What can I claim secondary to asbestosis?
2 conditions in the Repatriation Medical Authority's Statements of Principles list asbestosis as a factor. If DVA has accepted your asbestosis, each of these has a documented pathway to a further claim.
At a glance
- Accepted conditionAsbestosis
- Conditions it may open2
- SourceRMA SoPs
- Chart Review$600 + GST
How a secondary claim works
Some Statement of Principles factors are not about service at all — they name another condition. Where DVA has already accepted your asbestosis, and another condition's SoP lists asbestosis as a factor, that part of the next claim is already established on your file. How a secondary claim works, in full →
Conditions that list asbestosis as a factor
Quoted from the instrument. A pathway existing is not the same as a claim succeeding — each factor carries thresholds your record has to satisfy.
Mesothelioma
RH No. 41 of 2024 · BoP No. 42 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (2): “having asbestosis at the time of clinical onset” [clinical onset]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (3): “having asbestosis at the time of clinical onset” [clinical onset]
Pericarditis
RH No. 90 of 2023 · BoP No. 91 of 2023
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (31): “having asbestosis or asbestos related pleural plaques before the clinical onset or clinical worsening of pericarditis” [onset and worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (30): “having asbestosis or asbestos related pleural plaques before the clinical onset or clinical worsening of pericarditis” [onset and worsening]
Other accepted conditions that also open mesothelioma
If any of these is also on your file, it reaches some of the same conditions asbestosis does.
What DVA means by asbestosis
A claim is tested against the definition first. If the diagnosis on your file does not meet this wording, the factors below never get reached — so it is worth checking that what your doctor wrote matches what the instrument requires.
Asbestosis, for the purposes of the Statement of Principles, for the purposes of this Statement of Principles, asbestosis means interstitial fibrosis of the lung caused by the deposition of asbestos fibres in the lung parenchyma.
Aggravation-only factors. In this instrument, subsections 9(3) to 9(4) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, asbestosis where it was already present before or during service. If service caused asbestosis outright, those factors are not available to you.
RH No. 59 of 2021 · BoP No. 60 of 2021 · 4 factors
Reviewed by Dr Thomas Perkins
Founding doctor, Veterans Health Centre · former RAAF aviation medical officer · 13 years working exclusively with ADF members and veterans. Full profile →
Asbestosis accepted?
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