Dva And Permanent Impairment Under The Mrca

[Deleted member 43219]

G'day all,

Just searching for any ideas in regards to my current situation,
firstly some background;

I lodged my claim for benefits in may 2011 , i lodged it under the VEA being unaware of the MRCA at all, this was done with an advocate who was highly recommended to me (but obviously also unaware of the MRCA).
After months of waiting i was eventually told i had to see a DVA appointed Psychiatrist who was to fly interstate (VIC to TAS) to see me.
on the 10th of october i had a very brief(30 min maximum) appointment with this psychiatrist who fired questions at me but only covered enough to be sure i had PTSD.

After viewing his report i noted under a question asking "Is the condition of a permanent nature?" he responded "hopefully not"

This pissed me off at the time because i know that some aspects of my ptsd i WILL be dealing with forever, so who is he to say "hopefully not"????

Now the problem
Because he said "hopefully not" it means DVA has decided i am "unstable" which means i cant be tested by a psychiatrist for another12 months.
I believe i am as stable as i will be and able to deal with my symptoms quite well , so i tried to arrange an independent Psychiatrist to assess me.
They refused however after speaking to DVA who told them that Tasmania was under a different act to victoria and my case was managed in victoria so it is pointless for them to assess me (excuse me but what the f*ck???)

so i am back to waiting for november for this ass clown to come back and make another hardly informed decision about my Permanent Impairment...

any suggestions?

Thanks for reading and any help,

Anthony

P>S; My treating Psych who i have been seeing for over a year told me that he had heard of this DVA Psychiatrist and that he is a "hired gun" for DVA...

 

[Jimmy1]

Mate, I will PM you.

 

[Deleted member 43219]

Cheers Jimmy

 

[Panda]

Mate, I keep hearing horror stories about DVA in the southern states. I'm going through the same thing at the moment, in order for me to be classed "stable" i need to tip toe and get good reports from psych for 12 months and I must complete a 3 months PTSD course... needles to say if i let onto the quacks what's really going through my head now and then, there's no way i'll ever get signed off.

In your case, speak with your ESO / advocate, make sure they are TIP qualified to deal with the old scheme adjustments into the new MRCA table, have your advocate send you to their "digger friendly" psych - to cut through the bullshit and not have you interigated as if you've done something wrong by some f*ckwit in a suit who's never been in a fight in his whole life.

Get onto DVA website, freedom of information is great, you need to learn this stuff backwards.

DVA psych's are para-legals aswell.... says it all. Also, if you have a treating pysch, it's up to him to fill out the questionaires and forms with you in the room, you'll do the lifestyle questionare with him too - the DVA guy should have never been pulled into it - only needed when you do not have a treating psych.

Feel free to PM us here or the other forum.

Lastly, get legal - you will eventually need it during the whole process.... just wait until you start having to lodge appeals...

 

[Jimmy1]

Panda, I just put Anthony on to a young veterans advocate down there in Tassie. Until I am up to speed on the new shit, it's a better choice.

As for the PTSD course, where are you going to do one?? There is an 8 week one in Townsville which is the shit. All the tools you need to help manage it.

 

[Panda]

im in tsv at the moment Jimmy, family are in brisbane.. I've been screened out of the tsv course twice now, interpret that however you want. Goal for now is to rejoin my family in brisbane and attend the course down there

 

[Deleted member 43219]

how do they justify "screening you out" of a course?

they dont have ptsd courses down here..

 

[Panda]

Safety to others.

 

[Jimmy1]

Everyone who goes on these courses have anger issues, but you know what??? We are there to learn.
On my course we had facilitators threatened, but they know when someone is building up to explode. Its all a matter of control. Everyone should be entitled.

 

[Panda]

Should be I agree. Fingers crossed for Brissy course - though I have been informed it is a live in course - not entirely sure that's a good idea.

 

[Jimmy1]

Should be I agree. Fingers crossed for Brissy course - though I have been informed it is a live in course - not entirely sure that's a good idea.

Mate, there are three in Brisbane and one on the Gold Coast.

Check out page 28 of this link.

Link Removed

 

[Jimmy1]

Link Removed

http://www.greenslopesprivate.com.au/Services/psychiatry-mental-health.aspx

These are the two in Brisbane. The Greenslopes is the live in course and I think the Toowong is nearby accommodation. Not quite sure