Bracks' new law protects insurance company profits

May 28, 2003
Issue 

BY RAY FULCHER

MELBOURNE — In a handout to the insurance companies, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks' Labor government has introduced new laws restricting the right to sue for personal injuries.

Under the new Wrongs and Limitations of Actions Act (Insurance Reform) 2003, people injured due to others' negligence will have to pass certain hurdles to gain the right to sue for pain and suffering. Unless a victim can satisfy a panel of "medical experts" that they have a permanent physical impairment of at least 6%, or 11% for psychiatric injuries, they will not be able to bring a claim for pain and suffering before the courts.

Although a victim can still claim for lost wages and medical expenses, under the new law they could lose a finger or toe and receive nothing but compensation for time off work and trips to the doctor.

The new law also constricts the time allowed to bring a claim for personal injury. Currently, a person has six years to lodge a claim, either from the date of their injury or from the date they become aware that they have been injured due to another's negligence. The latter provision is important in situations, like asbestosis, where symptoms may not become apparent for decades after the injury is incurred.

Under the new law, a claim will not be possible after 12 years from the date of the injury, regardless of when the victim becomes aware that they have been injured. The courts will have discretion to extend the time limits. This means that if an industrial illness (like asbestosis) is diagnosed 12 years and one day from now, its victims would not have the right to sue their employer without begging the courts for permission.

Announcing the new law on May 20, Bracks said it was "not about lawyers and doctors ... it's about tourism operators, it's about fetes and fairs and things which we know and have grown up with as (part) of our way of life and which we want to preserve in the future..." But if that were the case, why not introduce a universal no-fault compensation scheme for the injured and sick?

Michael Brett-Young, managing partner with the law firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman, told the Melbourne Age it was "a con" for Bracks to say only a few cases would be affected. "It will reduce a large number of claims", he said.

Trades Hall Council and Liberty Victoria said the changes would bolster insurance companies' profit margins at the expense of the rights of workers and others in the community.

"What we have at the moment is a system which requires an injured person to find someone, with enough money, who they can hold responsible for their injuries — and prove it in court", said Socialist Alliance state co-convener Graham Matthews. "Many can't and as a result live in poverty with their injuries. What Bracks has done with this new law is retain that heartless system but modify it so that the insurance companies and their shareholders don't suffer personal injury to their profits and dividends."

From Green Left Weekly, May 28, 2003.
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