Edition No.28

This edition was issued on 29 April 2022

Welcome

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Personal Injury Commission News. This edition provides updates on changes to the Personal Injury Commission Rules 2021 that I detailed in the last edition of the PIC News, amendments to Procedural Directions, and the Commission’s new Director of Medical Services.

As you are aware, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to make its presence known in the community, and while we are no longer in lockdown and Public Health Orders are fewer, we are still beholden to the virus. Thankfully, widespread vaccination in the community is having a noted effect on the severity of cases, however the fact remains, there is high transmission in the community.

Many staff and service providers of the Commission have, and continue to be, testing positive to COVID-19. I want to explicitly address this, as we are seeing the flow-on effects of this in the way of delays; be it in our day-to-day office work or the services provided through our Members, Merit Reviewers, Mediators and Medical Assessors. This is an obvious and unavoidable outcome for life in a pandemic. We will work with you if individual matters are affected when staff or Members are required to isolate. There will be delays while this latest aspect of the pandemic affects us, but we are working hard to minimise these effects.

Our COVID-19 safety measures remain in place, and I will provide timely updates as and when any changes are made to our processes or directives. For our medical assessments we are continuing to follow our Procedural Direction PIC11, which sets out the requirements that must be satisfied by a worker/claimant for an in-person medical assessment to proceed during the pandemic.

We have recommenced in-person dispute resolution events this month, with further in-person events scheduled to recommence onsite in other renovated hearing rooms at 1 Oxford Street from mid-May. Our in-person dispute resolution work is governed by the Procedural Direction PIC10, which sets out how matters will be heard during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These Procedural Directions prioritise the safety of Commission staff, service providers and anyone who visits the Commission; and allow our work to continue amidst our complex circumstances in the safest way possible. I seek the profession’s assistance in ensuring you and your clients are aware of and abide by the safety requirements.

It is still business as usual, however we ask you to be conscious of the COVID-19 reality for the Commission, and wider community at this time.

I will be in touch with another edition of Personal Injury Commission News soon.

Regards,

Judge Gerard Phillips  
President

Personal Injury Commission Rules Amendments

The amendments to the Personal Injury Commission Rules 2021 (the Rules) commenced operation today, 29 April 2022. The amendments are available on the NSW Legislation website. The Rules will be updated online to reflect the amendments shortly.

The rule amendments arise from the Commission’s interim review of the Rules, which demonstrated that overall, the Commission’s rules operate well in practice. The rule amendments also arise from changes to our enabling legislation introduced by the Customer Service Legislation Amendment Act 2021. In particular, the rule amendments are to:

  • update requirements relating to the lodgement of documents and surveillance recordings;
  • specify the procedure for determining an extension of time within which specified applications under our enabling legislation may be made; and
  • make other minor and miscellaneous updates.
These amendments enhance our operations and bring greater procedural harmony between the Commission’s two divisions. 

A summary of the rule amendments is detailed in this document.

As a consequence of the rule amendments the following Procedural Directions have been updated and an Instrument of Delegation has been executed:

Procedural Direction - PIC7- Appeals, Reviews, Reconsideration and Correction of Obvious Error in Medical Disputes

Procedural Direction - PIC7 has also been updated to improve general practice and procedure in Motor Accident Division medical review proceedings. A party to Motor Accidents medical review proceedings is now required to lodge and serve one indexed and paginated bundle of documents, which includes submissions in support. The Procedural Direction now also provides further procedural guidance on the submissions required in these types of proceedings.

The Commission Welcomes a New Director of Medical Services

Luke Roberts has joined the Commission in the capacity of our new Director of Medical Services, taking on the mantle of this integral role from Christine Baird, who finished with the Commission earlier in the month.

Luke brings a wealth of knowledge to the role with extensive experience in the personal injury sector and leadership roles. He has managed departments and teams covering areas including claims and injury management, claims litigation, development and implementation of claims operating models, and injury risk mitigation.

Luke has worked with a variety of insurers over his 20-year personal injury career including Coal Mines Insurance, Guild Insurance, Employers Mutual Limited and Allianz. He has also worked with various government agencies and state-based authorities across Australia and the UK.

Luke is looking forward to working with you all to deliver an excellent user experience for all Commission stakeholders with strong alignment to our strategic goals.

We are very happy to have Luke on board and trust you will make him feel welcome.

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