What can I claim secondary to electrical injury?
6 conditions in the Repatriation Medical Authority's Statements of Principles list electrical injury as a factor. If DVA has accepted your electrical injury, each of these has a documented pathway to a further claim.
At a glance
- Accepted conditionElectrical injury
- Conditions it may open6
- 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 electrical injury, and another condition's SoP lists electrical injury 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 electrical injury 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 (7): “having an electrical injury within the five years before the clinical onset of acquired cataract” [clinical onset] — factor (21): “having an electrical injury within the five years before the clinical worsening of acquired cataract” [worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (7): “having an electrical injury within the five years before the clinical onset of acquired cataract” [clinical onset] — factor (20): “having an electrical injury within the five years before the clinical worsening of acquired cataract” [worsening]
Epilepsy
RH No. 84 of 2022 · BoP No. 85 of 2022
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (3): “having an electrical injury of the brain before the clinical onset of epilepsy” [clinical onset] — factor (24): “having an electrical injury of the brain before the clinical worsening of epilepsy” [worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (3): “having an electrical injury of the brain before the clinical onset of epilepsy” [clinical onset] — factor (22): “having an electrical injury of the brain before the clinical worsening of epilepsy” [worsening]
Note: Electrical injury of the brain excludes transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroconvulsive therapy.
Erectile dysfunction
RH No. 72 of 2022 · BoP No. 73 of 2022
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (18): “having internal burns, substantial external burns, or electrical injury to the external genitals, perineum or pelvic region within the 3 months before the clinical onset of erectile dysfunction” [clinical onset] — factor (43): “having internal burns, substantial external burns, or electrical injury to the external genitals, perineum or pelvic region within the 3 months before the clinical worsening of erectile dysfunction” [worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (17): “having internal burns, substantial external burns, or electrical injury to the external genitals, perineum or pelvic region within the 3 months before the clinical onset of erectile dysfunction” [clinical onset] — factor (39): “having internal burns, substantial external burns, or electrical injury to the external genitals, perineum or pelvic region within the 3 months before the clinical worsening of erectile dysfunction” [worsening]
Note: substantial external burns is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.
Pericarditis
RH No. 90 of 2023 · BoP No. 91 of 2023
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (6): “having electrical injury affecting the heart within the 20 years before the clinical onset or clinical worsening of pericarditis” [onset and worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (6): “having electrical injury affecting the heart within the 20 years before the clinical onset or clinical worsening of pericarditis” [onset and worsening]
Seizure
RH No. 37 of 2022 · BoP No. 38 of 2022
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (3): “having an electrical injury of the brain before the clinical onset of seizure” [clinical onset]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (3): “having an electrical injury of the brain before the clinical onset of seizure” [clinical onset]
Note: Electrical injury of the brain excludes transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroconvulsive therapy.
Traumatic brachial plexopathy
RH No. 1 of 2025 · BoP No. 2 of 2025
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (4): “having an electrical injury to the brachial plexus within the 24 hours before clinical onset or clinical worsening” [onset and worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (4): “having an electrical injury to the brachial plexus within the 24 hours before clinical onset or clinical worsening” [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 electrical injury does.
What DVA means by electrical injury
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.
Electrical injury, for the purposes of the Statement of Principles, for the purposes of this Statement of Principles, electrical injury: (a) means physical damage to the body as a direct result of the flow of electrical current through the body or across the body surface; and (b) includes such damage from: (i) an external manufactured source (including an implanted electrical device); or (ii) being struck by lightning; or (iii) being in the immediate vicinity of a lightning strike; and (iv) electrical contact burns; and (v) electrical flash burns. (c) excludes any consequences from exposure to external electromagnetic radiation. (3) While electrical injury attracts ICD-10-AM code T75.0 or T75.4, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of electrical injury is that given in subsection (2). Compilation No. 1 Compilation date: 22/01/2024 Authorised Version F2024C00041 registered 22/01/2024 (4) For subsection (3), a reference to an ICD-10-AM code is a reference to the code assigned to a particular kind of injury or disease in The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM), Tenth Edition, effective date of 1 July 2017, copyrighted by the Independent Ho
Note the exclusion. This instrument expressly excludes any consequences from exposure to external electromagnetic radiation. A diagnosis of that is not a diagnosis of electrical injury, 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, electrical injury where it was already present before or during service. If service caused electrical injury outright, those factors are not available to you.
RH No. 41 of 2018 · BoP No. 42 of 2018 · 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 →
Electrical injury accepted?
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