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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-05-14 Daily Xml
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MOTOR VEHICLES (MISCELLANEOUS) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 29 April 2009. Page 2461.)

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:40): I rise on behalf of the Liberal Party in support of this bill. I am the lead speaker on this bill, and I will not hold the house for long. The background to the Motor Vehicles (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill is that, under the Motor Vehicles Act, fees for professional, medical or other services rendered to those injured in motor vehicle accidents have been linked to the fees under the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

The Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act was amended last year. One of the changes was that the scale of charges for the above services was to be set by ministerial notice rather than by regulation. On 1 July 2009, transitional provisions will end and the regulations will have no effect.

This bill proposes an amendment to section 127A of the act to replace references to the scale of charges prescribed by regulation under section 32 of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, with references to the scales of charges applying under that section. This will ensure the continuation of parity of fees for medical and other services under both acts.

The second amendment to the bill relates to the proof of service of notices of disqualification from holding or obtaining a driver's licence. In 2007, parliament passed a bill with the same title. That bill required that a person receiving such a notice to attend a customer service office or a post office to acknowledge receipt of the notice. If the person did not respond to the notice, a process server would serve it personally. That amendment was to prevent someone claiming that they had not received a notice. The opposition supported the bill.

The current bill provides that the cost of these new requirements is to be borne by the driver. If someone attends to acknowledge the notice, the fee is $24, and if a process server is to be engaged it is $60. If no contact is made with the person through either measure, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles can refuse to transact any business with a person until they pay the $60 and acknowledge receipt of the notice. The opposition supports the bill.

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (15:42): I rise to support the member for Morphett. The opposition is supporting this bill. This bill seeks to make two amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act. The first is necessary due to amendments to the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act that took place last year.

Under the Motor Vehicles Act, fees for medical and other services rendered to people injured in car accidents were linked to the fees under the Workers Rehabilitation Act. However, when the act was amended last year one of the changes was that charges for services to those injured in a collision was to be met by a ministerial notice rather than by regulation.

On 1 July this year, the regulations will no longer have any effect, so this bill will replace references to the charges prescribed by regulations under the Workers Rehabilitation Compensation Act to references to the scale of charges under the Motor Vehicles Act. This is a very straightforward amendment that is necessary, so I will not go on about it any further.

The second amendment that this bill seeks to implement relates to the serving of notices when someone is disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver's licence, for whatever reason. In 2007 a bill was passed, and we on this side of the house supported it, implementing legislation that meant that, when someone was served with a disqualification notice, they had to attend a customer service office or a post office to acknowledge that they had received the notice. If the person did not respond to such a notice in this way, a process server would then serve the notice personally.

This is, of course, so that if a person who was disqualified from driving was caught driving by police they could not claim that they did not realise that they had been disqualified and no longer held a licence. This current bill will allow for the cost of the system to be borne by the driver—$24 in the case of the person acknowledging receipt of the notice, and if a process server is engaged to deliver the notice it is $60. I believe this makes sense. The public should not have to bear the costs associated with issuing disqualification notices, and, as such, we support the bill.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON (Elder—Minister for Transport, Minister for Infrastructure, Minister for Energy) (15:45): I thank the opposition for its support. It is, of course, a bill of very few clauses. It has a small ambit and it makes good sense. I am happy to conclude with that.

Bill read a second time and taken through its remaining stages.

Mrs GERAGHTY: Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

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