Page 265 - Week 01 - Thursday, 27 February 2014

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Following outcomes of the consultation process, the agreement will be considered by government in the second half of this year. I encourage all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans to share both their personal views and professional opinions so that we can build an agreement that reflects the issues faced by our local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and start to build a road map that will meet the needs of our community members into the future.

Further information on the consultation process for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement can be accessed through the Community Services Directorate website.

I look forward to presenting the Legislative Assembly with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement later in the year that delivers community solutions that will help build a more just and fulfilling future for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Lifetime Care and Support (Catastrophic Injuries) Bill 2014

Mr Barr, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.

Title read by Clerk.

MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Tourism and Events and Minister for Community Services) (11.11): I move:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

I am pleased to present the Lifetime Care and Support (Catastrophic Injuries) Bill 2014. This bill will implement a statutory indemnity insurance scheme to respond to the treatment and care needs of persons catastrophically injured in a motor accident in the ACT. Establishing this scheme will meet the ACT’s commitment to introduce a national injury insurance scheme to provide no-fault coverage for those catastrophically injured in a motor accident by 1 July 2014. Commencement of this scheme will coincide with the rollout of the national disability insurance scheme in the ACT.

Currently, only those who are able to establish that someone else was at fault in a motor accident have access to compensation under the ACT’s compulsory third-party insurance scheme. This leaves injured persons who are unable to prove someone else was at fault to navigate the health system as best they can, often relying on the support of their families and friends. This may be a person who is considered to be at fault, or someone who was involved in a single-vehicle accident, or even in a blameless accident. A no-fault scheme to deal with the most serious of injuries recognises that the causes of accidents are often complex and numerous.


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