A new Permanent Impairment Guide will soon come into effect.

The new Guide to the Assessment of the Degree of Permanent Impairment – Edition 3.0 under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 comes into effect from 1 April 2023.

The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations has approved a new legislative instrument that provides for the Guide to the Assessment of the Degree of Permanent Impairment – Edition 3.0 under the SRC Act (see: F2023L00203). 

Edition 3.0 of the Guide applies to permanent impairment and non-economic loss claims received on or after then. The new guide has been remade with minor changes including:

  • Updates to form and content to comply with modern drafting practices.

  • Repealing part 2 of the Guide under the SRC Act (defence-related claims).

  • Simplifying the rules about application of the Guide and clarifying the entitlement to compensation for permanent impairment that is a hearing loss or constituted by the loss, or the loss of the use, of a finger or toe, or the loss of the sense of taste or smell under the SRC Act.

  • Improvements to the principles of assessment; including clarifying the methodology for pre-existing conditions and aggravations, new content to provide guidance on survival of claims, and new content to clarify use of clinical judgment and the assessment of pain conditions.

  • Improvements to the bodily systems chapter; including revised approach for the assessment of lower limb arthroplasty procedures and the broader application for the assessment of chronic pain conditions.

More information is accessible here.