Ganglion

Ganglion — DVA SoP factors

Every factor in the Repatriation Medical Authority Statements of Principles for Ganglion. DVA can only accept a claim for Ganglion if at least one of these factors is met and connected to your service. Reasonable Hypothesis (RH) applies to operational service; Balance of Probabilities (BoP) applies to peacetime service.

Source: Repatriation Medical Authority Statements of Principles as held by the Veterans Health Centre. SoPs are amended and replaced regularly; always confirm the current instrument at rma.gov.au before relying on it.

RH No. 7 of 2025 · BoP No. 8 of 20253 factors

Meaning of ganglion: For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, ganglion: (a) means a benign, cystic lesion overlying a joint or tendon, consisting of a thin fibrous capsule with no epithelial lining enclosing clear mucinous fluid, which may be accompanied by pain, weakness and loss of function; and (b) excludes: (i) cyst of bursa; (ii) epidermoid cyst; (iii) ganglion in yaws; (iv) synovial cyst; and (v) Tarlov cyst.

Reasonable Hypothesis (RH) — Statement of Principles No. 7 of 2025

At least one of the following factors must as a minimum exist before it can be said that a reasonable hypothesis has been raised connecting ganglion or death from ganglion with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:

(1)
having acute trauma due to a significant physical force applied to the affected joint or tendon within the 1 year before clinical onset;
(2)
inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for ganglion before clinical worsening;

Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(2) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.

Balance of Probabilities (BoP) — Statement of Principles No. 8 of 2025

1 factors

The following factors must exist before it can be said that, on the balance of probabilities, ganglion or death from ganglion is connected with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:

(1)
inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for ganglion before clinical worsening;

Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(1) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.

Accepted — what is it worth?

A Statement of Principles decides one thing only: whether DVA accepts liability for ganglion. It says nothing about how much you are paid. Compensation is worked out separately, from impairment points under the GARP — so a condition can be accepted and still rate few points, or rate more than you expect once it is combined with everything else on your file.