Edition No.31

This edition was issued on 24 June 2022

Welcome

Welcome to the latest edition of the Personal Injury Commission News.

This edition presents the Commission’s inaugural Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), provides an update on the Motor Accidents Division Stood Over List and highlights key legal instrument changes related to the Commission’s operations.

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

Regards,

Judge Gerard Phillips  
President

Key Performance Indicators

The Commission has established Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for its Motor Accidents and Workers Compensation Divisions that will commence on 1 July 2022.

They set out a range of measures that will enable us to quantify and monitor our performance as a Commission and track how we are meeting our statutory objectives, set out at s 3 of the Personal Injury Commission Act 2020. They will also set expectations for Commission users around the timeframes, quality and efficiency they can expect when dealing with us.

In establishing the KPIs, the Commission has consulted with the NSW Bar Association, the Law Society of NSW, icare and the members of the Commission’s CTP Insurer Reference Group over the past few months. I am very appreciative of the time, effort and thoughtful feedback that these groups have provided during the consultation process.

This first suite of KPIs includes expected resolution timeframes for the Commission’s highest volume dispute categories. Other, less frequently utilised dispute types will be addressed in future iterations.

The reporting period for the KPIs will be from 1 July to 30 June, which corresponds to the reporting period for our Annual Review under the Personal Injury Commission Act 2020.

Motor Accidents Division Stood Over List

As you know, the Commission maintains a Stood Over List for Motor Accidents Division matters that are not ready for good reason. For example, because a claimant is waiting for an operation. However at the moment a lot of cases in that list were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given that the Commission recommenced in-person medical assessments on 21 February 2022, these matters are beginning to progress. Practitioners should be aware that once a medical assessment has taken place and the review period has expired, the matter will be restored to the active list. We will be reviewing matters in the Stood Over List for this circumstance.

Practitioners should not wait until a medical certificate has been issued in these matters to prepare your case, as once the medical assessment has taken place, the certificate has been issued and the review period has expired, we will list the matter before a Member.

Motor Accidents Injuries Amendment Regulation 2022

The Motor Accident Injuries Amendment Regulation 2022 (Regulation) was published on the NSW legislation website on Friday 10 June 2022 and commenced on publication.

The object of the Regulation is to clarify that the jurisdiction to deal with certain disputes under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 about treatment and care provided to an injured person extends to disputes about treatment and care proposed to be provided to the person.

The Commission is progressively contacting parties with future treatment disputes regarding their matters.

Updates to Procedural Directions

Microsoft Teams is the Commission’s single virtual platform to conduct online preliminary conferences, hearings, mediations and other events. As Microsoft Teams is an audio-visual platform, the Commission’s Procedural Directions have been amended to remove all references to ‘teleconference.’ Here is a summary of the changes:

  1. Where the previous reference to teleconference was in relation to a preliminary event, the reference to ‘teleconference’ has been replaced with ‘preliminary conference.’
  2. Where the previous reference to teleconference was in relation to a further teleconference, the reference to ‘teleconference’ has been replaced with ‘further preliminary conference.’
  3. Where the previous reference to teleconference was a substantive hearing (e.g. conciliation/arbitration) or a general reference, the reference to ‘teleconference’ has been replaced with ‘online conference.’

In-person events have recommenced and Procedural Direction PIC 10 outlines the relevant processes in both Divisions. Procedural Direction WC4 should be reviewed in relation to mediations. Both have been amended to make it clear that insurance claims officers must attend in person in Workers Compensation Division matters. They now align with Procedural Direction PIC 1.

Finally, Procedural Direction MA3 has been amended to specify the requirements for an application seeking approval of damages settlement.

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