Page 772 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 19 March 2019
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We know that fighting long and difficult legal cases is bad for people’s recovery, and it is bad for their wellbeing in the long term. That is why, as well as believing that our motor accident injuries scheme should cover everyone, we believe that Canberrans should get access to the support they need for treatment, care and lost income without having to fight it out in court. The new motor accident injuries scheme outlined in this bill delivers on both of these important objectives. It will better protect Canberrans on our roads, and it will provide faster and easier access to treatment and care after an accident.
This reform means that everyone who is injured in a motor vehicle accident will be entitled to up to five years of medical treatment, care and income replacement benefits, as long as they are not breaking the law at the time of the accident. This means that around 600 more Canberrans each year will be able to make a claim for their treatment, for their care and for their lost wages when they are injured on our roads.
People who are more seriously injured in an accident where someone else was at fault will still be able to make a claim through the legal system if they need treatment, care and income long term. This is an important feature of the new scheme. It better distinguishes between people who have less serious injuries and just need some treatment to get well and get on with their lives and those with more serious injuries that will affect their health, their work and their quality of life in the longer term.
By focusing access to common law claims on people with serious and ongoing injuries, the new scheme directs a greater share of available resources towards the Canberrans who need it most. At the same time, setting out defined benefits that people are entitled to regardless of how much legal advice they can afford will greatly increase equity and fairness for people with the same kinds of injuries or traumas. This is a better insurance scheme for Canberrans. It is a fairer approach for our community. And it is a reform that our government has been carefully working through for the past two years because we believe that the current system is failing hundreds of people each year, people like Shelly, who get injured on our roads and end up with nowhere to turn.
In designing this reform we have undertaken a long and detailed process of consultation with the Canberra community, starting with the territory’s first ever citizens jury. We chose to make this the topic of our first deliberative democratic exercise because CTP is a complex issue that involves many trade-offs and competing priorities. It affects everyone but the complexities can mean that only those with a professional or personal interest are very engaged. The citizens jury provided a way to take the conversation to a wider range of Canberrans and to establish what the community’s priorities and objectives are for our motor accident insurance scheme, before moving into the detailed design of a new model.
Over several months the jury members considered the scheme from all perspectives and heard from many witnesses, including people injured in motor vehicle accidents. The process was supported by a range of experts through the stakeholder reference group, which included the ACT Law Society and the Bar Association; representatives
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