Dyson Ruth: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Reading 
Dyson Ruth: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Reading 
[Volume:625;Page:20333] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 I move  
That the Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) be now read a third time 
. The bill builds on the framework provided by the existing legislation and provides a fair comprehensive and equitable injury compensation scheme that is responsive to the needs of claimants while maintaining a responsible approach to fiscal and levy costs. The bill continues to progress towards making the scheme more responsive to claimants’ needs through simplifying cover and streamlining processes for medical misadventure claims through making weekly compensation entitlements for newly self-employed people fairer and through improving claimant access to more comprehensive social rehabilitation. 
The primary purpose of this bill is to implement the results of the Government-initiated review of the medical misadventure provisions. The bill provides for a change to the cover and reporting provisions in the Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Act of 2001. The changes to the medical misadventure provisions continue our Government’s commitment to a fair and sustainable accident compensation scheme for reducing the incidence and impact of personal injury. The bill replaces the existing medical misadventure provisions with a new category of “treatment injury”. The cover provisions no longer distinguish between medical error and medical mishap but refer to treatment injuries. Claimants do not have to demonstrate error or show that their condition is rare and severe. Treatment injuries are simply injuries that result from the treatment. The removal of the fault-finding provisions captures information for the injury prevention purposes of the accident compensation scheme and aligns the scheme’s no-fault nature generally. 
The bill also provides that the organisation involved in an adverse event examines how a treatment injury occurred. That fosters a learning environment for health providers and organisations and will prevent adverse medical events in the future. The bill also provides a safety net by requiring the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) to report information to the relevant professional body if it considers there would be a risk of harm to the public. 
Changes to the medical misadventure provisions expedite the claim process for claimants and will support claimants to make claims. The changes provide for claimants to be advised of the role of the Health and Disability Commissioner under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers Rights. 
The bill also provides fairer methods for calculating weekly compensation for people who have moved into self-employment. Income from other work undertaken during the income year will now be factored into the calculation. That accident compensation entitlements will be fair during that transition period will provide certainty for people moving into self-employment. In addition the bill allows ACC the discretion to provide certain rehabilitation entitlements that were previously prohibited by the legislation. That will help seriously injured claimants to lead independent lives by enabling greater individualised responses to their needs. 
This bill is the result of one of the best examples of public policy development I have seen. I want to put on record my appreciation of the officials for their fantastic work and of all the interested parties who contributed to the development of this legislation. I also take the opportunity to thank my friend and colleague Lianne Dalziel for her work in setting up the medical misadventure review in the first place. 
Finally I thank the Health Committee and its officials for their work on this bill. It is a rather unusual situation in that all parties bar one will be supporting this legislation—it is not surprising that that one party is ACT—because the legislation is a very good example of a public policy development process that shows its success in the support it receives justifiably from this House.