› Review of decision of Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Authority
Defence and war
› Defence forces retirement benefits
› Invalidity classification — percentage of total incapacity in relation to civil employment — meaning and assessment
Defence and war
› Defence forces retirement benefits
› Reclassification — power under s 53(1) of Defence Forces Retirement Benefits Act 1948 — scope and exercise
Statutory interpretation
› Benefits legislation
› Construction of 'incapacity in relation to civil employment' — whether limited to earning capacity
Quick Take
1'Incapacity in relation to civil employment' within s 51(2) of the Defence Forces Retirement Benefits Act 1948 is a concept wider than diminished earning capacity: it encompasses any restriction on the opportunities to engage in civil employment and to derive benefits from that employment, measured by comparing the range of employment opportunities the individual would have had but for the incapacity against those actually available to them.
2The percentage of total incapacity is assessed objectively by reference to the circumstances peculiar to the individual — including their education, training, skills and physical attributes — not by reference to their subjective assessment of loss; a significant physical disability may represent a greater proportionate incapacity for a person whose talents are limited to manual labour than for one qualified for clerical work.
3The Authority's power to reclassify under s 53(1) may lawfully be exercised by reference to present and immediately foreseeable circumstances without regard to long-term prospects, since future developments can be addressed by future exercises of the reclassification power; and a reclassification determination is not shown to be erroneous merely because an event the Authority had already taken into account subsequently occurs.
