The Civil Liability and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (2009) (QLD) (Bill) is intended to improve the civil liability and personal injury regime in Queensland.

The Bill includes amendments to the following legislation:

  • Civil Liability Act (2002) (CLA)
  • Civil Liability Regulation (2003) (CLR)
  • Law Reform Act (1995) (LRA)
  • Limitation of Actions Act (1974) (LAA)
  • Motor Accident Insurance Act (1994) (MAIA)
  • Motor Accident Insurance Regulation (2004) (MAIR)
  • Personal Injuries Proceedings Act (2002) (PIPA), and
  • Personal Injuries Proceedings Regulation (2002) (PIPR).

The most significant amendment to the civil liability legislative regime is to allow for indexation of monetary amounts, both for awards of damages and costs. This is the first such increase in the amounts allowed under the regime since the regime commenced on 18 June 2002.

The Bill increases the awards for general damages contained in the Injury Scale Value table of the CLR by 17.8 percent and increases the provisions of the CLA dealing with costs.

The current provisions state that a claimant is not entitled to costs if the total damages are less than $30,000 but is entitled to costs capped at $2,500 if the total damages are between $30,000 and $50,000. If the Bill is passed, the limits will also be increased by 17.8 percent equalling $35,340 and $58,900 respectively. Presumably the capped costs will also increase by the same percentage to $2,945, but this remains to be seen.

The Bill also allows for an annual increase in accordance with the percentage change in average weekly earnings over the previous four quarters. The same uplift and indexation method is applied to monetary amounts contained elsewhere within the Civil Liability Act and Regulation, as well as those in the MAIR and Regulation and PIPA and PIPR .

If the Bill is passed, these provisions will apply to injuries suffered after 30 June 2010.

Other changes proposed in the Bill are:

  • allowance of loss of consortium claims by de facto partners will be allowed
  • reinstatement of Sullivan v Gordon damages (compensation for gratuitous care provided to the claimant by those outside the claimant's household) following the decision of the High Court in CSR v Eddy
  • a Certificate of Readiness will no longer refer to readiness for trial, only readiness for a conference.
  • provision will be made for the parties to agree to the early commencement of proceedings, rather than requiring leave of the Court; and
  • the statutory limitation period for dust-disease claims will be abolished with retrospective operation provided that:
    • judgement has not been given
    • the action has not been settled or discontinued, and
    • there has not been a previous unsuccessful application to extend the limitation period.

Civil Liability and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 (QLD)

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