Ms JODIEHARRISON(Charlestown) (12:32:48): Ifpassed in its current form,the Personal Injury Commission Bill 2020will consolidate thecompulsory third party[CTP]insuranceand workers compensation dispute resolution systems into a singlePersonal InjuryCommission.Thebill makes good on a 2018 recommendation from theLegislative Council'sStandingCommitteeonLaw and Justice, which undertook a statutory review of the workers compensation and CTP insurance schemes.However,I share the concerns of the shadowbetter regulationMinister and member for Canterbury thatthere has been too little consultation with stakeholders,resulting inconsiderable concern that unintended consequenceswillarisefrom the passage of thebill.Good legislation isonethat is considered and developed after wide consultation with stakeholders. This legislation has not been through that process.It is well knownthat haste and a lack of consultation when legislatingoftenleadto drafting errors and amendments.Why not get it right the first time and consult with those who will be impacted by the legislation?

The intention of thebill is to allow for the creation of a newPersonal Injury Commission, making the disputeresolution process easier to navigate for injured road users and workers entitled to compensation.That is a worthy intention.When a person isinjured at work or on the roadthat,in itself,is traumatic enough. Yet the trauma is often compounded by having to navigate the complexity of the dispute systems process in theworkers compensationandmotor vehicle accident schemes.Too oftenthe process adds insult to injury.The bill creates aPersonal Injury Commission,which is intendedto improve dispute resolution, resulting in greater efficiencies and hopefully abetter experience for injured people. Where onceclaimantshad to deal with multiple dispute authorities,nowthe bill providesthatthey will deal with just one.In 2019about7,000compensation applications were made to the Workers Compensation Commissionand about 10,000claims were made against the CTP insurance scheme.Thatisa totalof about 17,000compensation claims.

Under the current scheme, anyone who disputes a CTP insurance claim must take their complaint to the government bureaucrats at the State Insurance Regulatory Authority[SIRA]. Thatsees a conflictofinterest in which the regulator oftheCTP insurance scheme also resolves disputes. Alltoo often,thathas led tounfair results for the claimant.In my office at the momentthereis a box of filesbrought by a constituent who has been through themilland backintrying to have his personal injury claim resolved.He is so traumatised bytheprocess he has been through that he has basically walked away from the claim and just decided to leave that box of files, whichishis property, in my office.It is hoped that creating a singlecommissionwillincrease the rigour of decisions, taking them out of the hands of bureaucrats andputting theminto the hands of an independent tribunal.As I said before,thatis a worthy intention.

The creation of the Personal Injury Commission and a consolidated tribunal with separateworkers compensationand CTP insurance divisions willalso address another important issue within the current scheme: the inequality of expertise in dispute resolution between the Workers Compensation Commission,on the one hand,and the CTP insurance scheme,on the other.The primary role of theSIRAis to regulate theNew South Walesinsurance markets;its role in dispute resolution is secondary.By contrast,the Workers Compensation Commission undertakes dispute resolution in theworkers compensationsystem as its primary function. It is a specialist tribunal,which has deep expertise in complex medicalandlegal disputes. It is important that thatexpertise is preserved.By creating a single body,the Personal Injury Commission,people making claimsto the CTP insurance scheme will now also have their matter dealt with by a tribunal.

If the bill passes, it is expected thatclaimants will now receive the same standard of service as claimants seekingworkers compensation.Additionally, a singlePersonalInjury Commissionwill be more cost-effective than creating a second independent commission to deal with CTP disputes in a more efficient manner.Untilnow, people who suffered injuries have been confronted with a complex disputeresolutionsystem under which they were required to fill out an array of forms and wander downmyriadpathways when disputing a claim. The Personal Injury Commission willresult inall people disputing a claim followingthe same procedures and steps to resolve the dispute,which will result in better access to dispute resolution across all the schemes.

Thebill is an important step forward for claimants.Too often,I have heard complaints from my constituents about the complexity of the system, which I referred to before;too often, I have seen how unfair the decisions can be.Having said that, it is important that stakeholder groups impacted by thebill are consultedproperly.Ido notthink thebillshould be rushedthroughunnecessarilywithout consultation. We shouldensurethatwe get theconsiderable personal injury claim resolution structure right and consult stakeholdersproperly.It ismy understanding thatamendments will be movedin theother placeto allow consultation to occur.That is the right thing to do. We should take the time to get it right.