Edition 7 - January 2021

Welcome

Welcome to the first edition of Towards the PIC for 2021. I trust you had the opportunity to relax and refresh over the holiday period.

With commencement of the Personal Injury Commission (PIC) now only weeks away, my team is working hard on all of the activities required to open our doors as the new tribunal on 1 March 2021

This edition focuses on the appointment of new PIC members, the PIC’s new contact details, updates about the PIC Rules, roadshows during February and systems outages required to update our technology ready for launch.

Sincerely

Judge Gerard Phillips

New PIC Sessional Members Confirmed

I am pleased to announce that The Hon Mark Speakman, SC MP has made the following appointments to the PIC:

Sessional General Members

• Mr Stephen Boyd-Boland​
• Mr Terrence Broomfield​
• Mr Maurice Castagnet​
• Mr Robert Foggo​
• Mr David Ford​
• Ms Margaret Holz​
• Mr Michael Inglis​
• Mr Hugh Macken​
• Ms Elizabeth Medland​
• Ms Bridie Nolan​
• Ms Shana Radnan​
• Mr Terence Stern​
• Mr Cameron Thompson​
• Mr Phillip Watson​
• Ms Elyse White​
• Mr Philip Young​

I congratulate each and every one of our newly appointed Sessional General Members. The appointment panel was delighted with the high quality of all candidates who applied for members’ roles in the PIC. The new members bring significant experience and skill which will be to the benefit of the PIC and the citizens and insurers who will be appearing there. These appointments mean that the PIC across both divisions will have a full cohort of experienced decision makers ready for work on 1 March 2021.

PIC Rules

The final draft of the Rules is currently being settled by the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office. Once this is done, the Rule Committee will consider and vote on them. I expect this will take place within the next 7-10 days. I will make an announcement once the Rule Committee resolves to settle the Rules.

Making it Easy to Contact the PIC

One of the key objectives of the new Commission is to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ that is easy for injured people to access. To that end, the PIC will have a single website, contact telephone number and enquiry email address, all in operation from 1 March.

Our contact details will be:

Web: www.pi.nsw.gov.au

Telephone: 1800 PIC NSW (1800 742 679)

Email: help@pi.nsw.gov.au

We will also operate a single reception desk on Level 21 at our 1 Oxford Street premises, to make it easy for people attending the Commission in-person.

Please ensure that you update the PIC’s contact details in your internal records in time for launch.

Roadshows for the Insurer, Legal and Government Cohorts Commence Soon

The PIC will deliver a virtual roadshow via webinar during February to ensure our stakeholders are briefed about the changes and well placed to know what to expect from 1 March. Sessions will be held for insurers and legal professionals who work in the motor accident and worker’s compensation jurisdictions, plus SIRA, WIRO and icare.

Please keep an eye on your inbox for your invitation soon and sign up to attend – the roadshow will be invaluable in helping you understand the key changes and things you will need to do differently when interacting with the PIC.

Upcoming Systems Outages

The Dispute Resolution Services (DRS) and Workers Compensation Commission (WCC) case management systems and portals will be updated in the lead up to commencement of the PIC. The changes are primarily cosmetic, to ensure that the systems and templates reflect the new Personal Injury Commission branding and language.

To enable our technology team to make the updates required, both the DRS and WCC systems will be taken down at various times during February. Please take note of the outage windows listed below so that you can plan around them.

WCC Case Management System

The Commission’s electronic case management system will shut down:

Thursday 25 February 6pm – Monday 1 March 9am

You will not be able to access Comcase/MyFiles or the Online Portal to upload documents on the evening of Thursday 25 February, for the whole of Friday 26 February and over the weekend.  Parties will also not be able to access their matters or lodge documents through the Portal.

Refer to this Workers Compensation Commission e-bulletin for more information on how to minimise the impact to business.

DRS Case Management System

The DRS case management system, including the Insurer Portal, Legal Portal and Claimant Portal will shut down over two weekends:

• Friday 12 February 5pm – Monday 15 February 9am​
• Friday 26 February 5pm – Monday 1 March 9am​

You will not be able to access the portals during these timeframes, so please consider this when planning your electronic interactions with DRS.

Have a question about the PIC? 

If you have a question you would like to ask about the PIC, please email us at PICstakeholder@wcc.nsw.gov.au

Missed earlier editions of Towards the PIC? 

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