Page 1538 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 14 May 2019
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anticipated and responded to as many different scenarios through this legislation as we possibly can.
Madam Speaker, this bill delivers a big reform by moving the ACT to a no-fault insurance scheme, where everyone—I repeat, everyone—who is injured in a motor vehicle accident is entitled to the treatment, care and income replacement they need to get better and to get back on their feet. As with any big reform of this scale, we may not get all of the settings exactly right on the first go. That is why this bill includes a requirement for a full and public review of the scheme to be carried out not more than three years after the date of its implementation. There are a range of issues that we have had to make choices about as we have gone through the process of designing this new scheme. It will be important to review the scheme once it has been running for a few years, to make sure that everything is working as intended.
This three-year review will take a particularly close look at the following issues: how well the scheme is supporting people who have both physical and psychological injuries as a result of their accident; the share of total scheme premiums directed to treatment and support for injured people; the average claims outcomes for people with different injury severities; the time taken to resolve claims and the number of legal disputes occurring; and actual insurer profits and how well they are meeting the requirements to provide timely and reasonable support for injured people. It will be a comprehensive review, Madam Speaker.
If there are issues that emerge in these areas or in other areas as the scheme is implemented, the government is open to making changes that will improve the experience for injured Canberrans accessing support through the scheme. The three-year review will provide a clear, timely and public opportunity to do this.
Should this legislation succeed today, there will be a range of implementation issues to work through with stakeholders and providers, including setting up new IT systems; preparing the further regulations identified in the bill, which require direct input from the legal and medical professions; expanding the staffing and resources of the new motor accident injuries commission and the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal; and helping the Canberra community to understand what is changing so that they can fully access their entitlements under the new scheme if they are involved in an accident.
To allow time for all of this important work to occur, the government now intends for the new scheme to commence on 1 February 2020. People who are injured in a motor vehicle accident before this date will continue to have their matters dealt with under the existing CTP arrangements. People who have ongoing CTP matters in train at the time of transition will also continue to have these dealt with under the existing scheme.
There are a large number of amendments to work through today as we move into this final stage of the debate. This includes some further technical and clarifying amendments the government has identified following feedback from legal stakeholders. While noting the overall opposition of the ACT Law Society and Bar Association to this reform, we appreciate their engagement in identifying areas where the bill needed strengthening or revising to remove any ambiguity about the rights of
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