Edition No.3

Welcome

Welcome to the third edition of Personal Injury Commission News.

The Commission has had a busy few weeks since my last update as we continue to bed down and fine-tune our operations as the new, single tribunal.

This edition provides reminders to submit reviews and appeals on time and the need to copy parties to correspondence, notification of the latest instruments of delegation and sub-delegation and the announcement of new members in the Medical Assessor Reference Group. I also provide updates on the progress we are making with addressing delayed motor accidents medical assessments and the latest improvements to the motor accidents portals. There is also information about our plans to refurbish our offices in the near future.

I trust you find these updates valuable. I will be in touch with another edition of Personal Injury Commission News soon.

Sincerely

Judge Gerard Phillips

Reminder to copy in parties to correspondence

Please also note that when communicating with the Commission in relation to a dispute, all opposing parties must be copied into any correspondence. The Commission will not be involved in ex parte communications. (Procedural Direction PIC1 – Conduct of parties during proceedings, section 23).

Latest Instruments of Delegation and Sub-Delegation Published

Instrument of Delegation dated 15 April 2021

Please be aware that persons holding the roles, Principal Registrar and Director Medical Services (including those acting in those roles), have been delegated the President’s functions under section 36(1) of the Personal Injury Commission Act 2020, in so far as those functions relate to medical assessors.

Instrument of Sub-Delegation dated 30 April 2021

Please note that persons holding the positions Legal Officers Grade I-III have been sub-delegated the Division Head, Workers Compensation Division’s function under Rule 90 of the Personal Injury Commission Rules 2021.

All delegations and sub-delegations are available to view in the Delegations section of the Personal Injury Commission website.

Updates to Medical Assessor Reference Group Membership

I have recently appointed Assessors Margaret Gibson, Diana Hurst, Chris Oates, Trudy Rebbeck and Nel Wijetunga to the Medical Assessor Reference Group, which meets regularly with the Commission leadership and provides a pathway for the medical assessor cohort to provide feedback. I congratulate them on their appointment and am thankful for their willingness to participate.

The membership of the Medical Assessor Reference Group is now:

Progress in addressing delays in Motor Accidents Division Medical Assessments

The Commission acquired some delayed motor accidents applications from the former Dispute Resolution Service when it commenced on 1 March. These were delayed primarily due to the suspension of in-person medical assessments for much of 2020 as a result of pandemic-related public health restrictions.

As restrictions have eased, we have recommenced in-person assessments and are now scheduling as many appointments as we can, over and above what we normally book, to address the delayed applications. The appointments are being allocated methodically based on urgency, the claimant’s duration on the waitlist and other criteria.

I have also asked all doctors in high use specialities to provide the Commission with additional appointment availability in the short term and in the longer term we will be recruiting additional medical assessors.

I am confident that we can achieve a normal operating situation in the short to medium term.

Latest improvements to the Motor Accidents Division Portals

I am continuing to place a high priority on making enhancements to the Motor Accidents Division’s Decision Maker, Insurer and Legal Portals, to address feedback and improve the user experience for those who use them.

This week we launched new versions of these portals that can be accessed direct from the ‘Applying online’ page on the Commission website.

The latest improvements to the Portal functionality include:

• Automated email notifications have been updated to include the claimant’s name and representative references, to help parties more easily identify the claimant a notification is referring to. Some links in the automated email notifications have also been updated to ensure the link is taking the recipient to the correct place in the portal.
• A Schedule of Earnings template for merit review disputes has been added.
• Cosmetic changes have been made across all portals to replace references to the former DRS and SIRA with Personal Injury Commission language.

The portals will continue to be improved over time, with new enhancements being launched each month. I will keep you updated as new fixes and changes are implemented.

Refurbishing the Commission’s Offices

I’m pleased to advise that the Commission’s premises at 1 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst will undergo a major refurbishment in the second half of the year. The building works will provide the Commission with modern and fresh spaces, with updated technology and layouts that better meet our needs as a new organisation.

Medical suites will be established as part of the refurbishment that will enable the Commission to conduct medical assessments in-house, which will create scheduling efficiencies and also improve the experience of injured people required to undergo medical assessments as part of the dispute resolution process.

New hearing rooms will also be built, with appropriate room capacities to meet the Commission’s needs for in-person hearings in the future.

I will keep you updated on the refurbishment as our plans progress.

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