Veterans' disease rules under review as authority opens nineteen investigations

The Repatriation Medical Authority will investigate the Statements of Principles governing nineteen medical conditions, including rheumatic heart disease, gout, subarachnoid haemorrhage and bladder cancer, under a notice published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette of 28 October 2026 as C2026G00699. The review covers all instruments that sunset on 1 October 2029. Written submissions must reach the Authority no later than 21 September 2027, and the first meeting of each investigation will be held on 12 October 2027.

What the investigation covers

The notice is issued under section 370CJ of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (the MRCA), which requires the Authority to give public notice before it begins work under subsection 370CE. Every instrument under review is a 2019 statement: the pairs run from instrument Nos. 45 and 46 of 2019 to Nos. 87 and 88 of 2019, each pair covering the standard and the death version of a condition.

The Authority must establish whether new information exists on how these conditions may be suffered or contracted, or how death from them may occur, and the extent to which they may be war-caused, defence-caused, a service injury, a service disease or a service death.

The nineteen conditions named are:

• acute rheumatic fever (instrument Nos. 53 and 54 of 2019)
• anal fissure (87 and 88 of 2019)
• conductive hearing loss (81 and 82 of 2019)
• dislocation of a joint and subluxation of a joint (55 and 56 of 2019)
• gout (59 and 60 of 2019)
• irritable bowel syndrome (65 and 66 of 2019)
• joint instability (57 and 58 of 2019)
• malignant neoplasm of the bladder (83 and 84 of 2019)
• Morton metatarsalgia (77 and 78 of 2019)
• obstructive and reflux nephropathy (85 and 86 of 2019)
• poisoning from plants or fungi (49 and 50 of 2019)
• posterior adventitial heel bursitis (47 and 48 of 2019)
• rapidly progressive crescentic glomerulonephritis (45 and 46 of 2019)
• renal stone disease (69 and 70 of 2019)
• rheumatic heart disease (51 and 52 of 2019)
• schistosomiasis (61 and 62 of 2019)
• strongyloidiasis (63 and 64 of 2019)
• subarachnoid haemorrhage (67 and 68 of 2019)
• varicocoele (79 and 80 of 2019)

Who may lodge a submission

The Authority invites written submissions from any person eligible to claim compensation under section 319 of the MRCA, and from organisations representing veterans, Australian mariners or members of the Forces within the meaning of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986. Organisations representing members or their dependants may also take part.

Submissions are also open to the Commission and to any person with expertise in a field relevant to a listed investigation. Filings can be lodged electronically through the RMA website, sent by email to info@rma.gov.au, or posted to GPO Box 1014, Brisbane, Qld 4001. The Authority’s submission guidelines are available online, and its Secretariat can be reached on (07) 2149 7499.

Deadlines and sign-off

All submissions must be in writing and received by the Authority by 21 September 2027, roughly three weeks before the first meetings open on 12 October 2027. The notice is signed by Dr Anthony Lynham AO, Chairperson, by and on behalf of the Repatriation Medical Authority, and dated 23 October 2026.

The outcome matters well beyond the conditions listed. Statements of Principles are the legal tests the Authority maintains for deciding whether a condition can be linked to service, so a revised instrument can open or close the path to compensation for veterans already suffering from these illnesses.

Source: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, C2026G00699, 28 October 2026, Government Notices (official reference: C2026G00699).