Carter Chris: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
Carter Chris: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
[Volume:619;Page:14695] 
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Conservation) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister for ACC 
: I move  
That the Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 3) be now read a first time. 
 At the moment I intend to move that the Health Committee consider the bill. 
Over 3 years ago the Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Bill was introduced. This became the Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Act which provides a fair and sustainable scheme for minimising both the overall incidence and the impact of injury in the community. One of the key goals of the Act is make the scheme more responsive to the needs of claimants. This amendment bill continues to progress this goal principally through changes to the existing medical misadventure provisions. 
Following the introduction of the Act a major review of the medical misadventure provisions was undertaken. A new category of treatment injury was proposed to replace the existing medical misadventure provisions. The primary purpose of this bill is to implement those changes. The new category will remove the requirement to find fault as is the case with some claimants for medical misadventure or to prove that a medical injury is rare and severe as is the case with other claims for medical misadventure before a patient is entitled to accident compensation cover. This approach is more consistent with the no-fault nature of the scheme. As a result of these changes more people will be eligible for cover and outcomes for claimants will be considerably improved. 
The bill also makes changes to the Accident Compensation Corporation’s reporting provisions for treatment of injury. The aim of these changes is to build a partnership between the Accident Compensation Corporation and the health sector that moves away from the punitive system of finding fault in reporting medical misadventure cover decisions and encourages learning initiatives when things go wrong while still protecting public safety. This partnership will gain the cooperation of the health sector to participate in the claims process which will aid fairer outcomes for claimants. 
Currently the Accident Compensation Corporation has a legislative requirement to report medical error to the relevant professional body and to the Health and Disability Commissioner. This will no longer be required under the new provisions. Instead the Accident Compensation Corporation will report information to the relevant professional body if it considers that there could be a risk of harm to the public. This is consistent with recent changes introduced by the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. The Accident Compensation Corporation will also be required to inform claimants of the role of the Health and Disability Commissioner in investigating complaints and the standard of care provided. 
It should be noted that the new definition of “treatment injury” will not cover all medical injuries. Injuries that are an anticipated or necessary part or consequence of treatment such as surgical incision and those that result from a patient’s underlying health condition will not be covered; nor will there be cover just because the desired results were not achieved. 
These changes are the result of an excellent consultation review in which the Government worked in partnership with key stakeholders and with the public. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleague Lianne Dalziel for her work in setting up this review. The review was a three-stage process beginning with the 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 from submissions on the options for change. As a result there is wide consensus 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. 
The bill also includes a number of secondary issues operational improvements and technical changes aimed at making the scheme more responsive to the needs of claimants. For example the bill provides the Accident Compensation Corporation with the discretion to provide certain rehabilitation entitlements such as for the payment of attendant care for a claimant who is overseas and requires care beyond the 28 days provided in the legislation. The bill also provides fairer methods for calculating weekly compensation for people who move into self-employment by factoring into the calculation income from other work undertaken during the income year. 
The 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 levy costs. The Government is committed to providing strong public services. Creating a fair and simple accident compensation scheme that reduces the incidence and impact of personal injury is our overall goal.