Test a New South Wales disease against the main-contributing-factor test
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the disease, the employers and whether the worker is exempt, using a firm-controlled tool, table the main or substantial test and the deemed date the guide states. Do not decide liability.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether employment was the main contributing factor, or the substantial one for an exempt worker.
- Aim the aggravation test at the aggravation, not the underlying disease.
- Use the guide's deemed date only in the guide's words, and confirm the sections.
- Health and wage records stay in a firm-controlled tool. Apply ASCR r 9, APP 11, and the notifiable-breach test.
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. New South Wales, SIRA disease-injury guide
Produce. A disease note with the contribution test, the deemed date and the last employer.
Have ready. Diagnosis; Employers in the relevant work, with dates; Date of incapacity, death or the claim; Whether the worker is exempt.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: A joint disease is blamed on carpet laying for three employers over eight years, and the worker is still working. The note deems the date, on the guide's words, at the claim, names the last employer, and lists the earlier employers inside 12 months. The lawyer decides main contributing factor.
Stop and hand it back when
- The disease is a dust disease and the work was not in or about a mine.
- The exempt status is unknown.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the disease, the employers and whether the worker is exempt, using a firm-controlled tool, table the main or substantial test and the deemed date the guide states. Do not decide liability. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Say whether the worker is exempt before choosing main or substantial.
- For an aggravation, do not require employment to be the main cause of the underlying disease.
- Record the deemed date as death, incapacity, or the claim, and identify the last relevant employer.
- Exclude a dust disease unless the worker was employed in or about a mine.
Sources
- SIRA claims guide: disease injury · 2026-10-23
- SIRA: psychological injuries, guidance for insurers · 2026-10-23
If this is lodged with the Personal Injury Commission, Procedural Direction PIC13 keeps health records in a controlled environment and forbids a generative tool from writing a person's evidence.
The guide cites sections 4, 15(2), 16(2) and 19 and Schedule 1 of the 2016 regulation. Confirm each before reliance.
If health or wage records leave the firm-controlled tool, decide whether a Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) breach is notifiable.