Untitled document

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

Act No. 34/1998

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Section Page

1.	Purpose	1
2.	Commencement	1
3.	Definitions	2
4.	Commission may authorise persons or services	2
5.	Transport Accident Fund	2
6.	Amendment of section 34	2
7.	Entitlement to compensation	2
8.	Determination of degree of impairment	3
46AA. Changes to methods of determining degree of

impairment 6

9.	Amendments consequential to section 8	7
10.	Definitions	7
11.	Minors' additional benefits	7
12.	Review after first 18 months	7
13.	Application to tribunal	7
14.	Minor amendments	8
15.	Indemnity by third party	8
16.	Section 108 repealed	9
17.	Repeal of spent provisions	9
18.	Powers of inspection	9
19.	Regulations	9

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NOTES 10

i

Victoria

No. 34 of 1998

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act

1998†

[Assented to 19 May 1998]

The Parliament of Victoria enacts as follows:

1. Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to make miscellaneous
amendments to the Transport Accident Act

1986.

2. Commencement

(1) Subject to sub-section (2), this Act comes into

operation on the day on which it receives the
Royal Assent.

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

Act No. 34/1998 s. 3

(2) Section 13 is deemed to have come into operation on 9 April 1998.

3. Definitions

In section 3(1) of the Transport Accident Act

1986—

(a)	in the definition of "medical services", in paragraph (d), after "pharmacist" insert "on the request of a medical practitioner or registered dentist";
(b)	and Cranes Act 1967 or of regulations

in the definition of "railway train" for "Lifts Health and Safety (Plant) Regulations 1995".

4. Commission may authorise persons or services

In section 23(2) of the Transport Accident Act

1986—

(a) omit "and" after paragraph (b);

(b) paragraph (c) is repealed.

5. Transport Accident Fund

Sections 27(2)(b), 27(4) and 27(5) of the

Transport Accident Act 1986 are repealed.

6. Amendment of section 34

In section 34 of the Transport Accident Act

1986 omit "(1)".

7. Entitlement to compensation

For section 39(5) of the Transport Accident Act
1986 substitute—

"(5) For the purposes of sub-section (4), a person

who drives a motor vehicle at a particular
time shall not be deemed never to have held
a licence to drive a motor vehicle of that
class if at that time—

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

s. 8 Act No. 34/1998

(a) the person was—

(i) the holder of a learner permit in respect of a motor vehicle of that class under the Road Safety Act 1986 or under a law that is, in relation to that Act, a corresponding law; or

(ii) participating in a training program accredited under the Road Safety Act 1986; and

(b) in the case of a motor vehicle other than a motor cycle, the person had a licensed driver (not being the holder of a licence issued on probation) sitting beside him or her.".

8. Determination of degree of impairment

At the end of section 46A of the Transport
Accident Act 1986 insert—

'(2) In this Part, a reference to the determination

of a degree of impairment is a reference to a

determination by the Commission—

(a) made in accordance with—
(i) the A.M.A. Guides; or

(ii)  methods prescribed for the purposes of this section—

and in accordance with operational
guidelines (if any) as to the use of those
Guides or methods issued by the

Minister; and

(b) if the Minister has approved a training course in the application of those Guides or methods, made after an assessment by a medical practitioner

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

Act No. 34/1998	s. 8
who has successfully completed such a training course.

(3) For the purposes of determining the degree of impairment of the whole person resulting from binaural hearing impairment, the

percentage of the diminution of hearing
determined in accordance with sub-section

(4) is to be converted as follows—

(a)	if the binaural loss of hearing is less than 10 per cent NAL, the degree of impairment is zero;
(b)	if the binaural loss of hearing is 10 per cent NAL, the degree of impairment is 10 per cent;
(c)	if the binaural loss of hearing is more than 10 per cent NAL, the degree of impairment is the percentage equivalent of the number (rounded up to the next whole number) given by the formula—

10 + [0·278 (NAL − 10)]—

where NAL is the percentage of diminution
of hearing determined in accordance with

sub-section (4).

(4) For the purposes of this section, the

percentage of diminution of hearing—

(a) shall be determined—

(i)  by a person or class of persons approved; and

(ii) in the manner approved—

by the Minister; and

(b)

shall be determined in accordance with Determination of Percentage Loss of

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

s. 8	Act No. 34/1998
Hearing (1988 Edition or a later prescribed edition) published by the National Acoustic Laboratory.

(5) An approval by the Minister for the purposes of sub-section (4)(a)(i) continues in force for the period not exceeding 12 months as is

specified by the Minister in the approval

unless revoked by the Minister.

(6) For the purposes of determining the degree of psychiatric impairment, the A.M.A. substituted the Clinical Guidelines to the Rating of Psychiatric Impairment prepared by the Medical Panel (Psychiatry) Melbourne, Victoria October 1997 and published in the Government Gazette.

(7) In this section "A.M.A. Guides" means the

American Medical Association's Guides to
the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment
(Fourth Edition) (other than Chapter 15) as
modified by this Act.

(8) This section as amended by section 8 of the

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998 applies for the purpose of determining the degree of impairment in respect of an injury as a result of a transport accident on or after the commencement of the Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998.

(9) This section as in force, and the Transport

in force, immediately before the
commencement of section 8 of the

Accident (Impairment) Regulations 1988 as 1998 continue to apply for the purpose of determining the degree of impairment in respect of an injury as a result of a transport

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

Act No. 34/1998 s. 8

accident before the commencement of the Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998 as if those Regulations formed part of

this section.

46AA. Changes to methods of determining degree

of impairment

(1) The Governor in Council may by

Regulations fix the methods to be used for the purpose of determining the degree of impairment in respect of an injury as a result of a transport accident.

(2) Regulations made under this section—

(a)

must specify the methods to be used that are to apply;

(b) apply, adopt or incorporate, with or
without modification any matter
contained in any document, code,
standard, rule, specification or method
formulated, issued, prescribed or
published by any authority or body as
formulated, issued, prescribed or

may for the purposes of paragraph (a) are made;

(c) can only apply for the purpose of determining the degree of impairment of a person who is injured as a result of a transport accident on or after the date that the Regulations are made or on or after a later date specified in the Regulations.

(3) If Regulations are made under this section,

section 46A applies in respect of
determinations of the degree of impairment

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

s. 9

s. 13 Act No. 34/1998

to which the Regulations apply as if the
provisions of the Regulations were
substituted for sub-sections (2) to (7) of

section 46A.'.

9. Amendments consequential to section 8

In the Transport Accident Act 1986—

(a) in section 3(1), the definition of "degree" is repealed;

(b) sections 132(1)(d) and 132(5) are repealed.

10. Definitions

In section 50(5) of the Transport Accident Act
1986 in the definitions of "earner" and "post-
accident earning capacity", for "in a" substitute

"as a result of".

11. Minors' additional benefits

In section 54(1) of the Transport Accident Act 1986 for "that loss" substitute "the impairment".

12. Review after first 18 months

(1) In section 55(2) of the Transport Accident Act

1986 for "to receive" substitute "who is
receiving".

(2) After section 55(5) of the Transport Accident

Act 1986 insert—

"(6) A review of a person's entitlement under this

section must be undertaken using the same
methods for determining the degree of
impairment that were used in making the
first determination of the degree of

impairment in relation to that entitlement.".

13. Application to tribunal

(1) In section 77(2) of the Transport Accident Act 1986 after "section" insert "can only be made

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

Act No. 34/1998

within the period of time specified in sub-section

(1) and".

(2) After section 77(2) of the Transport Accident

Act 1986 insert—

"(2A) The amendment to sub-section (2) made by

section 13(1) of the Transport Accident
(Amendment) Act 1998 does not apply in
respect of an application received by the
Tribunal before 9 April 1998.".

14. Minor amendments

In the Transport Accident Act 1986—

(a)	in section 89 for "and judge" substitute "adjudge";
(b)	in section 93(15) after "made to" insert "the";
(c)	in section 96(8) in the definition of "unindemnified vehicle" for "is respect" substitute "in respect";

(d) section 96(9) is repealed;

(e) in section 102(2)(a) before "a serious" insert "of";

(f) in section 153 before "If" insert "(1)".

15. Indemnity by third party

(1) In section 104(1) of the Transport Accident Act

1986—

(a) after "injury" (wherever occurring) insert "or death";

(b) for "pecuniary loss" substitute "any loss".

(2) For section 104(2) of the Transport Accident

Act 1986 substitute—

Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

s. 16 Act No. 34/1998

"(2) The liability of a person under sub-section (1) shall not exceed the amount which, but for this Act, the person would be liable to pay—

(a)	to the injured person in respect of the injury; or
(b)	in the case of the death of the person, to his or her dependents.".

16. Section 108 repealed

Section 108 of the Transport Accident Act 1986 is repealed.

17. Repeal of spent provisions

In the Transport Accident Act 1986—

(a) section 110(5) is repealed;
(b) sections 111(2) and 111(3) are repealed;

(c) Parts 11 and 12 are repealed.

18. Powers of inspection

"documents".

In sections 127A(1)(b) and 127A(1)(c) of the substitute

19. Regulations

In section 132(1)(c) of the Transport Accident
Act 1986 for "Hospitals and Charities Act

1958" substitute "Health Services Act 1988".

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Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 1998

Act No. 34/1998 Notes

NOTES

†

Minister's second reading speech—

Legislative Assembly: 9 April 1998

Legislative Council: 30 April 1998

The long title for the Bill for this Act was "to amend the Transport
Accident Act 1986 and for other purposes."