Western Australian Numbered Acts Western Australian Numbered Acts (1) For the purposes
of this Division, a worker’s degree of permanent whole of person
impairment resulting from a dust disease is —
(a) as
assessed by a Dust Disease Medical Panel; or
(b) as
agreed by the worker and the employer under this section.
(2) If the worker has
made a claim for compensation for the dust disease, the Panel to which the
worker’s claim was referred under section 123 is the Panel that
assesses the worker’s degree of permanent whole of person impairment for
the purposes of this Division.
(3) If the worker has
not made a claim for compensation for the dust disease, the CEO must
constitute a Dust Disease Medical Panel to determine the following questions
and Part 2 Division 9 Subdivision 3 applies
accordingly —
(a) Is
or was the worker suffering from diffuse pleural fibrosis, lung cancer,
mesothelioma, pneumoconiosis or silicosis?
(b) What
is assessed to be the degree of permanent whole of person impairment resulting
from the disease?
(4) The Panel
determining a question for the purposes of this section is not bound by a
previous assessment of a Dust Disease Medical Panel if the previous assessment
has not been recorded by the Director as the supporting assessment for the
worker’s election to retain the right to seek damages as referred to in
section 421(1)(b).
(5) As an alternative
to an assessment by a Dust Disease Medical Panel of a worker’s degree of
permanent whole of person impairment resulting from a dust disease, the worker
and the employer can agree —
(a) that
the worker’s degree of permanent whole of person impairment resulting
from a dust disease is at least 15%; and
(b) as
to whether or not the worker’s degree of permanent whole of person
impairment resulting from a dust disease is at least 25%.
(6) An agreement under
subsection (5) must be accepted by the Director, and otherwise treated
for the purposes of this Division, as if it were an assessment by a Dust
Disease Medical Panel as to the worker’s degree of permanent whole of
person impairment resulting from the dust disease.
(7) A worker is, for
the purposes of this Division, taken to have a degree of permanent whole of
person impairment resulting from that disease of at least 25%
if —
(a) a
Dust Disease Medical Panel determines that the worker is or was suffering from
mesothelioma; or
(b)
subsection (8) applies to the worker.
(8) This subsection
applies to a worker if —
(a) a
Dust Disease Medical Panel determines that the worker is or was suffering from
diffuse pleural fibrosis, lung cancer, pneumoconiosis or silicosis; and
(b) the
Dust Disease Medical Panel indicates in the determination, or a medical
practitioner who is a specialist in respiratory medicine certifies, that the
disease or condition is likely to cause the death of the worker within a
period of 2 years beginning on the date of the determination or
certificate, as the case requires.