Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Act 2022

The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment (Incapacity Payments) Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 7 October 2022.

About the Act

• The Act extends a four-year pilot that was supporting eligible veterans in full-time study by one year, to 30 June 2023. 
• Under the pilot, the incapacity payment “stepdown” to 75 per cent of pre-injury earnings, which usually takes effect after 45 weeks of compensation, is removed for eligible veterans.
• Incapacity payments are compensation for economic loss due to the inability, or reduced ability, to work because of an injury or disease that has been accepted as service related under the Military, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) or the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA).
• The Act provides targeted support to veterans engaged in approved full-time study under a Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) rehabilitation program, who are eligible to receive or are receiving incapacity payments.
• The Act also provides for back-payment to 1 July 2022 for those who would have been eligible to benefit had the pilot not ceased. Veterans in the existing program have indicated that they value the extra financial support as they transition from military service to a rehabilitation program focused on gaining sustainable employment in the civilian workforce.
• Further information about this Act, including the text of the Bill, the Explanatory Memorandum and the Minister’s Second Reading Speech.

Schedule 1 – Amendments

Under the Act:

• Amendments are made to the MRCA and DRCA to extend beneficial calculation of incapacity payments to veterans undertaking approved full-time study, from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.
• Application provisions ensure that student veterans who should have been eligible for the higher rate of payment can receive back-payments to cover the period from 1 July 2022 until the day the Act commences.
• Payments of amounts under the scheme are taken to be payments of compensation in relation to defence service for the purposes of the MRCA and DRCA respectively.

The key eligibility criteria will be specified in legislative instruments, which set out the circumstances and the types of qualifications that would constitute full-time study.