Edition No.75

Welcome

In this edition you can find important information about commencement of recruitment for a new Deputy President for the Commission and next week’s launch of the rule 67 amendments including the 500-page limit and associated Pathway Portal enhancements, plus reminders about this week’s Pathway Portal outage and the Commission’s end-of-year shutdown arrangements.

Regards, 

Judge Gerard Phillips
President

Applications open for Deputy President role

Recruitment has commenced for the role of Deputy President at the Commission, ahead of the retirement of one of our long-serving Presidential members, Deputy President Elizabeth Wood, in October 2025.

The role will commence on 23 October 2025 to hear appeals against decisions made by members in both the Workers Compensation and Police Officer Support Scheme Divisions and to act as the President of the Commission as required. 

This is an incredibly exciting opportunity and marks the commencement of a number of high-profile appointments to be sequenced across 2025.

Candidates for this role must have experience as a judicial officer or as an Australian lawyer of seven years’ standing, and be able to demonstrate superior knowledge, skills or expertise in relation to matters for which the Commission has jurisdiction.

To find out more, review the:

• Presidential Member Information Kit
• Member Code of Conduct

Applications must be submitted online via www.iworkfornsw.gov.au by 9:59am, Sunday 15 December 2024 and should demonstrate how your skills, experience and qualifications meet the selection criteria.

Rule 67 amendments including the 500-page limit commence next Monday 25 November 2024

Following extensive engagement, education and preparation over many months, amendments to rule 67 of the Personal Injury Commission Rules 2021 and Procedural Direction PIC 3 and a new Procedural Direction PIC 12 will be enacted next Monday 25 November 2024. These will enable the 500-page limit and other changes relating to additional documents. Note that these changes will apply to all current and new matters from 25 November.

The 500-page limit will apply to supporting documents accompanying initiating applications and replies for certain dispute types. The new limit will help the Commission to meet its statutory mandate to resolve the real issues in proceedings justly, quickly, cost effectively and with as little formality as possible.

The Pathway Portal is being enhanced to make the process for applicants and respondents as easy as possible and will include warning messages and guidance text to help you adhere to the rule 67 requirements.

500-page limit
From Monday 25 November, for dispute types subject to the 500-page limit, if supporting documents for initiating applications or replies are greater than 500 pages, or not compliant with the requirements of the amended rule 67, they will be rejected by the Commission Registry. Documents in support of applications or replies must relate to the resolution of the real issues in proceedings, have not been already lodged, and be served on parties as soon as practicable. Parties wishing to rely on more than 500 pages in their application or reply, will be required to lodge an Application to Lodge Additional Documents.  

Applying to lodge additional documents
From Monday 25 November, an Application to Lodge Additional Documents can be submitted with the initiating application or reply, or at a later time in the proceedings provided it is no later than 14 days before a medical assessment or three working days before a conference or hearing.

The new P01 – Application to Lodge Additional Documents form must be used for all additional document applications. It replaces the existing methods in which additional or late documents are lodged and introduced into Commission proceedings.

Parties wishing to introduce additional documents must show how the procedural requirements of the new rule 67 have been met, and how the additional documents are “necessary to facilitate the just, quick and cost-effective resolution of the real issues in the proceedings” as contemplated in the Guiding Principle, s 42 of the Personal Injury Commission Act 2020.  In medical assessment proceedings, additional documents will be automatically accepted where the procedural requirements of rule 67 have been met, and the party has obtained written consent from the other parties for the introduction of the additional documents.

Under rule 67C, a party may only lodge additional documents on one occasion, unless leave is otherwise granted because the party can show the additional documents are “necessary to facilitate the just, quick and cost-effective resolution of the real issues in the proceedings”.

Ensuring a smooth transition to the new requirements
To ensure the smoothest transition to the new arrangements, insurers and practitioners are strongly encouraged to familiarise yourself with the new rule and procedural directions and other education materials that are available on our dedicated website page. Thank you to the many of you who have attended our webinars regarding the changes over the past few weeks.

Platform outage for all Pathway Portal users to facilitate the Pathway enhancements commences 5.00pm this Friday night

To upgrade the Pathway platform to support the administration of the 500-page limit and implement the other enhancements, the Pathway Portal will be unavailable from 5.00pm Friday 22 November – 9.00am Monday 25 November inclusive.

Claimants, insurers, legal representatives and workers who use the Pathway Portal should ensure that you save any work in progress in the Portal before 5pm Friday 22 November.

New online forms in the Pathway Portal next Monday 25 November 2024

Several new non-jurisdictional forms to be used for matters in both Divisions will be added to the Pathway Portal on 25 November. Some will replace existing motor accidents or workers compensation forms and others will be brand new, to be used instead of correspondence.

From 9.00am Monday 25 November, parties must use these new online forms that will be available in the Pathway Portal. If legacy forms are submitted or other methods of communication used, they will be rejected by the Commission Registry and the party will be asked to submit the correct form via the Pathway Portal.

The new forms are:

The following existing workers compensation forms that are currently only available offline will also be added into the Portal:

• Form 5A - Application to Register a Commutation Agreement

Form 6B – Reply to Application to Resolve a Workplace Injury Management Dispute.

Motor Accidents parties will need to use Submissions & Correspondence Button in Pathway Portal from Monday 25 November 2024

A new Submissions & Correspondence button for motor accidents matters will be added to the Pathway Portal on 25 November that will be used for sharing submissions and correspondence documents with the Commission. Motor accidents users will no longer be able to attach documents via the Messages function and will use the new button instead.

End-of-year shutdown

The Commission’s operations will completely close between Monday 23 December 2024 and Friday 3 January 2025 with operations to resume on Monday 6 January 2025. 

Key dates to note:

• The last official sitting day of the Commission is Friday 13 December 2024. However, matters may be listed by exception with Division Head approval during the week of 16 December 2024.
• The Commission’s offices will close at 4.30pm on Friday 20 December 2024.
• There will be no medical assessments or preliminary conferences conducted after Friday 20 December 2024.
• In the Workers Compensation Division, there will be no medical assessment certificates, certificates of determination, consent orders, mediation certificates and medical appeal panel certificates issued between Monday 23 December 2024 and Friday 3 January 2025.
• In the Motor Accidents Division, there will be no medical assessment certificates, medical review panel certificates and certificates/statements of reasons issued between Monday 23 December 2024 and Friday 3 January 2025.

Operations will recommence as follows:

• The Commission's offices will reopen at 8:30am on Monday 6 January 2025.
• Medical assessments will recommence on Monday 6 January 2025.
• Decisions and certificates will be issued from Monday 6 January 2025.
• Preliminary conferences, conciliation/arbitrations, assessment conferences and mediations will recommence on Monday 13 January 2025.

Thanks to the introduction of the Pathway Portal, parties will still be able to submit material via the portal during the shutdown including all applications, associated documents, and appeals. Pathway platform support will still be available during the shutdown.

Anything filed during the shutdown period that is time-sensitive, such as appeals, will be received by the Commission at the time it is entered into the system or the next working day in accordance with rule 26 of the Personal Injury Commission Rules 2021.

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If you have a question you would like to ask about the Commission, please email us at [email protected]

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