therefore directs how that particular paragraph of the primary Act is to be applied insofar as the 2017 instrument is the operative subordinate instrument under the Act.

• Use of an external classification standard. The instrument fixes the ICD-10-AM as the coding standard and specifies the edition as in force on 1 July 2019 (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 1). That creates an interaction with a recognised international classification system, albeit the instrument itself fixes the particular Australian modification and date. The instrument’s Note refers to a website where the ICD-10-AM could be viewed in 2021, but that Note is informational rather than prescriptive.

• Internal cross-references between Schedules. The instrument amends section 5 to apply to "a disease specified in Schedule 1" (Schedule 1, Part 1, items 2 and 3) and renames Schedule 1’s heading to "Specified diseases relating to specified employment" (item 7). It then inserts Schedule 3 containing the firefighters’ diseases and employment table (item 8). The practical consequence is that the instrument reshapes how the subordinate instrument organises disease/employment specifications; administrators must reconcile references to Schedule 1 and Schedule 3 when applying the amended instrument.

• No express displacement or amendment of other Acts. The instrument does not state that it displaces or modifies other statutes beyond the 2017 instrument and the Act under which it is made. It therefore interacts with other laws only to the extent that those other laws address claims, benefits, or evidence that may overlap with the Defence-related Claims scheme. The text does not alter statutory definitions or obligations outside the 2017 instrument and the Act.

• Temporal limits that interact with claim timing rules. The application provision (Part 2, item 9) restricts the amendments to claims made on or after 20 September 2021 and to personal representatives where death occurred on or after 11 May 2021. Any claim or right under other legislation that depends on timing or on the same disease/occupation will need to be considered in light of those dates, but the instrument does not itself assert primacy over parallel claim regimes.

In practical terms, the instrument instructs administrators applying the Defence-related Claims Act to treat specified diseases as related to specified employment for a tightly defined cohort and fixes the medical coding reference for that purpose. It amends the subordinate instrument governing which diseases are specified for the Act’s paragraph 7(1)(b) application; it does not otherwise rework the Act’s substantive entitlements, nor does it amend other legislative instruments or conferring statutes on its face.

The instrument records the following amendments to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) (Specified Diseases and Employment) Instrument 2017. All amendments are contained in Schedule 1 of the instrument, labelled "Amendments relating to firefighters", Part 1,Amendments.

1. Definition insertion into section 4 (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 1). The instrument inserts a defined term "ICD-10-AM reference, short for International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 11th edition, Australian Modification," and defines it as the reference in the alphanumeric coding scheme set out in ICD-10-AM "as in force on 1 July 2019." The Note following that insertion indicates where the ICD-10-AM could be viewed in 2021.

2. Heading change to section 5 (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 2). The heading for section 5 is repealed and substituted with "5 Application-general." This is a structural amendment to the 2017 instrument.

3. Text change in section 5 (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 3). The instrument amends section 5 by inserting the words "specified in Schedule 1" after "disease", which refines the class of diseases to which section 5 refers.

4. Insertion of section 5A, "Application-firefighters" (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 4). This new section sets out the firefighter-specific application: it applies in relation to a disease specified in Schedule 3 where an employee sustains the disease in relation to firefighting service, participation in firefighter training courses, or instruction of such courses at RAAF Base Point Cook between 1 January 1957 and 31 December 1986. Section 5A(2) clarifies that it is irrelevant whether the disease was sustained during that period or later.

5. Amendment to section 7 (Schedule 1, Part 1, items 5 and 6). Item 5 inserts a paragraph number marker "(1)" before the existing text beginning "For the purposes of". Item 6 adds a new subsection (2): for paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act, a disease specified in column 1 of Schedule 3 by reference to the ICD-10-AM reference in column 2 "is a disease related to employment" of the kind specified in column 3. This is the deeming provision that operationalises how Schedule 3 diseases are to be treated for paragraph 7(1)(b).

6. Renaming Schedule 1 heading (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 7). The heading of Schedule 1 is repealed and substituted with "Schedule 1,Specified diseases relating to specified employment", altering the instrument’s internal organisation.

7. Addition of Schedule 3 (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 8). The instrument appends a new Schedule 3 to the 2017 instrument, titled "Specified diseases relating to firefighters." Schedule 3 is a table of items that lists diseases across categories (skin diseases; diseases of the nervous system; mental diseases; malignant diseases; liver, pancreatic and gastrointestinal diseases; diseases of the immune system) with corresponding ICD-10-AM references and the employment description tied to RAAF Base Point Cook between 1 January 1957 and 31 December 1986. The table includes, for example, "Dysplastic naevus D22/M8727/0", ranges such as "C00-C96" for malignant neoplasms, and mental disorder codes "F32.0-F33.9, F34, F38 and F39" for depression.

8. Application provision (Schedule 1, Part 2, item 9). This Part sets the temporal and claimant limits: the amendments made by Part 1 of Schedule 1 apply to claims for compensation under the Act that are made on or after 20 September 2021 by a firefighter or by the personal representative of a firefighter whose death occurred on or after 11 May 2021. It also provides a definition of "firefighter" for these purposes, repeating the location and date window.

Administrative provenance and commencement. The instrument states it was made by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs (signature block dated 17 September 2021) and specifies the commencement of the whole instrument as 20 September 2021 (Commencement table). Section 4 of the instrument records that the specified instruments in the Schedule to this instrument are amended as set out.

This amendment history reflects a targeted change to include a specified cohort of firefighters, to fix an ICD coding edition, and to insert a deeming provision for the purposes of a specific paragraph of the Act. The 2017 instrument is the object of these amendments; no other instruments are amended by this text.

The instrument itself contains no litigation history and does not cite any cases, judicial decisions, or tribunal determinations. It is a subordinate instrument that amends the 2017 instrument and is made under the statutory power in paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988. The instrument provides no record of prior challenges, contemporaneous litigation, or precedent concerning its operation.

Consequently, the text does not include any judicial interpretation or dispute resolution outcomes that would clarify how courts or tribunals have read the newly inserted provisions. Any litigation or administrative appeals that engage the interpretation or application of these amendments,such as disputes about whether a particular diagnosis falls within an ICD-10-AM reference in Schedule 3, whether a claimant’s service falls within the RAAF Base Point Cook period, or whether the deeming in subsection 7(2) applies to a specific claim,are not reflected in the instrument.

Users seeking to know how courts or tribunals have applied these amendments will need to consult adjudicative records, tribunal decisions, or case law databases for decisions made after the commencement date. Those decisions would address factual questions (service at RAAF Base Point Cook; diagnosis mapping to the specified ICD edition) and legal questions (scope of the deeming for paragraph 7(1)(b), interplay with other sections of the Act) but such material is not present in the instrument’s text.

In short: the instrument contains no litigation history. The legal effects it creates,particularly the deeming for paragraph 7(1)(b), the fixed ICD edition and the tight locational/temporal limits,are matters that could be the subject of future litigation or administrative review, but the instrument does not record any such proceedings.

The instrument’s drafting contains several traps for practitioners and administrators that arise from its narrow scope, the fixed coding reference, and interaction between schedules and application dates. The following are concrete points to watch, grounded in the instrument text.

Tight spatial and temporal window. The instrument confines its firefighter cohort to service "at the RAAF Base Point Cook between 1 January 1957 and 31 December 1986" (section 5A(1) and Schedule 3, column 3). That is a precise location and date range. Service at other bases, or outside those dates, is not covered by the Schedule 3 items on their face. Practitioners should not assume that the Schedule’s listing of diseases applies to firefighters who worked elsewhere or at Point Cook outside those dates.

Role-specific language. The instrument covers three roles: "the employee’s service as a firefighter; the employee’s participation in a firefighter training course; or the employee’s role as an instructor of a firefighter training course" (section 5A(1)). Other roles that might be adjacent to firefighting (for example, base maintenance staff who occasionally assisted firefighting activities) are not included unless their duties equate to one of the three specified roles. The definition of "firefighter" in Part 2, item 9(2) mirrors these roles.

Claims timing and death-date limitation. The amendments apply to claims made on or after 20 September 2021 (Part 2, item 9(1)). For claims by a personal representative, there is an additional requirement: the firefighter’s death must have occurred on or after 11 May 2021. That death-date cutoff is a potential pitfall where a decedent died before that date but a claim is lodged after 20 September 2021; the amendment’s Part 1 changes will not apply to such a personal representative claim under the express wording.

ICD edition locked to 1 July 2019. The definition of "ICD-10-AM reference" fixes the coding as in force on 1 July 2019 (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 1). Where diagnostic coding evolved after that date, later codes are not automatically in play. Mapping modern clinical terminology or hospital coding to the 2019 edition can generate disputes about whether a present-day diagnosis corresponds to the Schedule item; the instrument makes the 2019 edition the authoritative point of reference.

Ranges and multi-code entries. Schedule 3 uses ranges and multiple code specifications (for example, "C00-C96" for malignant neoplasms and "F32.0-F33.9, F34, F38 and F39" for depression). Those ranges may encompass many discrete conditions. Practitioners must ensure that a claimant’s diagnosis maps to the specific ICD code(s) within that range as they stood in the 2019 ICD-10-AM; imprecise mapping risks rejection.

Deeming is limited to paragraph 7(1)(b). The added subsection 7(2) applies "for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act" (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 6). The instrument does not state that the deeming applies for other paragraphs of the Act or for purposes outside the Act. Practitioners should not assume the deeming creates broader presumptions across the Act or in other legal contexts absent further textual authority.

Potential ambiguity between "employee" and "firefighter". Section 5A(1) uses "employee" while the application provision in Part 2 defines "firefighter" (item 9(2)). There could be factual questions about whether a person was an "employee" in the relevant role versus a contractor or volunteer, which may affect whether the instrument’s application is triggered. The instrument does not itself define "employee"; any such definitional disputes will need to be resolved with reference to the Act and existing definitions, or by administrative decision.

Cross-reference and organisation changes. The instrument amends the heading of section 5 and renames Schedule 1 while inserting Schedule 3 (Schedule 1, Part 1, items 2, 7 and 8). Those organisational changes can create confusion when reading older versions of the 2017 instrument or following cross-references in staff guidance. Administrators should ensure they consult the amended instrument as a whole.

"Does not matter whether the disease was sustained during the period mentioned or at a later time." Section 5A(2) means that disease onset after the exposure period does not defeat application. That is important practically, but it does not specify latency thresholds or medical causation standards; the instrument only removes the timing-of-onset barrier. Clinical causation and the Act’s other requirements remain relevant.

Notes are informational. The instrument contains a Note about where ICD-10-AM could be viewed in 2021. That Note is not operative law; reliance on the Note rather than on the defined term and the edition date could be a mistake.

No penalties or enforcement language present. The instrument does not change the Act’s enforcement provisions or create new offences. Practitioners should not look to this instrument for compliance penalty guidance.

Taken together, these "gotchas" are concrete textual features: narrow location and date scope; role specificity; a locked ICD edition; ranges of ICD codes; a deeming limited to a particular paragraph of the Act; potential terminology friction between "employee" and "firefighter"; and application date restrictions for claims and deaths. Each of these can drive factual disputes at the claim-assessment stage.

For claimants, personal representatives, medical practitioners, and administrators, the instrument imposes concrete evidential and procedural expectations. The following steps, grounded in the instrument’s text, set out practical compliance actions.

For prospective claimants (firefighters, trainees, instructors at RAAF Base Point Cook):

1. Confirm service location, role and dates. Assemble documentary evidence that you served as a firefighter, participated in a firefighter training course, or instructed such a course at RAAF Base Point Cook between 1 January 1957 and 31 December 1986. The instrument’s application depends on those specific elements (section 5A(1) and Part 2, item 9(2)). Typical evidence could include service records, training rosters, pay records, unit postings, or contemporaneous administrative documentation. The instrument makes the location and dates an essential predicate.

2. Map clinical diagnosis to ICD-10-AM (2019 edition). Obtain medical evidence that diagnoses correspond to the ICD-10-AM references listed in Schedule 3, noting that the instrument fixes the code edition to that "as in force on 1 July 2019" (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 1). Ensure medical practitioners or certifiers specify diagnoses in terms that can be mapped to that ICD edition, especially where ranges are used (for example, C00-C96 for malignant neoplasms).

3. Lodge a claim on or after 20 September 2021. The amendments apply to claims made on or after 20 September 2021 (Part 2, item 9(1)). If you are the personal representative of a deceased firefighter, confirm that the death occurred on or after 11 May 2021 to fall within the application provision for personal representatives.

4. Be prepared to show the temporal relationship between service and disease. Section 5A(2) states it does not matter whether the disease was sustained during the period or later, but you will still need to provide medical evidence of the diagnosis and, if required by the Act’s procedures, evidence of any causal connection as determined by the Act’s standards.

For personal representatives:

1. Check the death-date threshold. Part 2, item 9(1) limits applicability to personal representatives of firefighters whose death occurred on or after 11 May 2021. If the death predates that date, the Part 1 amendments will not apply to a personal representative’s claim under the express wording.

2. Assemble the same types of service and medical evidence as a living claimant would, mapped to the ICD-10-AM (2019 edition).

For decision-makers and administrators applying paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act:

1. Apply the deeming in subsection 7(2) when the statutory paragraph is engaged. The instrument’s new subsection 7(2) requires that, for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b), diseases listed in Schedule 3 by ICD reference "is a disease related to employment" of the kind in column 3. Administrators must therefore treat those listed conditions as related to the specified employment when applying that paragraph of the Act, provided the claimant meets the location, role and date criteria.

2. Use the 1 July 2019 ICD-10-AM edition. When verifying whether a diagnosis matches a Schedule item, map clinical diagnoses to the ICD-10-AM edition fixed by the instrument (Schedule 1, Part 1, item 1). Ensure staff understand that later ICD editions are not authoritative for this instrument's purposes.

3. Verify service evidence carefully. Because the instrument’s operation depends on specific service at RAAF Base Point Cook between stated dates, administrators should request and verify primary documents proving attendance, service or instruction at that base during that time.

4. Interpret code ranges and multi‑code entries precisely. Where Schedule 3 lists ranges (for instance C00-C96), treat these as encompassing the discrete ICD codes that fall within the listed range in the 2019 edition. Medical advisers may need to assist in mapping modern diagnostic terms to 2019 ICD codes.

5. Be mindful of the instrument’s application dates. The amendments apply only to claims made on or after 20 September 2021; personal representatives are subject to the death date threshold. Ensure claims lodged before that date are processed according to the law and instruments as they existed then.

6. Maintain cross-reference awareness. The instrument renames Schedule 1 and inserts Schedule 3. Administrative guidance, checklists and internal cross-references should be updated so staff are applying the correct schedules and subsections.

Practical record and evidence checklist (to be used by claimants and administrators):

• Documentary proof of service at RAAF Base Point Cook between 1 January 1957 and 31 December 1986, specifying role (firefighter, trainee participant, or instructor).
• Medical records and reports mapping the diagnosis to an ICD-10-AM code as at 1 July 2019.
• Claim lodged on or after 20 September 2021 (date-stamped).
• For personal representatives, proof of death and evidence that the death occurred on or after 11 May 2021.
• Any ancillary records demonstrating the nature of duties performed during the relevant service period.

Limitations and reservation. The instrument’s provisions alter how paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Act is to be applied for the specified cohort, but do not themselves modify other statutory requirements of the Act, such as evidentiary standards beyond the mapping to an ICD code, entitlement calculations, or procedural appeal rights. Practitioners should therefore treat compliance with the instrument as necessary but not necessarily sufficient to secure compensation under the Act; full compliance with the Act’s claims process and documentation requirements remains necessary.

By following these steps,establishing the precise locational/temporal role, mapping diagnoses to the specified ICD edition, lodging claims in the specified timeframe, and preparing the required documentation,claimants and administrators align their processes with the textual requirements of the amendment instrument.