Second Reading Speech

The State Insurance and Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 has passed the Second Reading stage.

Of note is that the Bill proposes some significant amendments to the NSW workers compensation scheme with regards to death benefits and commutations.

The Second Reading Speech expressed that the intention of the Bill is that it ‘is the first step in establishing the legislative framework to give workers and insurers greater choice and flexibility.’

In terms of the main amendments:

1. The lump sum death benefit is currently $849,300. At the moment, parties cannot compromise a claim for death benefits where liability is disputed - it is ‘all or nothing’. The proposed amendment will allow parties to negotiate the lump sum figure if there is a liability dispute.
2. The second main amendment relates to commutations. Commutations are a ‘buy-out’ of future liabilities for weekly compensation and medical expenses by making a lump sum payment to the worker. The amendments provide for the PIC to be able to approve commutations. It also allows for Regulations (yet to be seen) to expand access to commutations for certain classes of claims.

The Bill also provides greater powers/oversight to SIRA with regards to insurers (including self and specialised insurers).

A link to the Second Reading Speech, which provides a useful summary of the main amendments, can be found here.