The relevant Statement of Principles covers any acquired break in bone resulting from applied force — including impact, repetitive loading, and torsion. If your fracture happened during service, or was caused by activities your service required of you, you have a sound basis for a claim.
Fractures that don't heal correctly — non-union or malunion — can leave chronic pain and functional impairment well beyond the original injury. These outcomes are separately claimable and often carry their own impairment points on top of the fracture itself.
Why Fracture Shows Up So Often in Veterans
ADF service creates fracture risk across a wide range of activities: load-bearing marches, parachute operations, weapons handling, combat physical training, and operational deployments all generate the mechanical forces behind both acute and stress fractures. Stress fractures specifically are strongly associated with infantry and combat roles, where sustained high-load marching on hard surfaces is routine — the tibia, fibula, metatarsals, and femur are the most commonly affected sites, and many stress fractures go undiagnosed at the time, only identified years later.
What the Statement of Principles requires
DVA measures every claim against a Statement of Principles (SoP) — a legally binding document setting out the specific factors that can connect a condition to service. Here are the pathways that most often apply to fracture claims, in plain language.
Significant physical force applied to or through the bone
A trauma event applying sufficient mechanical force to cause structural failure of the bone — the primary pathway for acute fractures.
Repetitive loading causing a stress fracture
Repetitive mechanical loading of the affected bone during the relevant service period, covering load-bearing marches, physical training, and operational tempo.
Chronic loading in an abnormal direction
Repeated force applied to the bone in a direction inconsistent with normal biomechanical loading.
Smoking, where non-union has occurred
Smoking at least 5 cigarettes per day during the treatment period, relevant specifically to fractures that failed to heal.
Diabetes, where non-union has occurred
Diabetes mellitus present at the time non-union developed.
Inability to obtain appropriate clinical management
Circumstances that prevented access to timely, appropriate fracture management at the time.
This is the plain-English version. Read every factor of the Fracture Statement of Principles exactly as the Repatriation Medical Authority wrote it.
How DVA Approaches the Impairment Assessment
Impairment is assessed on the functional limitation that persists after healing, not the fracture itself — a fracture that heals fully with no residual impairment may carry no ongoing points at all. What matters is the long-term outcome: chronic pain, restricted range of motion, post-traumatic osteoarthritis, or a malunion causing lasting functional limitation. Stress fractures that leave chronic bone pain or structural change in the affected limb can attract meaningful points under GARP M, but the key is a specialist assessment that documents the current functional impairment specifically, not one that simply confirms the historical fracture occurred. Where a fracture has caused or accelerated post-traumatic osteoarthritis in the affected joint, that osteoarthritis is a separate claimable condition, and its impairment points combine with the fracture claim.
The evidence that decides it
Most initial liability decisions currently take DVA somewhere between 3 and 6 months, longer for complex or multi-condition claims. A complete, well-organised submission up front tends to shorten that wait considerably.
- Imaging confirming the fracture — X-rays, CT, or MRI at the time of injury and on current presentation
- Service medical records documenting when and how the injury occurred
- An orthopaedic or specialist report assessing current functional impairment
- Evidence of any non-union, malunion, or post-traumatic complications
- A personal statement describing the circumstances of the injury and current functional impact
- Physiotherapy or rehabilitation records showing ongoing treatment needs
On the PAMT list
Fracture is one of the conditions covered by Provisional Access to Medical Treatment, meaning funded treatment could begin before DVA reached a liability decision. This included:
- Orthopaedic specialist review and management
- Physiotherapy and rehabilitation services
- Imaging (X-ray, CT, MRI) to assess healing and complications
- Surgical management where clinically indicated
- Pain management services
Questions veterans ask about Fracture
Can I claim a fracture that happened years ago during service?
Yes — what matters is establishing when and how it occurred and its current functional impact, not how much time has passed since.
What is a stress fracture, and can I claim it?
A stress fracture develops from repetitive loading rather than a single traumatic event, and it's a fully recognised, separately claimable pathway under the SoP.
My fracture healed normally. Can I still claim?
You can lodge a claim, but if it healed with no residual functional impairment, it may attract minimal or no ongoing impairment points — it's still worth having formally assessed, particularly if any symptoms have since developed.
What is a non-union fracture?
It's a fracture that failed to heal properly, and it's specifically recognised in the SoP with its own contributing factors (including smoking and diabetes), since these outcomes often carry significantly more functional impact than a normally healed break.
Related conditions
The same service exposure that causes fracture often produces related conditions that are separately claimable. It's worth having these assessed at the same time rather than as an afterthought.
Ready to Look Into a Fracture Claim?
Book a free consultation and we'll go through whether your circumstances meet the SoP factors, what evidence would strengthen your case, and what to expect next.
This page is general information, not medical, legal, or financial advice. Statement of Principles factors, thresholds, and program details are current as at the update date above but can change — always confirm against your own determination letter and the current SoP instrument. For medical concerns, speak with a qualified health professional; for legal advice, a solicitor experienced in military compensation law.
