What can I claim secondary to chemical burn?
3 conditions in the Repatriation Medical Authority's Statements of Principles list chemical burn as a factor. If DVA has accepted your chemical burn, each of these has a documented pathway to a further claim.
At a glance
- Accepted conditionChemical burn
- Conditions it may open3
- 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 chemical burn, and another condition's SoP lists chemical burn 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 chemical burn 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.
Acquired cataract
RH No. 87 of 2016 · BoP No. 88 of 2016
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (6): “having a severe thermal or chemical burn to the affected eye before the clinical onset of acquired cataract” [clinical onset] — factor (20): “having a severe thermal or chemical burn to the affected eye before the clinical worsening of acquired cataract” [worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (6): “having a severe thermal or chemical burn to the affected eye before the clinical onset of acquired cataract” [clinical onset] — factor (19): “having a severe thermal or chemical burn to the affected eye before the clinical worsening of acquired cataract” [worsening]
Note: severe thermal or chemical burn is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.
Herpes simplex
RH No. 39 of 2018 · BoP No. 40 of 2018
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (3): “having a thermal or chemical burn within the seven days before the clinical onset of herpes simplex at or close to the site of the burn” [clinical onset] — factor (17): “having a thermal or chemical burn within the seven days before the clinical worsening of herpes simplex at or close to the site of the burn” [worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (3): “having a thermal or chemical burn within the seven days before the clinical onset of herpes simplex at or close to the site of the burn” [clinical onset] — factor (14): “having a thermal or chemical burn within the seven days before the clinical worsening of herpes simplex at or close to the site of the burn” [worsening]
Note: close to the site is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.
Trigeminal neuralgia or trigeminal neuropathy
RH No. 84 of 2024 · BoP No. 85 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (2): “having one of the following traumatic injuries to the affected trigeminal nerve: (a) mechanical injury caused by compression, crush, transection or stretching; (b) chemical burn; (c) thermal burn; within the 3 months before clinical onset or clinical worsening of trigeminal neuropathy” [onset and worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (2): “having one of the following traumatic injuries to the affected trigeminal nerve: (a) mechanical injury caused by compression, crush, transection or stretching; (b) chemical burn; (c) thermal burn; within the 3 months before clinical onset or clinical worsening of trigeminal neuropathy” [onset and worsening]
Other accepted conditions that also open acquired cataract
If any of these is also on your file, it reaches some of the same conditions chemical burn does.
What DVA means by chemical burn
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.
Chemical burn, for the purposes of the Statement of Principles, for the purposes of this Statement of Principles, chemical burn: (a) means an injury to the skin and external body covering tissues due to external contact with chemical agents; and (b) includes chemical burns of deep tissues and organs that are part of a multiple chemical burn injury that includes injury to the skin and external body covering tissues; and (c) excludes irritant contact dermatitis.
Note the exclusion. This instrument expressly excludes irritant contact dermatitis. A diagnosis of that is not a diagnosis of chemical burn, and a claim framed the wrong way fails on the definition before any factor is considered.
Aggravation-only factors. In this instrument, subsections 9(2) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, chemical burn where it was already present before or during service. If service caused chemical burn outright, those factors are not available to you.
RH No. 3 of 2024 · BoP No. 4 of 2024 · 2 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 →
Chemical burn accepted?
Contact us for more information.