New Permanent Impairment Guide – to be in effect from 1 April 2023

The legislative instrument that provides for the current Guide to the Assessment of the Degree of Permanent Impairment – Edition 2.1 made under the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 (Seafarers Act) will sunset on 1 April 2023.

The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations has approved a new legislative instrument that provides for the Guide to the Assessment of the Degree of Permanent Impairment - Edition 3.0 under the Seafarers Act (see: F2023L00223). Edition 3.0 of the Guide commences on 1 April 2023 and applies to permanent impairment and non-economic loss claims received on or after then.

The new Guide has been remade with minor changes including:

• Updates to form and content to comply with modern drafting practices.
• Simplifying the rules about application of the Guide.
• Improvements to the principles of assessment; including clarifying the methodology for pre-existing conditions and aggravations, new content to provide guidance on survival of claims, and new content to clarify use of clinical judgment and the assessment of pain conditions.
• Improvements to the bodily systems chapter; including revised approach for the assessment of lower limb arthroplasty procedures and the broader application for the assessment of chronic pain conditions.

Please see the Explanatory Statement accompanying the Guide for further information.

Further advice will be provided once the new Guide has taken effect.