30 Aug 1996
Section 54(14) requires reduction of the assessed disability for independence allowance by the percentage upon which any prior s.119 payment was based; because the Corporation based the s.119 award on 100% (it paid 100% of the maximum), the appellant's assessed disability is reduced by 100% and there is no entitlement to an independence allowance.
4 Apr 1996
The District Court held that the interpretive dispute over section 54(14) raised a question of law suitable for High Court determination and therefore granted leave to appeal.
21 Dec 1995
Section 54(14) is to be given its plain meaning: the person's disability assessed under s.54(5) is to be reduced by the percentage(s) of permanent loss or impairment on which earlier lump sum payments were based; mathematically this requires reducing the current assessed percentage by that prior percentage (multiplicative reduction), producing 19% reduced by 18.75% = 15.4375%, which entitles the appellant to an independence allowance.