Page 1281 - Week 05 - Thursday, 31 May 2007
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inserts a provision that allows the courts to award particular types of damages where the cause of action relates to a personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos. Consultation on this amendment has been conducted with the legal profession and the amendment is consistent with legislation in other Australian jurisdictions.
In addition, the bill amends section 84 of the act, which deals with the limitations on expert medical evidence. The bill inserts a provision to provide an exception to the limitation by allowing an expert who has provided a health service for a claimant to also give expert medical evidence. This part of the act was originally introduced to discourage the use of numerous medico-legal witnesses and reports. While the court retains a discretion to permit more than one expert witness to give evidence on a matter, the policy objectives of this part are not diminished by relaxing the limitation in relation to treating doctors.
The bill also amends part 7 (1) of the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002, which sets out the exclusions and limitations on damages that can be awarded for personal injuries. The bill amends this provision by providing that contributory negligence can be rebutted if at the time of the accident an injured person was not wearing a seatbelt because they were incapable of fastening it without assistance.
The bill amends schedule 4 of the act, which establishes a professional standards council enabling the creation of schemes to limit the civil liability of members of an occupational association. The bill amends the schedule to provide flexibility for members to hold costs-inclusive insurance policies as part of a national initiative to further develop professional standards legislation in all Australian jurisdictions. This amendment ensures that consumers will not be disadvantaged if they deal with a professional holding a costs-inclusive insurance policy because the costs involved in defending the claim will not erode a defendant’s liability for damages to a successful plaintiff.
Amendments to the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) (Enforcement) Regulation 1995 are included in this bill to update the regulation following amendments to the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) (Enforcement) Act 1995.
The bill makes minor amendments to the Community Title Act 2001 to correct a reference to a section of the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 which was incorrect as a result of the renumbering of that act.
The bill amends the Crimes Act 1900 to correct the definition of prescribed penalty in section 441. The definition of prescribed penalty should be expressed as a monetary unit and not as a number.
The bill changes the default application date, the date when chapter 2 applies to pre-January 2003 offences, in the Criminal Code 2002 from 1 July 2007 to 1 July 2009. It is necessary to delay the application of chapter 2 to pre-January 2003 offences as work on harmonising them to conform with chapter 2 has been delayed. The bill also amends the definition of territory public official in the Criminal Code 2002 to clarify that an authorised person appointed under the Utilities Act 2000 is protected under the code.
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