Dyson Ruth: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) — Second Reading 
Dyson Ruth: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) — Second Reading 
[Volume:625;Page:20162] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 I move  
That the Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) be now read a second time 
. This bill builds on the framework provided by the existing legislation providing a fair comprehensive and equitable accident compensation scheme that is responsive to the needs of claimants while maintaining a responsible approach to fiscal and levied costs. The bill continues to progress towards making the scheme more responsive to claimants’ needs by simplifying cover and streamlining processes for medical misadventure by making weekly compensation entitlements for the newly self-employed fairer and by improving claimants’ access to more comprehensive social rehabilitation. 
The primary purpose of the bill is to implement the new category of treatment injury which replaces the existing medical misadventure provisions in the current Act. No longer is there a distinction between medical error and medical mishap. Claimants do not have to demonstrate error or show that their condition is both rare and severe. The new cover provisions provide that treatment injuries are simply ones that result from the treatment. Punitive faultfinding is also removed from the processes of the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). Instead the bill directs the organisation concerned to examine how a treatment injury occurred. This will foster a learning environment for health providers and organisations and will help to prevent adverse medical events in the future. 
Changes to the medical misadventure provisions also support claimants to make claims. The changes facilitate processes by providing for claimants to be informed of the role of the Health and Disability Commissioner in investigating complaints about the standard of care provided. The new provisions also encourage the cooperation of the health sector in participating in the claims process and to provide necessary medical reports and advice to ACC promptly. The bill helps to maintain the safety net by requiring ACC to report information to the relevant professional body if it considers that there could be a risk of harm to the public. 
These changes are the result of an excellent consultation review in which the Government worked together with key stakeholders and the public. 
I place on the record my particular thanks to my friend and colleague Lianne Dalziel for her work in setting up this review. The review was a three-stage process beginning with discussion of the issues with stakeholder groups then public consultation on the issues and possible solutions followed by further consultation with stakeholder groups as a result of the feedback received on the options for change. As a result a wide consensus is held on the direction that the new provisions provide from almost all those involved in the process including health practitioners medico-legal experts claimants and others. That is the best example of high-quality public policy process and interdepartmental work I have seen. 
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. This will provide more certainty for people moving into self-employment that accident compensation entitlements will be fair during that transition period. In addition the bill provides the Accident Compensation Corporation with the discretion to provide certain rehabilitation entitlements that previously have been prohibited by the legislation. This will help seriously injured claimants lead independent lives by enabling greater individualised responses to their needs. 
During the consultation process the Health Committee received 163 submissions on the bill. Many submissions expressed support for the amendments to the medical misadventure provisions with many commenting favourably on the removal of the current faultfinding role of the Accident Compensation Corporation the potential for faster resolution of claims and the extension of rehabilitation and compensation to all those who have a treatment injury. Many submissions also noted that the new provisions relating to treatment injuries will operate more fairly and will bring personal injury from medical incidents into line with other injuries covered by the scheme. 
The bill returns to the House with a small number of technical amendments relating to treatment injury. Amendment to the definition by replacing the phrase “personal injury caused by treatment or treatment injury” with the single term “treatment injury” will prevent any misapprehension that there are two types of cover. Also the exclusion provisions for treatment injury and to whom the existing medical misadventure will continue to apply will be clarified. 
I have already released Supplementary Order Paper 348 which sets out further amendments that I intend to move in the Committee stage. This includes an amendment to clarify the policy intent around funding attribution of claim costs for work-related gradual process disease or infection from the ACC employers account and an amendment to provide for later decisions about which account will fund lump-sum compensation for permanent impairment caused by gradual process disease or infection. The Supplementary Order Paper also includes minor technical amendments to existing parts of the bill such as allowing the movement of the definitions of treatment providers and health professionals out of the legislation and into regulations to occur singularly or in groups in order to ensure administrative efficiency given the timing of the bill; allowing the 2005 levy regulations to be amended without the usual consultation process to include private domestic workers in the employers account in respect of levies; clarifying that the provisions for calculating weekly earnings for self-employed and shareholder employees apply to claims for weekly compensation on or after 1 June this year; specifying that the provisions that allow ACC the discretion to provide entitlements where that is not permitted under current legislation have no retrospective effect; and in allowing those parts of the bill that are currently scheduled to take effect on 1 April 2005 to come into effect later. 
I appreciate the work done by the Health Committee and I welcome its report. I particularly thank all those involved in the preparation of this bill and those who took the time to make submissions. I commend the bill’s progress to the House.