• What your medical condition is

• When your medical condition was diagnosed

• Who diagnosed your medical condition

It is important that your medical condition was diagnosed by an appropriate doctor or specialist.

Some medical conditions must be diagnosed by specific specialists.

• Mental health conditions must be diagnosed by a registered psychologist or a psychiatrist.

• Intellectual conditions much be diagnosed by a psychologist.

• Hearing and ear conditions must be diagnosed by an audiologist or an ear, nose and throat (‘ENT’) specialist.

• Vision and eye conditions must be diagnosed by an ophthalmologist.

If you have a condition that does not have an official diagnosis or is hard to diagnose, you will need to discuss and resolve this with your doctor or medical practitioner.  Getting the DSP requires you to have a diagnosis.

• Your doctor or specialist should say whether the condition is reasonably treated and stabilised.  In particular, the letter should ideally confirm:

  • That your condition is unlikely to change within the next two years; and
  • That there is no further treatment that is available (at least in the next two years) that would allow you to return to work.

  If there are treatments you have not tried, your doctor or specialist should explain why.  For example, if a certain treatment is too expensive or too risky, your doctor or specialist should say this.

First, your doctor or specialist will need to determine which impairment table is relevant.  There are 15 tables below in the resources tab.  Each table covers different kinds of symptoms a person may have.

There are four levels of impairment severity ratings for each table:

• mild (5 points),
• moderate (10 points),
• severe (20 points), and
• extreme (30 points).

Each severity rating has criteria that must match your symptoms for you to meet that rating.

Your doctor or specialist should include in the letter their opinion as to whether your symptoms meet the mild, moderate, or severe levels in the relevant table for your condition.  You need to get 20 points in total across one or more Tables.

Your doctor or specialist can give severity ratings under more than one table.  Your doctor or specialist can also give a severity rating under one table where you have several conditions with overlapping symptoms.

Your doctor or specialist should state whether your medical conditions prevent you from working.  Your doctor or specialist should state whether you will be able to work 15 or more hours each week within the next two years.  They should keep in mind your work history and skills.

Your doctor or specialist may have given you other documents about your medical conditions.  For example, you may have treatment histories or diagnostic reports.

If these documents show that you are unable to work because of your medical conditions, you may include these with your DSP application.  You should include these with the letter.

Other people may know about your difficulty with work.  For example, your employer may know you can only work a few hours each week.  Or your school may know you have had difficulty with study.

You may ask these people to write a letter in support of your DSP application.

The letter should talk about:

• Difficulty you have had with work and study

• Whether your work or study hours have been reduced

Whether you will likely be able to work or study in the next two years