SRC Act Section 29A: Catastrophic Injury

Verified against the current authoritative text on 15 August 2026 by the TheAICommand editorial team.

This page is an educational summary for professionals working with AI. It is not the law and not legal advice. Always work from the current authoritative text linked below.

What does section 29A do?

Section 29A, headed "Compensation for household services and attendant care services obtained as a result of a catastrophic injury", is the catastrophic branch of Division 5. Subsection 29A(1) makes Comcare liable for household services an employee reasonably requires after such an injury, and subsection 29A(3) does the same for attendant care services. Each is compensated at such amount per week as Comcare considers reasonable in the circumstances. Subsections 29A(2) and 29A(4) set out the matters Comcare must have regard to. Subsection 29A(5) directs payment to the employee who has paid, otherwise to the provider. Read the current compilation on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Who does it bind?

Subsections 29A(1) and 29A(3) name Comcare. Under Part VIII a self-insured licensee authorised to accept liability stands in Comcare's place for its own employees.

What do practitioners get wrong?

Three things. First, carrying section 29 boundaries across. Section 29 bounds household services at not less than fifty per cent of the amount paid and not more than a stated maximum, and section 13 indexes subsections 29(1) and 29(3). Section 29A states no amount and section 13 does not reach it. Second, importing the 28-day exclusion, which subsection 29(5) confines to subsection 29(1). Third, expecting the threshold here. It sits in the legislative rules.

Where does AI use touch it?

The mandatory considerations in subsections 29A(2) and 29A(4) are an evidence-gathering task before they are a decision. That is where AI belongs. See the section 29 AI household services evidence map and section 29.

Bottom line

The same two services as section 29, a different threshold, and no statutory ceiling. Settle whether the injury meets the legislative-rules test first, because that question decides which provision you are in.

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Frequently asked questions

How is section 29A different from section 29?

They compensate the same two services but sit either side of one threshold. Section 29 applies to an injury other than a catastrophic injury, and bounds household services at not less than fifty per cent of the amount paid and not more than a stated maximum. Section 29A applies to a catastrophic injury and states no amount at all, leaving the weekly figure to what Comcare considers reasonable in the circumstances.

Does the 28-day exclusion apply under section 29A?

No. Subsection 29(5) removes liability only for compensation under subsection 29(1), the household services limb of the non-catastrophic provision. Section 29A carries no equivalent exclusion, so the 28-day rule has no work to do once the injury meets the catastrophic threshold.

Where is catastrophic injury defined?

Not on the face of section 29A. Subsection 4(1) defines a catastrophic injury as an injury where the conditions specified in the legislative rules are satisfied, and legislative rules means rules made under section 122A. The threshold question is therefore answered by a separate instrument, not by reading this section.

Are the section 29A amounts indexed?

The question does not arise, because section 29A states no amounts. Section 13 indexes a closed list of relevant amounts to the Consumer Price Index, and that list names subsections 29(1) and 29(3) but not section 29A. Take any current figure for the non-catastrophic branch from Comcare rather than from the face of the legislation.

What is section 29A of the SRC Act?