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MEDICAL INDEMNITY ACT 2002 No. 132, 2002 - SECT 4

Definitions

General

(1)
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

"Actuary" means the Australian Government Actuary.

"claim":

(a)
means a claim or demand of any kind (whether or not involving legal proceedings); and
(b)
includes proceedings of any kind including:
(i)
proceedings before an administrative tribunal or of an administrative nature; and
(ii)
disciplinary proceedings (including disciplinary proceedings conducted by or on behalf of a professional body); and
(iii)
an inquiry or investigation;

and claim against a person includes an inquiry into, or an investigation of, the person's conduct.

"contribution year":

(a)
for an IBNR indemnity contribution payable by a participating member of a participating MDO—has the same meaning as in the Medical Indemnity (IBNR Indemnity) Contribution Act 2002 ; and
(b)
for an enhanced UMP indemnity contribution—has the same meaning as in the Medical Indemnity (Enhanced UMP Indemnity) Contribution Act 2002 .
"externally-administered body corporate" means:

(a)
a body corporate that is an externally-administered body corporate within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 ; or
(b)
a body corporate to which a provisional liquidator has been appointed.
"health care related vocation "means a health care related vocation that a person must be registered under a State or Territory law to practise.

"health professional" means a person who practises a health care related vocation.

"HIC" means the Health Insurance Commission.

"high cost claim threshold" has the meaning given by section 29.

"IBNR exposure" has the meaning given by section 8.

"imposition day":

(a)
for an IBNR indemnity contribution payable by a participating member of a participating MDO—has the same meaning as in the Medical Indemnity (IBNR Indemnity) Contribution Act 2002 ; and
(b)
for an enhanced UMP indemnity contribution—has the same meaning as in the Medical Indemnity (Enhanced UMP Indemnity) Contribution Act 2002 .
"incident" includes:

(a)
any act, omission or circumstance; and
(b)
an incident that is claimed to have occurred.
"incident-occurring based cover" has the meaning given by section 7.

"indemnify" has a meaning affected by subsection (2).

"indemnity scheme payment" means:

(a)
an IBNR indemnity paid or payable under Division 1 of Part 2; or
(b)
a high cost claim indemnity paid or payable under Division 2 of Part 2.
"insurance business" has the same meaning as in the Insurance Act 1973 .

"insurer" means a person who carries on insurance business.

"insurer-to-insurer payment" means a payment that:

(a)
is made by an MDO or insurer to an MDO or an insurer; and
(b)
is not made by the MDO or insurer on behalf of another person.
"late payment penalty":

(a)
in relation to an amount repayable under section 24—means a penalty payable under section 27; and
(b)
in relation to a medical indemnity contribution or a lump sum payable under section 64—means a penalty payable under section 65.
"Managing Director" means the Managing Director of the HIC.

"MDO" has the meaning given by section 5.

"medical indemnity contribution" means:

(a)
an IBNR indemnity contribution payable under Division 1 of Part 3; or
(b)
an enhanced UMP indemnity contribution payable under Division 2 of Part 3.
"medical indemnity contribution legislation" means:

(a)
the Medical Indemnity (IBNR Indemnity) Contribution Act 2002 ; or
(b)
the Medical Indemnity (Enhanced UMP Indemnity) Contribution Act 2002 .
"medical practitioner" means a person registered or licensed as a medical practitioner under a State or Territory law that provides for the registration or licensing of medical practitioners.

"medical profession" includes a health care related vocation.

"medicare benefit "means a medicare benefit payable under Part II of the Health Insurance Act 1973 .

"member" of an MDO has the meaning given by section 6.

"participating MDO" has the meaning given by section 11.

"participating member" of a participating MDO means a person who was a member of the MDO on 30 June 2000 (whether or not the person ceased to be a member of the MDO after that date).

"payment "made in relation to a claim has the meaning given by subsections (3) and (4).

"provable": an amount that an MDO or insurer is liable to pay is provable if:

(a)
it is provable in the winding up of the MDO or insurer if the winding up of the MDO or insurer has commenced; or
(b)
it would be provable in the winding up of the MDO or insurer if the MDO or insurer were to be wound up.
"public hospital" means a recognised hospital within the meaning of the Health Insurance Act 1973 .

"public patient" has the same meaning as in the Health Insurance Act 1973 .

"related body corporate" has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001 .

"Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department.

"UMP" means United Medical Protection Limited.

"unfunded IBNR exposure": an MDO has an unfunded IBNR exposure on 30 June 2002 if the MDO had, on that day, insufficient readily available assets to cover both its IBNR exposure and all its other liabilities.

"unfunded IBNR factor" for a participating MDO means the factor for the MDO worked out under section 22.

Indemnifying

(2)
To avoid doubt, a person may, for the purposes of this Act, indemnify someone else by either:

(a)
making a payment; or
(b)
agreeing to make a payment.
Note: A person may indemnify someone else by making a payment even if the payment was not preceded by an agreement to pay.

Payments in relation to claims

(3)
For the purposes of this Act:

(a)
a payment is made in relation to a claim against a person if and only if the payment is made to:
(i)
satisfy or settle the claim; or
(ii)
meet legal and other expenses that are directly attributable to any negotiations, arbitration or proceedings in relation to the claim; and
(b)
a payment is made in relation to a claim by a person if and only if the payment is made to meet legal and other expenses that are directly attributable to any negotiations, arbitration or proceedings in relation to the claim.
(4)
A reference in this Act to a payment being made to satisfy or settle a claim against a person includes a reference to a payment that:

(a)
is made to reimburse the person for a payment the person has made to satisfy or settle the claim; or
(b)
is made to the person so that the person can make a payment to satisfy or settle the claim.

Changes in body corporate names

(5)
A reference in this Act to a body corporate by a particular name is a reference to the body corporate that had that name on 30 June 2002.


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