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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 13 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 4275 ..
MR RUGENDYKE (continuing):
(c) a bushfire brigade member, a fire control officer, an emergency volunteer firefighter, or the Chief Fire Control Officer, under the Bushfire Act 1936; or
(d) a member of a firefighting organisation established in any area of a State or another Territory, while assisting at or immediately after a fire in the Territory.'."
This amendment defines "ambulance officer" and "firefighter" as they apply to this Bill.
Amendment agreed to.
MR STANHOPE (Leader of the Opposition) (3.04 am): I ask for leave to move my amendment No. 3.
Leave granted.
MR STANHOPE: I move:
Page 9, line 34, proposed new section 11, omit the section, substitute the following section:
" '11 What is an extremely serious injury?
'(1) An extremely serious injury is an injury that satisfies all the requirements of this section.'(2) The injury must be a criminal injury.
'(3) The injury must reasonably require treatment by a health professional.
'(4) The injury must result in 1 or more of the following consequences to the primary victim:
(a) impairment of a bodily function;
(b) loss of a bodily function;
(c) disfigurement;
(d) mental or behavioural disturbance or disorder;
(e) loss of a foetus.
'(5) The injury must result in a considerable reduction to the primary victim's quality of life.".
This amendment replaces proposed new section 11 with a new definition of an extremely serious injury. We had this debate to some extent in relation to Ms Tucker's amendment No. 1, which proposed the deletion of the definition of "extremely serious injury". My proposal does not go to the same extent as Ms Tucker's did, but we are both seeking to address the same issue, namely, a concern that the definition of "extremely serious injury", to the extent that it requires an extremely serious injury be a permanent impairment or a permanent loss of a bodily function or a permanent disfigurement, et cetera, raises the bar so high in relation to the group of victims who can potentially claim under this Bill that it goes too far.
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