Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) The purpose of this section is to ensure that, for applications, harm that substantially should be treated as a single state of injury is treated as a single injury, even though it may consist of more than 1 injury or be caused by more than 1 incident.
(2) The objective is to ensure that the way in which incidents of personal offences happen or personal offences are prosecuted does not cause--
(a) inequity of treatment between applicants; or
(b) an unjustifiable multiplicity of applications to the State under division 3 about substantially the same harm.
(3) Subject to subsections (7) and (8), only 1 compensation order may be made in favour of an applicant because of--
(a) injury suffered from a substantially single incident, whether consisting of 1 or more than 1 personal offence; or
(b) a substantially single state of injury suffered from a series of incidents of personal offences.
(4) In deciding whether an applicant has suffered a substantially single state of injury, the court may have regard to the following--
(a) the applicant's injuries;
(b) the time over which the injuries were caused;
(c) the similarity of, or connection between, the injuries;
(d) the similarity of, or connection between, the events that caused the injury;
(e) anything else that is relevant.
(5) A single compensation order may be made against more than 1 convicted person.
(6) If a single compensation order is made against more than 1 convicted person, the order may provide for--
(a) separate liability of a convicted person scaled according to the person's direct and material contribution to the injury; or
(b) joint liability of more than 1 convicted person for an amount payable under the order; or
(c) both the separate liability mentioned in paragraph (a) for an amount and joint liability for the amount.
(7) Without limiting subsection (5), if each of more than 1 convicted person directly and materially contributed to injury mentioned in subsection (3)(a) and (b), a court may make a compensation order against each of more than 1 of the convicted persons.
(8) If compensation orders are made against more than 1 convicted person under subsection (7)--
(a) the total amount payable under all the orders must not be more than the scheme maximum; and
(b) the orders--
(i) must provide for separate liability for each of the convicted persons for an amount scaled according to the convicted person's contribution to the injury; and
(ii) may also provide for joint liability of more than 1 convicted person for an amount for which a convicted person is separately liable.
(9) To remove doubt, section 25 is declared to apply to compensation orders mentioned in subsections (5) and (7), subject to subsection (8)(a).