---
title: "Test a New South Wales disease against the main-contributing-factor test"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-a-gradual-onset-disease-claim-against-the-employment-contribution-t/new-south-wales"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A21-WC20261023-18-NSW"
practice_area: "Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["NSW"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Test a New South Wales disease against the main-contributing-factor test

> 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.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-a-gradual-onset-disease-claim-against-the-employment-contribution-t/new-south-wales  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| 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. |
| Written for | New South Wales |
| Applies to | [Test a gradual-onset disease claim against the employment-contribution test](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-a-gradual-onset-disease-claim-against-the-employment-contribution-t.md) |

## Checking plan

**Verify against sources**

Employment must be the main contributing factor to the disease, or to the aggravation, acceleration, exacerbation or deterioration. Exempt workers stay on a substantial-contributing-factor test because the 2012 amendments do not apply to them. A gradual-onset date is deemed at death or incapacity, or at the claim if neither has occurred. The last relevant employer is liable, with a 12-month contribution claim. Dust diseases are excluded except for mine work. Schedule 1 deemed diseases and the firefighter and COVID-19 presumptions are separate.

- What the AI does: 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 does: The lawyer decides the legal question, checks the sources, and authorises anything the family or the insurer will receive.
- Who reviews: Lawyer competent in statutory workers compensation
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. Say whether the worker is exempt before choosing main or substantial.
2. For an aggravation, do not require employment to be the main cause of the underlying disease.
3. Record the deemed date as death, incapacity, or the claim, and identify the last relevant employer.
4. Exclude a dust disease unless the worker was employed in or about a mine.

## Notes

- 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.

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: New South Wales, SIRA disease-injury guide

**Deliverable**: A disease note with the contribution test, the deemed date and the last employer.

**Inputs**

- Diagnosis
- Employers in the relevant work, with dates
- Date of incapacity, death or the claim
- Whether the worker is exempt

**Example**: 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 escalate when**

- The disease is a dust disease and the work was not in or about a mine.
- The exempt status is unknown.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [SIRA claims guide: disease injury](https://www.sira.nsw.gov.au/workers-compensation-claims-guide/understanding-the-claims-journey/eligibility/disease-injury) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [SIRA: psychological injuries, guidance for insurers](https://www.sira.nsw.gov.au/workers-compensation/psychological-injuries-guidance-for-insurers) (checked 2026-10-23)

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*