Page 1413 - Week 04 - Thursday, 4 April 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
a motor vehicle accident. Significantly, under this proposed scheme everyone who is injured in a motor vehicle accident will be entitled to up to five years of medical treatment, care and lost wages, provided they are not breaking the law at the time of the accident. Canberrans who are seriously injured will still be able to pursue damages through the legal system if they need treatment and care long term, after accessing up to five years of defined benefits. The new system of defined benefits under the proposed scheme will mean that people can start accessing the support they need sooner after an accident.
Under the new scheme, the payment of benefits can start as soon as a claim is lodged. Insurers will be required to cover specified medical and treatment costs while an application is being assessed. Once the application is accepted, insurers will also have to immediately back pay any reasonable and necessary treatment and care not already reimbursed, as well as lost income for the period since the accident happened. This will ensure that injured people are not left out of pocket for long. People who are more seriously injured in accidents caused by someone else’s negligence will continue to be able to make a claim at common law if they need treatment, care and income replacement in the longer term, in line with the model chosen by the citizens jury. The new proposed system also includes rules for how insurers must assess claims, oversight of the implementation of these rules and sanctions for breaches, external review of insurers’ decisions, expanded data-gathering powers for the motor accident injuries commissioner, powers for the commissioner to determine what reasonable profits for insurers are, and power for the commissioner to improve annual premiums.
In arriving at the design of the new scheme, the government undertook a comprehensive process, which was appropriate given the complexity of the issues under consideration and the extent of impact on the ACT community. Significantly, as I have already mentioned and Ms Le Couteur has also discussed, as has the Chief Minister, the ACT government established a citizens jury to explore how the ACT’s CTP insurance scheme could be improved. A deliberative process was adopted, because this issue impacts on the approximately 290,000 drivers in the territory. The specific deliberative process of the citizens jury was selected as it is identified as an ideal model to work through a complex issue like CTP, an issue with complexity but also a level of inanity which means that most people in the community do not engage on a day-to-day basis with the issue of CTP. In announcing the government’s commitment to this deliberative process, the Chief Minister also announced our commitment to pursuing the model the jury preferred, on the basis that it meets the community’s priorities.
The government set out to establish a representative jury of approximately 50 Canberrans who would be brought together to understand the scheme and the trade-offs involved. Invitations to participate in this process were sent to 6,000 households across the ACT. Once interested invitees registered, jurors were randomly selected, broadly representing the demographics of our community. This process, conducted by democracyCo, resulted in 56 jurors being selected. Forty-five per cent of the jury were women, 66 per cent owned their own homes and more than 10 per cent were under 24. The jury also reflected a range of road users, with cyclists, pedestrians, public transport users and motorists all represented.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video