Transport Accident Amendment Bill
2015
Introduction Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
General
The main purpose of this Bill is to amend the Transport Accident Act 1986
to repeal certain subsections of that Act inserted in 2013.
The objective of this Bill is to implement the Government's election
commitment to reversing the provisions enacted under the Transport
Accident Amendment Act 2013 (the Amendment Act) that specifically
relate to compensation for mental injury or nervous shock and the power to
modify or substitute aspects of the American Medical Association (AMA)
Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. The Bill also makes a
minor amendment to correct an error in the Transport Accident Act 1986
(the Act) relating to indexation of a claimant's maximum contribution
towards daily living expenses.
This Bill will—
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
repeal section 46A(2C) and (2D) of the Act which enables the
introduction of guidelines regarding the use and application of
the A.M.A Guides for the assessment of the degree of
permanent impairment of a person injured in as a result of a
transport accident; and

repeal section 93(2A) of the Act relating to common law
damages claims for mental injury or nervous shock suffered as
a result of the tortfeasor's own negligence or if they were
attempting to commit suicide. The result of this is that a
claimant is no longer prohibited from recovering damages in
respect of mental injury or nervous shock in these
circumstances; and
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BILL LA INTRODUCTION 20/10/2015

repeal the clinical criteria for a "severe long-term mental or
severe long-term behavioural disturbance or disorder"
in section 93(17A) of the Act; and

amend the Act so that the amount of $32.50 fixed under
section 60(11A) is inserted into section 61(2) and is thus
subject to annual indexation in line with consumer price index
as originally intended, instead of average weekly earnings as it
is currently. This is a minor amendment intended to address a
previous drafting error in the Amendment Act.
Clause Notes
Clause 1
sets out the purpose of the Bill, which is to make amendments to
the Act to repeal certain subsections of the Act inserted in 2013
and for other purposes.
Clause 2
provides for the Bill to commence on the day after the day on
which it receives the Royal Assent, except for sections 4 and 5,
which are taken to have commenced on 20 November 2013
and section 6, which is taken to have commenced on
16 October 2013.
Clause 3
repeals section 46A(2C) and (2D) of the Act.
Clause 4
provides for the amendment of section 61(2) of the Act to
change "or $1000" to "1000 or $32.50", which rectifies a
previous drafting error in the Act.
Clause 5
repeals section 93(2A) of the Act.
Clause 6
repeals section 93(17A) of the Act.
Clause 7
inserts a new Division 8 into Part 11 of the Act, which contains
transitional provisions, and clarifies the application of the
provisions of this Bill as follows—

new section 227 provides that in this Division,
amending Act means the Transport Accident
Amendment Act 2015;

new section 227A provides that the Act, as amended by
section 4 of the amending Act, applies to all claims
regardless of when the claim was made;
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Clause 8

new section 227B provides that the Act, as amended by
section 5 of the amending Act, applies to all transport
accidents regardless of when the accident occurred;

new section 227C provides that the Act, as amended by
section 6 of the amending Act, applies to an application
made on or after 16 October 2013 for a certificate under
section 93(4)(c)(ii) or for leave under section 93(4)(d).
provides for the automatic repeal of this Bill one year after all of
its provisions come into operation. The repeal of this Bill does
not affect the continuing operation of the amendments made by it
(see section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation
Act 1984).
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