Pension Act

Marginal note:Pension in accordance with extent of disability

• 35 (1) Subject to section 21, the amount of pensions for disabilities shall, except as provided in subsection (3), be determined in accordance with the assessment of the extent of the disability resulting from injury or disease or the aggravation thereof, as the case may be, of the applicant or pensioner.

• Marginal note:Maximum disability assessment

  (1.1) Despite anything in this Act, if the extent of disability of a member of the forces, in respect of the aggregate of all of the member’s disability assessments, exceeds 100%, no pension shall be paid in respect of any percentage points exceeding 100%.

• Marginal note:Veterans Well-being Act

  (1.2) Any disability assessments under the Veterans Well-being Act, in respect of a disability award or pain and suffering compensation, shall be taken into account for the purpose of determining whether the extent of disability exceeds 100%.

• Marginal note:How extent of disability assessed

  (2) The assessment of the extent of a disability shall be based on the instructions and a table of disabilities to be made by the Minister for the guidance of persons making those assessments.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act does not apply

  (2.01) The instructions and table of disabilities referred to in subsection (2) are exempt from the application of sections 3, 5 and 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act.

• Marginal note:Limitation on reduction

  (2.1) Where a member of the forces has attained the age of fifty-five years and the assessment of the extent of a disability of the member has remained unchanged for a period of three years or more, no reduction in the assessment of the extent of that disability shall be made.

• Marginal note:Pulmonary tuberculosis

  (3) Pensions for disability resulting from pulmonary tuberculosis, where during the treatment of a member of the forces the presence of tubercle bacilli has been discovered in the sputum or it has been proved that the disease is moderately advanced and clinically active, shall be awarded and continued as follows:

  • (a) in the case of a member of the forces who served in a theatre of actual war and whose disease was attributable to or was incurred or was aggravated during service, either during World War I or World War II, and in the case of a member of the forces who did not serve in a theatre of actual war and whose disease was incurred during service during either of those Wars, a pension of one hundred per cent shall be awarded as of the date of completion of the treatment and shall be continued without reduction for a period of two years, unless further treatment is required;

  • (b) in the case of a member of the forces who did not serve in a theatre of actual war and whose disease was aggravated during service, either during World War I or World War II, a pension of ninety per cent shall be awarded as of the date of completion of the treatment and shall be continued without reduction for a period of two years, unless further treatment is required;

  • (c) in the case of a member of the forces who has seen service in the non-permanent active militia or in the reserve army during World War II or in the case of a member of the forces who has seen service in peace time, whose disease occurred on service and arose out of or was directly connected with that service, a pension of one hundred per cent shall be awarded as of the date of completion of the treatment and shall be continued without reduction for a period of two years, unless further treatment is required;

  • (d) in the case of a member of the forces who has seen service in the non-permanent active militia or in the reserve army during World War II or in the case of a member of the forces who has seen service in peace time, whose disease was aggravated during service and the aggravation arose out of or was directly connected with that service, a pension of ninety per cent shall be awarded as from the date of completion of the treatment and shall be continued without reduction for a period of two years, unless further treatment is required; and

  • (e) after the expiration of two years, no pension awarded in respect of pulmonary tuberculosis shall be reduced by more than twenty per cent at any one time, nor shall reductions be made at intervals of less than six months, and paragraphs (b) and (d) do not apply if the disease manifested itself within a period of three months after enlistment.

• Marginal note:When no deduction from pension

  (4) No deduction shall be made from the pension of any member of the forces because the member undertook work or perfected themself in some form of industry.