2010 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY (As presented) (Treasurer) Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) (Governance) Amendment Bill 2010 A Bill for An Act to amend the Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) Act 2008, and for other purposes The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory enacts as follows: J2010-36 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] 1 1 Name of Act 2 This Act is the Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) 3 (Governance) Amendment Act 2010. 4 2 Commencement 5 This Act commences on the day after its notification day. 6 Note The naming and commencement provisions automatically commence on 7 the notification day (see Legislation Act, s 75 (1)). 8 3 Legislation amended 9 This Act amends the Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) 10 Act 2008. 11 Note This Act also amends the Financial Management Act 1996 (see s 8). 12 4 Part 1.2 heading 13 substitute 14 Part 1.2 Objects and important concepts 15 5A Objects 16 The main objects of this Act are-- 17 (a) to continue and improve the system of compulsory third-party 18 insurance, and the scheme of statutory insurance for uninsured 19 and unidentified vehicles, operating in the ACT; and 20 (b) to promote competition in setting premiums for compulsory 21 third-party insurance policies; and 22 (c) to keep the costs of insurance at an affordable level; and page 2 Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) (Governance) Amendment Bill 2010 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] 1 (d) to provide for the licensing and supervision of insurers 2 providing insurance under policies of compulsory third-party 3 insurance; and 4 (e) to encourage the speedy resolution of personal injury claims 5 resulting from motor accidents; and 6 (f) to promote and encourage, as far as practicable, the 7 rehabilitation of people who sustain personal injury because of 8 motor accidents; and 9 (g) to establish and keep a register of motor accident claims to 10 help the administration of the statutory insurance scheme and 11 the detection of fraud; and 12 (h) to promote measures directed at eliminating or reducing causes 13 of motor accidents and mitigating their results. 14 5 Section 14 15 substitute 16 Part 1.3 CTP regulator 17 Note The governance of territory authorities, including the CTP regulator, is 18 regulated by the Financial Management Act 1996 (the FMA), pt 9 as 19 well as the Act that establishes them. 20 The FMA, pt 9 deals, for example, with the corporate status of territory 21 authorities and their powers. 22 14 Who is the CTP regulator? 23 (1) The Australian Capital Territory Compulsory Third-Party Insurance 24 Regulator (the CTP regulator) is established. 25 Note 1 The CTP regulator is a corporation (see Financial Management 26 Act 1996, s 54 (1), s 72, def relevant territory authority, and s 73). 27 Note 2 The Legislation Act, dict, pt 1, defines establish as including continue 28 in existence. Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) (Governance) page 3 Amendment Bill 2010 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] 1 (2) The chief executive is the CTP regulator. 2 (3) The CTP regulator may delegate the CTP regulator's functions 3 under the road transport legislation to a public employee. 4 Note For the making of delegations and the exercise of delegated functions, 5 see the Legislation Act, pt 19.4. 6 14A Functions of CTP regulator 7 The CTP regulator has the following functions: 8 (a) to regulate the licensing of insurers operating under the 9 compulsory third-party insurance scheme under this Act, 10 including to issue, suspend or cancel licences for insurers and 11 supervise insurers; 12 (b) to monitor the management of claims by licensed insurers and 13 insurers' compliance with their obligations under the Act; 14 (c) to ensure that premiums fully fund the present and likely future 15 liability under the Act but are not excessive; 16 (d) to approve or reject CTP premiums and make guidelines in 17 relation to premiums under this Act; 18 (e) to monitor the availability, adequacy and use of rehabilitation 19 services for claimants who suffer personal injury in motor 20 accidents and develop and support programs, research, 21 resources and guidelines that will assist effective injury 22 management; 23 (f) to support research into the causes of motor accidents, and the 24 economic, social and personal cost of motor accidents; 25 (g) to promote public awareness of the causes of motor vehicle 26 accidents, and the economic, social and personal cost of motor 27 accidents; page 4 Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) (Governance) Amendment Bill 2010 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] 1 (h) to promote the provision, maintenance and support of the 2 infrastructure and services necessary to reduce the incidence 3 and consequences of motor accidents; 4 (i) to monitor the efficiency of the compulsory third-party 5 insurance scheme and, in particular, the proportion of the funds 6 of the scheme paid to claimants or applied for their direct 7 benefit; 8 (j) to develop and coordinate strategies to identify and combat 9 fraud in or related to motor accident claims; 10 (k) to keep the insurance industry deed under review and make 11 recommendations for its amendment; 12 (l) to keep the compulsory third-party insurance scheme generally 13 under review and make recommendations for its amendment; 14 (m) any other function given to the CTP regulator under this Act or 15 another territory law. 16 6 New section 46A 17 in division 2.6.1, insert 18 46A Average risk premium amount 19 (1) For each financial year, the CTP regulator must publish in the CTP 20 regulator's annual report the average risk premium amount for 21 passenger vehicles. 22 (2) In this section: 23 average risk premium amount, for passenger vehicles, for a 24 financial year, means the average of the risk premium amounts for 25 passenger vehicles used by each licensed insurer for the year, 26 weighted by each insurer's market share and expressed as an 27 average price by policy. Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) (Governance) page 5 Amendment Bill 2010 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] 1 passenger vehicle means a motor vehicle built mainly to carry 2 people but does not include the following: 3 (a) an ambulance; 4 (b) a bus; 5 (c) a demand responsive service vehicle; 6 (d) a drive-yourself hire vehicle; 7 (e) a motorcycle; 8 (f) a police vehicle; 9 (g) a general hire car; 10 (h) a taxi. 11 risk premium amount, for a licensed insurer for passenger vehicles, 12 means an amount that is equal to the insurer's best estimate of the 13 minimum projected cost of motor accident claims relating to 14 passenger vehicles. 15 7 New sections 163F and 163G 16 in part 4.10A, insert 17 163F Accounts for nominal defendant fund 18 (1) The nominal defendant must keep a separate account in the nominal 19 defendant fund for meeting the liabilities of the nominal defendant. 20 Note The nominal defendant is liable for uninsured or unidentified motor 21 vehicles (see pt 2.7) and for insolvent insurers (see s 241). 22 (2) The nominal defendant must keep accounts for-- 23 (a) amounts paid into the nominal defendant fund under 24 section 163B; and 25 (b) amounts withdrawn from the nominal defendant fund. page 6 Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) (Governance) Amendment Bill 2010 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] 1 (3) Accounts kept of amounts withdrawn from the nominal defendant 2 fund must show the reason why each amount is withdrawn. 3 163G Audit of nominal defendant fund 4 (1) The nominal defendant must have the accounts of the nominal 5 defendant fund for a financial year audited by a recognised auditor 6 as soon as practicable after the end of the financial year. 7 (2) The nominal defendant must give the auditor's report and audited 8 accounts to the CTP regulator as soon as practicable after the end of 9 the financial year to which the report relates. 10 8 Financial Management Act 1996, section 54 (1) 11 insert 12 · Australian Capital Territory Compulsory Third-Party Insurance 13 Regulator Endnotes 1 Presentation speech Presentation speech made in the Legislative Assembly on 2010. 2 Notification Notified under the Legislation Act on 2010. 3 Republications of amended laws For the latest republication of amended laws, see www.legislation.act.gov.au. © Australian Capital Territory 2010 Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) (Governance) page 7 Amendment Bill 2010 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au