Page 1177 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 2 April 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
In accordance with the act, the review was commenced on 1 January 2019. The report was circulated to all members out-of-session by the legislated 31 March 2019 deadline. Additionally, this has now been tabled, for the Assembly’s reference. The overarching terms of reference for the review were to assess the operation of the act over the three years to 31 December 2018, and report on the extent to which a range of the scheme’s objectives have been achieved.
The review of the CTP Act was undertaken by the independent CTP scheme actuary, who provides actuarial analysis and services to the CTP Regulator. The actuary was selected to undertake the review because of their understanding of the ACT’s scheme design and extensive knowledge of schemes operating in other jurisdictions.
Members in this place would be aware that the release of this review comes as the government is in the process of reforming the ACT’s motor accident insurance scheme, so it is timely to consider how the current arrangements are working, or not.
The review examined many elements of the current CTP scheme, including how long it takes for a claim to be finalised so that an injured person can receive all of their payments under the scheme. We have long been concerned that because our current scheme relies on demonstrating fault in order to access compensation, claims take an incredibly long time to resolve. While fault is being determined and claims are in dispute, Canberrans must cover their own treatment costs and be out of pocket for any lost income, often by very significant amounts of money. If they are not able to meet these costs privately, some people may simply go without necessary treatment and care, exacerbating their injuries and preventing a proper recovery.
The review absolutely confirms this by showing that, on average, small claims worth up to $100,000 take 1½ years to finalise. Larger claims worth $100,000 or more take an average of 3.7 years to finalise. We believe this is far too long to leave people in limbo about whether they are going to get the treatment and support they need to recover from an accident. Let me reiterate that: 3.7 years to finalise a large claim.
The review also provides an important breakdown of how the money that Canberrans pay into the scheme through their premiums is allocated across its different components. Members might find this hard to believe but, under the current scheme 22 per cent—so around one-fifth, only one-fifth—of the scheme’s costs are dedicated to treatment and care for injured people. But 24 per cent—so more than the scheme’s costs dedicated to treatment and care—go to legal and investigatory costs. So more money, more of every Canberra motorist’s CTP premiums, go to legal costs than to treatment and care under the current scheme.
This does not show a system that is working in the best interests of injured Canberrans, when more of the scheme’s costs are directed to legal and investigative activity than to providing treatment and care. This point is worth repeating: more of the current scheme’s costs are directed to legal and investigative activity than to providing treatment and care. This is wrong and has to change.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video