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

Received from the House of Assembly and read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (17:39): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading explanation inserted in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

This Bill contains two pressing amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 and I will outline each of them briefly.

For the last 10 years the fees under the Motor Vehicles Act for professional medical and other services rendered to those injured in motor vehicle accidents have been linked to the fees under the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1986 for such services rendered to injured workers. This relationship between the two pieces of legislation has resulted in a consistency of fees for services for compensable treatment for persons injured at work and persons injured as a result of a motor vehicle accident. The arrangement has streamlined the administration of both forms of compensation and reduced the amount of red tape that this government requires of those who provide medical services to people injured either at work or in a motor vehicle accident. Section 127A is the specific section of the Motor Vehicles Act which provides the connection.

The Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act was significantly amended by Parliament in 2008. The most significant amendment in the context of this Bill is that the scale of charges for medical and other services under the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act is now set by Ministerial notice published in the Government Gazette rather than by regulations under that Act.

Transitional provisions have ensured the continuation of the existing regulations to the extent that they are not superseded by Ministerial notices. Several such notices have already been published. Further notices will continue to be published, and by 1 July 2009 the regulations will have no effect. This is the reason for the pressing nature of this amendment. The Bill proposes an amendment to section 127A of the Act to replace references to the scales 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 is about proof of service of notices of disqualification from holding or obtaining a driver's licence. In 2007 Parliament passed the Motor Vehicles (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2007 which inserted section 139BD in the Motor Vehicles Act to prevent disqualified drivers claiming that they had never received a licence disqualification notice, thereby avoiding a charge of driving while disqualified.

Under this amendment, which came into operation on 23 June 2008, a person who receives a notice of disqualification is required to attend a Customer Service Centre or an Australia Post Office which has electronic point of sale systems, to acknowledge receipt of the notice. If the person does not respond to this requirement, a process server is engaged to serve the notice personally.

The amendment provides that the cost of these new requirements is to be borne by the driver. The fee charged when the person attends to acknowledge service is $24. If the person does not attend and a process server has to be engaged, the person is required to pay a $60 fee to cover the cost of the process server. In cases where the process server cannot find the person, the amendment provides that the Registrar of Motor Vehicles can refuse to transact any business with the person until he or she pays the $60 fee and acknowledges receipt of the notice of disqualification. There is no similar provision to allow the Registrar to refuse to conduct business with the person until the fee is paid. It was expected that persons who had been successfully served would pay the fee when they renewed their licence. It has become apparent that this is not the case. This amendment will allow the government to recover personal service fees from the licence holder for both successful and unsuccessful service transactions.

These amendments will improve the operation and administration of the Motor Vehicles Act. One will provide certainty for providers of medical and other services to persons injured as a result of a motor vehicle accident. The other will ensure that Parliament's intention in 2007, that the Registrar may refuse to do business with any person who has incurred the expense of personal service of a notice of disqualification until he or she pays the fee, will be carried out, regardless of whether the attempt at service was successful or not.

I commend the Bill to the House.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

3—Amendment provisions

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Motor Vehicles Act 1959

4—Amendment of section 127A—Control of medical services and charges for medical services to injured persons

Section 127A of the Motor Vehicles Act limits the fees that may be charged for medical services provided to persons injured in motor vehicle accidents. The limits are set by reference to those applying to injured workers under section 32 of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1986. The amendments made to section 127A by this clause are consequential on amendments made to section 32 of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act by section 11 of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation (Scheme Review) Amendment Act 2008. Those amendments provide for scales of charges to be published by the Minister by notice in the Gazette instead of being prescribed by regulation.

5—Amendment of section 139BD—Service and commencement of notices of disqualification

Section 139BD of the Motor Vehicles Act sets out the process for giving notices of disqualification. The amendments made by this clause empower the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to refuse to enter into transactions with a person who has not paid the prescribed fee for personal service of a notice of disqualification. The amendments also require the first notice of disqualification sent by post to include a warning as to the consequences of failing to pay such a fee.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. D.W. Ridgway.

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