Diagnosed with cancer or PTSD? For 20 cancers, the law presumes firefighting caused it.

The presumptions cover State (Crown) employment. Registered volunteers have a matching cancer presumption under the Fire and Emergency Services Act. Defence base crews employed by Ventia are not covered by the WA presumption on its terms, and airport crews employed by Airservices Australia fall under the Commonwealth scheme, which has its own firefighter presumption.

(a) you have been in firefighting employment for at least the qualifying period for that cancer, in one period or in periods that add up to it, whether or not you are still a firefighter (s 11(3)(a));

(b) your employer is satisfied that you have been in hazardous firefighting employment for at least 5 years, or the qualifying period if that is shorter, again in total (s 11(3)(b)).

The 20 cancers and their qualifying periods

The first 12 are in the Act; the other 8 were added by regulation.

The presumption does not apply to a cancer taken to have occurred before 13 November 2013: for the 12 cancers in the Act, see s 553; for the 8 added by regulation, r 11(2).

Who is in "firefighting employment"

"Firefighting employment" means employment "by or under the Crown in right of the State a substantial part of the duties of which consists of firefighting duties" (s 11(1)). The employment must also be either:

(a) covered by an industrial instrument that applies to firefighting, or by an agreement that wholly or partly regulates employment as a firefighter (para (a)); or

(b) prescribed by the regulations (para (b)).

For DFES career firefighters, the WES335 agreement and the 1990 Fire Brigade Employees' Award are instruments of that kind. The Act does not define "substantial part" or "firefighting duties". Whether, for example, years in a training, fire safety or management role count towards the qualifying period depends on the duties of that role in fact. We found no WA decision on the point. No employment has been prescribed under para (b): r 11 adds cancers, not kinds of employment.

What "hazardous firefighting employment" means

Hazardous firefighting employment is firefighting employment during which you were either (s 11(1)):

(a) a member or officer of a permanent fire brigade under the Fire Brigades Act 1942 (WA), which covers DFES career firefighters; or

(b) attending hazardous fires at a rate of at least 5 a year.

A "hazardous fire" is a fire in a building, a fire in a vehicle, a fire involving human-made non-organic refuse or rubbish, or a fire prescribed by regulation (s 11(1)). For career firefighters, service in a permanent brigade counts in full under para (a). The 5-fires-a-year test matters for people outside the permanent brigade. Note that s 11(3)(b) turns on the employer being "satisfied" about this service, so keep your own records of postings and incidents.

How the presumption can be defeated

The employer must prove that the cancer was not from your employment (s 11(2)). For a disease, an injury is from employment if it was contracted in the course of the employment and the employment "contributed to a significant degree" to it (s 6(3)). So the employer can defeat the claim by proving either that the cancer was not suffered in the course of your employment, or that the employment did not contribute to it to a significant degree (note to s 11(2)). The factors that bear on "significant degree" include the duration and nature of the employment, the likelihood of the disease occurring anyway, hereditary factors and your health generally (s 6(4)).

In practice the burden is on the employer, and it needs medical evidence about you, not general statistics.

If your cancer is not on the list, or you are short of the qualifying period

You can still claim. You then have to prove under the ordinary test that your employment contributed to a significant degree to the disease (s 6(3)). The presumption is a shortcut, not the only route.

PTSD is prescribed for these firefighting roles (WCIM Regulations r 10(2)(d)–(e)):

(a) employment by or under the Crown to which an award or industrial agreement relating to firefighting applies, in a firefighter classification under it;

(b) employment as a communications systems officer, meaning a person employed by the department principally assisting in the administration of the FES Act whose primary duties include receiving calls and dispatching emergency services to incidents (r 10(1)).

Paramedics, ambulance officers and ambulance emergency communications officers are also covered (r 10(2)(a)–(c)).

Two conditions apply (r 10(3)):

(a) you must be diagnosed with PTSD by a psychiatrist, using the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria (r 10(3)(a));

(b) for firefighters and communications systems officers, you must have been first diagnosed with PTSD, by anyone and in any way, on or after 6 May 2023 (r 10(3)(c)). For the ambulance roles the date is 1 February 2022 (r 10(3)(b)).

So a diagnosis by a GP or psychologist alone does not engage the presumption. And if you were first diagnosed before 6 May 2023, the presumption does not apply, although you can still claim under the ordinary test (s 10(5)).

The presumption covers PTSD only. Depression, anxiety or another psychological injury is claimed under the ordinary test. A psychological injury of any kind is excluded if it results wholly or predominantly from reasonable administrative action, such as performance appraisal, suspension or disciplinary action, unless the action was "unreasonable and harsh on the part of the employer" (s 7(1)–(2)). That exclusion is aimed at stress from management action, not trauma from incidents.

Volunteers

Volunteers are not "workers" under the WCIM Act. Their compensation comes from Part 6B of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1998. In summary:

(a) "registered volunteer" includes bush fire control officers and registered members of bush fire brigades, registered members of FES units, SES units and VMRS (volunteer marine rescue) groups, and approved officers and members of volunteer fire brigades (s 36ZM);

(b) a firefighter disease suffered by a volunteer is taken to have been caused while engaged in volunteer activities, unless the responsible agency proves otherwise, if the volunteer has the qualifying period of "firefighting service" and the agency is satisfied the volunteer has at least 5 years (or the qualifying period, if shorter) of "hazardous firefighting service" (s 36ZN(2)–(3)). "Volunteer service" means service as a registered volunteer whose duties involve responding to hazardous fires, and hazardous service means attending hazardous fires at a rate of at least 5 a year (s 36ZN(1));

(c) firefighting service counts paid firefighting employment and volunteer service together (s 36ZN(1));

(d) the responsible agency (the local government for bush fire brigade volunteers, otherwise the FES Commissioner) must insure volunteers for injury, and the compensation is the amount that would apply under the WCIM Act if the volunteer were a worker, subject to any limit set by regulation (s 36ZQ(2), s 36ZR(1), (4)). Where an amount depends on weekly earnings, the volunteer's earnings are taken to be the greater of the ABS estimate of average weekly total earnings of full-time adult employees in WA and their own pre-injury weekly rate of income (or actual weekly earnings, if self-employed or unemployed) (s 36ZR(2)). Claims are subject to the same time limits as under the WCIM Act (s 36ZS(1)(a));

(e) a firefighter disease with a date of injury from 13 November 2013 until Part 6B started on 16 September 2017 is compensated at the same level (s 36ZT).

The 20 cancers and qualifying periods are the same, because Part 6B borrows the WCIM Act definitions (s 36ZM, s 36ZN(1)). We found no PTSD presumption for volunteers.

Defence base and airport crews

The WA presumption applies only to employment "by or under the Crown in right of the State" (s 11(1)). Ventia employees on Defence sites are not in Crown employment, and nothing in the regulations prescribes their employment, so on the text they claim under the ordinary test in s 6(3) and must prove the work contributed to a significant degree. One qualification: Ventia Australia Pty Ltd has been declared eligible to hold a Comcare self-insurance licence (Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Licence Eligibility—Ventia Australia Pty Ltd) Declaration 2022, in force from 1 April 2022 and due to be repealed on 2 October 2028), and the Commonwealth firefighter presumption extends to a licensed corporation's employees (Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth) s 7(9)(c)). Whether a licence was granted and covers WA Defence-site crews was not confirmed, so a member in this position may need to confirm which scheme applies.

Airservices Australia is a Commonwealth authority. Its firefighters are likely covered by the Commonwealth scheme, which has its own presumption: if an employee suffers a listed disease, was employed as a firefighter for the qualifying period and was exposed to the hazards of a fire scene in that period, the employment is taken to have contributed to a significant degree "unless the contrary is established" (Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth) s 7(8)). Its list of 12 cancers and qualifying periods matches the first 12 in the WA table, with more that may be prescribed (s 7(8) Table item 13). It applies only to firefighters employed by the Commonwealth, a Commonwealth authority or a licensed corporation (s 7(9)(c)).

(a) for the first 26 weeks in which it is payable, at your pre-injury weekly rate of income (s 55(2));

(b) after that, at 85% of that rate (s 55(3)), both subject to the maximum and minimum weekly rates (s 56, s 57);

(c) the first payment is due within 14 days after liability is accepted and includes arrears back to your first day of incapacity; after that, payments are made on your usual pay days (s 47(2));

(d) payments stop when the total reaches the general limit set by the Act and indexed each year (s 51(1), s 538), although an arbitrator can order additional income compensation in some cases (s 52).

DFES career firefighters have an extra entitlement. Under r 132 of the Fire Brigades Regulations 1943, an officer or member who has established a claim "by reason of personal injury by accident" is paid an amount that, with the income compensation, equals their full weekly wages, including the difference between their ordinary hours and 42 hours a week and shift, weekend, public holiday, district or industry allowances (r 132(1)–(2)). It continues while income compensation is paid, or until the FES Commissioner terminates the employment, whichever is earlier (r 132(3)). The regulation refers to injury "by accident", and we have not confirmed whether DFES applies it to a cancer or PTSD claim, which is a disease. Ask the union. The agreement records that the parties will review these provisions (WES335 cl 77(1)), and while a claim is decided you can use personal leave, which is reinstated if the claim succeeds (WES335 cl 25(13)).

Medical and health expenses

Reasonable medical and health expenses are paid, including medicines, medical and specialist treatment, and hospital charges (s 70(1), s 71(1)). They include expenses incurred before the claim was accepted (s 70(3)). There is a general limit (s 75); you must be told when 60% of it has been reached (s 76), and an arbitrator can increase it (s 77, s 78).

Lump sums and death benefits

Part 2 of the Act also provides lump sum compensation and compensation for dependants on a worker's death (Divisions 7 to 10). Those rules are detailed and not covered here.

(b) Your position: for 12 months from the day you first become incapacitated, the employer must give you your pre-injury position, or, if that is not reasonably practicable or you cannot do it, a suitable position that is most comparable in status and pay (s 166(1)–(2)). This does not apply if you are lawfully dismissed (s 166(3)).

(c) Dismissal: during those 12 months, the employer must not dismiss you solely or mainly because you are incapacitated, and must not dismiss you for any reason without first giving you at least 28 days' notice of intention to dismiss in the approved form (s 168(2)–(4)). These are offences carrying fines of up to $10,000. They sit alongside your other rights (s 168(5)).

If you are dismissed, see our page on discipline and dismissal for WA firefighters for the routes and time limits, including a medical retirement.