A new Personal Injury Commission
The NSW Government has passed legislation to establish a new tribunal to deliver combined dispute resolution services for injured people claiming against the compulsory third party (CTP) and workers compensation insurance schemes.
From March 2021, the Personal Injury Commission (PIC) will form a single, independent tribunal in NSW with specialist motor accidents and workers compensation divisions.
Currently, there are multiple dispute resolution bodies serving the schemes:
- SIRA’s Dispute Resolution Service deals with CTP disputes under the 2017 CTP scheme, the Claims Assessment and Resolution Service (known as CARS), and the Medical Assessment Service (known as MAS) under the 1999 CTP scheme
- the Workers Compensation Commission (WCC) deals with workers compensation disputes.
The functions of these bodies will be transferred to the PIC.
"The Commission will have two specialist divisions to deal with workers compensation and motor accidents, with an independent judicial head," said Minister for Customer Service, Victor Dominello.
"The purpose of the Commission is to simplify the dispute resolution process and deal with disputes justly, quickly, and as cost efficiently as possible."
The Personal Injury Commission Bill also introduces a new Independent Review Office (IRO) that will deal with claim complaints about insurers in both the CTP and workers compensation schemes.
These changes will come into effect from March 2021. In the meantime, SIRA will continue to deliver its existing services and keep you informed as implementation progresses.
The Bill has no impact on the underlying operation of the CTP and workers compensation schemes, so there are no changes to the compensation, benefits and entitlements of injured road users and workers.
Further information
- Read the Minister’s media release
- See the readings of the Personal Injury Commission Bill 2020 on the NSW Parliament website.