61Further diminution of hearing

61 Further diminution of hearing S. 61(1) amended by No. 10/2022 s. 60(1). (1) Subject to subsection (3), a worker who suffers a further hearing injury is entitled to receive in respect of the further hearing injury, in addition to any other compensation payable in accordance with this Act, compensation in accordance with section 213, being compensation referrable to a percentage calculated in accordance with subsection (2) of the amount that would have been payable for a total loss of hearing. (2) The percentage is the difference between— S. 61(2)(a) amended by No. 10/2022 s. 60(2)(a). (a) the total percentage of the diminution of hearing in respect of industrial deafness from which the worker was suffering immediately after the further hearing injury in respect of which the claim is made; and The percentage NAL loss is to be determined in accordance with section 63(4). The percentage NAL loss is then converted in accordance with section 63(1). S. 61(2)(b) amended by No. 10/2022 s. 60(2)(b). (b) the total percentage of the diminution of hearing in respect of industrial deafness immediately after the prior hearing injury or prior hearing loss or in the case of more than one prior hearing injury or prior hearing loss the latest of the prior hearing injuries or prior hearing losses. The percentage NAL loss is to be determined in accordance with subsection (5). The percentage NAL loss is then converted in accordance with section 63(3). S. 61(3) amended by No. 10/2022 s. 60(3). (3) Despite anything to the contrary in this Act, a worker who suffers a further hearing injury is not entitled to compensation under this section or Division 5 of Part 5, unless the worker has a diminution of hearing assessed as a binaural loss of hearing of at least 10 per cent NAL resulting from the further hearing injury and any prior hearing injury or prior hearing loss. (4) The total percentage referred to in subsection (2)(a) is to be determined in accordance with section 63(4). (5) The total percentage referred to in subsection (2)(b) is to be determined by reference to— (a) if a percentage has been determined in accordance with the Improved Procedure for Determination of Percentage Loss of Hearing (1988 Edition or a later prescribed edition) published by the National Acoustic Laboratory, that percentage; or (b) in any other case, the percentage which, having regard to the medical evidence available, is determined to be the equivalent of the percentage that (as nearly as can be estimated) would have been determined in accordance with the Improved Procedure for Determination of Percentage Loss of Hearing (1988 Edition or a later prescribed edition) published by the National Acoustic Laboratory. (6) If a worker disputes the total percentage referred to in subsection (2)(b) as determined in accordance with subsection (5), the Authority, self-insurer or a court must refer the question of what is the amount of the total percentage referred to in subsection (2)(b) as a medical question to a Medical Panel for an opinion. (7) For the purposes of this section the register kept under section 62(5) must be taken into account.