Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Transport Accident Act 1986 - SECT 3

Definitions

3. Definitions



(1) In this Act-

ambulance service means the conveying in Australia of a person by any
reasonable means-

   (a)  for the purpose of receiving medical services or hospital services; or

   (b)  to the person's place of residence after receiving medical services or
        hospital services;

apprentice means a person who is an apprentice within the meaning of the
Education and Training Reform Act 2006;





child in relation to a person includes a child of the person or the person's
partner or an adopted child of the person or of the person's partner but does
not include a child of that person or of the person's partner adopted by
another person or persons;

Commission means the Transport Accident Commission established under this Act;

decision includes declaration, determination, direction or order;

* * * * *





dependant in relation to a person who is injured or dies means a person who
would, but for the injury or death of the first-mentioned person, be wholly,
mainly or in part dependent on that person for economic support;





dependent child in relation to a person means a child of that person who-

   (a)  is under the age of 16 years; or

   (b)  has attained the age of 16 years but is under the age of 25 years and
        is a full-time student- and would, but for the injury or death of that
        person, be wholly, mainly or in part dependent on that person for
        economic support but does not include a child who has a spouse or
        domestic partner;

dependent partner in relation to a person means the person's partner, if the
partner would but for injury or death of that person-

   (a)  be wholly, mainly or in part dependent on that person for economic
        support; or

   (b)  be wholly dependant on the person for the care of the children of the
        partner or of that person;

disability service means the provision to or for a person who is disabled as a
result of an injury in a transport accident of any service (other than a
rehabilitation service or a hospital service) relating to attendant care,
assistance, accommodation support, community access, respite care or household
help, the provision of which service is an authorised service in accordance
with section 23; domestic partner of a person means-

   (a)  a person who is in a registered relationship with the person; or

   (b)  a person to whom the person is not married but with whom the person is
        living as a couple on a genuine domestic basis (irrespective of
        gender);

driver in relation to a motor car or motor vehicle, includes a person who is
in charge of the motor car or motor vehicle;

earner means an earner within the meaning of subsection (2) and, in sections
57 and 58, includes a person who1-

   (a)  receives or received the newstart allowance, the job search allowance
        or the sickness allowance under the Commonwealth Social Security Act
        1991; or

   (b)  receives or received any benefit or allowance under the Commonwealth
        Social Security Act 1991 which is prescribed for the purposes of this
        definition-

* * * * * during a period or periods equal to at least 26 weeks during the 2
years immediately preceding the transport accident; employer superannuation
contribution has the same meaning as it has in section 5(1) of the
Accident Compensation Act 1985;



financial year means the period of 12 months commencing on each 1 July and
includes the period commencing on the day on which Part 2 comes into operation
and ending on 30 June next after that day;

Fund means the Transport Accident Fund;

highway has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Road Safety Act 1986;



hospital means-

   (a)  a public hospital, denominational hospital, private hospital or day
        procedure centre within the meaning of the Health Services Act 1988;
        or

   (b)  an approved mental health service within the meaning of the
        Mental Health Act 1986; or

   (c)  a hospital within the meaning of a law of another State or of a
        Territory; or

   (d)  a place within Australia declared by Order of the Governor in Council
        to be a hospital for the purposes of this Act;

hospital service includes-

   (a)  maintenance, attendance and treatment in any hospital; and

   (b)  the provision by any hospital of-

   (i)  medical attendance and treatment; and

   (ii) nursing attendance; and

   (iii) medicines, medical, surgical and other curative materials, appliances
        or apparatus; and

   (iv) any other usual or necessary services provided by a hospital with
        respect to the treatment of the injury of a person; individual funding
        agreement means an agreement made under section 61A;



injury, except in Part 10, means physical or mental injury and includes
nervous shock suffered by a person who was directly involved in the transport
accident or who witnessed the transport accident or the immediate aftermath of
the transport accident;

manage, in relation to a railway or tramway, means responsible for providing
access to railway trains or trams to operate on the railway or tramway;

medical practitioner means a medical practitioner registered under the
Health Professions Registration Act 2005 and, in relation to anything done for
the purposes of this Act in a place outside Victoria, includes a medical
practitioner who is lawfully qualified under a law in force in that place to
do that thing;

medical service, except in Part 10, includes-

   (a)  attendance, examination or treatment of any kind by a medical
        practitioner, registered dentist, registered optometrist, registered
        physiotherapist, registered chiropractor and osteopath or registered
        podiatrist; and

   (b)  attendance, examination or treatment of any kind by a registered
        psychologist on referral from a medical practitioner; and

   (ba) the provision of acupuncture by a person registered as an
        acupuncturist under the Health Professions Registration Act 2005 or
        whose registration is endorsed to practise acupuncture under that Act;
        and

   (c)  the provision, and as may be necessary from time to time (including at
        the time of an injury) the repair, adjustment or replacement of
        skiagrams, artificial members, eyes or teeth, spectacle glasses,
        hearing aids, orthoses or mobility aides; and

   (d)  the provision by a registered pharmacist on the request of a medical
        practitioner or registered dentist of medicines or curative apparatus,
        appliances or materials; and

   (e)  the provision by a medical practitioner, registered dentist,
        registered optometrist, registered physiotherapist, registered
        chiropractor, registered osteopath or registered podiatrist of any
        certificate required by the person, the person's dependants or the
        Commission for any purpose relating to the operation of this Act or
        any report authorised by the Commission; and

   (f)  the provision, at the request of a medical practitioner, hospital or
        provider of a hospital service, of special food or a special food
        formula; and

   (g)  the provision, at the request of a medical practitioner, of room
        temperature control equipment for a person who is unable to adequately
        regulate his or her own body temperature; and

   (h)  the provision, at the request of a medical practitioner, of equipment
        intended to treat or stabilize any injury or condition resulting from
        a transport accident; Examples Examples of equipment referred to in
        paragraph (h) include life support equipment, ventilators and special
        lighting.

   (i)  the provision of anything needed to operate, run, maintain or repair
        any equipment referred to in paragraph (g) or (h); Examples Examples
        of things referred to in paragraph (i) include electricity, water,
        lubricating oil and replacement filters and batteries. Note Paragraphs
        (f) to (i) only apply to services provided on or after the date of
        commencement of section 26 of the Accident Compensation and Transport
        Accident Acts (Amendment) Act 2003-see section 179. member of the
        immediate family of a person means a partner, parent, child or sibling
        of the person;



minor means a person who-

   (a)  has not attained the age of 18 years; and

   (b)  is not an earner; mobility aides include crutches, wheelchairs and
        mobility scooters, but does not include motor vehicles;

motor car means-

   (a)  a motor car within the meaning of the Motor Car Act 1958; and

   (b)  except in Part 10, a recreation vehicle;

motor vehicle means a motor vehicle within the meaning of section 3(1) of the
Road Safety Act 1986;

nursing service means a nursing service rendered by a registered nurse
otherwise than at a hospital or as a member of the nursing staff of a
hospital;

* * * * *







* * * * *





owner-

   (a)  in relation to a motor car, has the same meaning as in the Motor Car
        Act 1958;

   (b)  in relation to a motor vehicle, has the same meaning as in
        section 3(1) of the Road Safety Act 1986;

partner means-

   (a)  in relation to a person who died before the commencement of section 4
        of the Statute Law Amendment (Relationships) Act 2001- (i) the spouse
        of the person at the time of death; or

   (ii) a person of the opposite sex who, though not married to the person,
        lived with the person at the time of death on a permanent and bona
        fide domestic basis;

   (b)  in relation to a person who was injured as a result of a transport
        accident that occurred before the commencement of section 4 of the
        Statute Law Amendment (Relationships) Act 2001 but who did not die
        before that commencement-

   (i)  for the purposes of sections 43(1D) and 62-

                (A)  the spouse of the person; or

                (B)  a person of the opposite sex who, though not married to
                     the person, lives with the person on a permanent and bona
                     fide domestic basis;

   (ii) for the other purposes of the Act-the spouse or domestic partner of
        the person;

   (c)  in relation to any other person-the spouse or domestic partner of the
        person;

pension age means the age at which a person becomes eligible (subject to
satisfying any other requirements) to an age pension under the Commonwealth
Social Security Act 1991; post acute support means the provision of assistance
to, or for, a person who requires support in personal care, mobility,
transfers, banking or shopping after being discharged from a hospital; primary
care-giver means a person who provides care and attention to another person on
a daily basis for a total of at least 20 hours a week; private health insurer
has the same meaning as in the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 of the
Commonwealth;

railway train means a railway locomotive, railway carriage or other railway
rolling stock but does not include any of those things that-

   (a)  form part of powered equipment operated for hire or reward; and

   (b)  provide entertainment or amusement through movement of the equipment,
        or part of the equipment, or when passengers travel on, around or
        along the equipment;

reasonable, in respect of costs, expenses or fees of a service or provision
means reasonable having regard to-

   (a)  costs, expenses or fees determined by the Commission as a reasonable
        amount in relation to that service or provision; and

   (b)  the amount (if any) specified in, or an amount determined in
        accordance with a method specified in, an Order of the Governor in
        Council made on the recommendation of the Commission and published in
        the Government Gazette, as the maximum amount of costs, expenses or
        fees payable in respect of that service or provision, which maximum
        amount must not be less than the amount of the fee specified in a
        Table within the meaning of the Health Insurance Act 1973 of the
        Commonwealth applicable in respect of a service or provision of that
        kind provided in Victoria; and

   (c)  the determination by the Commission of reasonable costs or expenses
        of, or fees for, the service or provision having regard to-

   (i)  the service or provision actually rendered; and

   (ii) the necessity of the service or provision, or of the incurring of the
        expense, in the circumstances;

recreation vehicle-

   (a)  for the purposes of Part 10, has the same meaning as in section 86 of
        the Transport Act 1983; and

   (b)  otherwise, means a motor cycle that is of a class of motor cycle
        eligible to be registered under the Road Safety Act 1986 for a fee
        that is lower than the registration fee for other classes of motor
        cycle;

* * * * *





registered motor vehicle means-

   (a)  a motor vehicle that is registered in accordance with the
        Road Safety Act 1986; or

   (b)  a motor vehicle that is not so registered and is not registered under
        the law of another State or Territory but is usually kept in Victoria
        and is not exempt from registration in accordance with Part 2 of the
        Road Safety Act 1986 or the regulations made under that Act; or

   (ba) a motor vehicle that is not so registered because it is exempt from
        registration in accordance with Part 2 of the Road Safety Act 1986 or
        the regulations made under that Act as a visiting overseas motor
        vehicle; or

   (c)  a motor vehicle in respect of which a registration permit granted in
        accordance with the regulations made under that Act is in force; or

* * * * *

   (e)  a motor vehicle registered with a Registration Authority in Victoria
        under the Interstate Road Transport Act 1985 of the Commonwealth or,
        if that Act is amended, that Act as amended and in force for the time
        being;

registered psychologist means a psychologist registered under section 6 of the
Health Professions Registration Act 2005;





rehabilitation service means the provision to or for a person for the purpose
of rehabilitation of any aid, treatment, counselling, appliance, apparatus or
other service (other than a disability service or a hospital service), the
provision of which is an authorised service in accordance with section 23;

school has the same meaning as it has in the
Education and Training Reform Act 2006;



self-insurer has the same meaning as in the Accident Compensation Act 1985;

severe injury, except in Part 6, means-

   (a)  a significant acquired brain injury, paraplegia, quadriplegia,
        amputation of a limb, or burns to more than 50% of the body; or

   (b)  any other injury specified by the regulations for the purposes of this
        definition;

spouse in relation to a person means a person to whom the person is married;

supported accommodation means-

   (a)  a residential facility in which residential care is provided under the
        Aged Care Act 1997 of the Commonwealth;

   (b)  a supported residential service within the meaning of section 3(1) of
        the Health Services Act 1988;

   (c)  a community residential unit within the meaning of section 3(1) of the
        Disability Act 2006;

   (d)  a group home or other residential facility approved by the Commission
        for the purposes of section 60; supported employment program means a
        program designed to promote and enhance the independence of a person
        with a severe injury by assisting the person's return to paid
        employment where the person needs ongoing support to obtain, or to
        perform and retain, that employment;

surviving partner of a person who dies as a result of a transport accident,
means a dependent partner of the person;



Territory means a Territory referred to in section 122 of the Constitution of
the Commonwealth;

tram includes tram-motor and tram-car;

transport accident means an incident directly caused by the driving of a motor
car or motor vehicle, a railway train or a tram2;





transportation costs means costs incurred travelling to or from-

   (a)  a rehabilitation service; or

   (b)  an approved program of disability services the provision of which is
        authorised in accordance with section 23; or

   (c)  a vocational rehabilitation service; or

   (d)  a school by a student, including transportation costs incurred by a
        parent or guardian of the student in transporting the student to or
        from the school where the student is unable to travel to or from the
        school by his or her usual pre-transport accident means because of the
        injury sustained by the student in the transport accident;

Tribunal means Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal established by the
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998; vocational
rehabilitation service means any of the following services provided by a
person who is approved by the Commission as a provider of a vocational
rehabilitation service-

   (a)  initial rehabilitation assessment;

   (b)  functional assessment;

   (c)  workplace assessment;

   (d)  job analysis;

   (e)  advice concerning job modification;

   (f)  vocational rehabilitation counselling;

   (g)  vocational assessment;

   (h)  advice or assistance concerning job-seeking;

   (i)  vocational re-education;

   (j)  advice or assistance in arranging vocational re-education;

   (k)  preparation of a return to work plan;

   (l)  the provision of aids, appliances, apparatus or other material likely
        to facilitate the return to work of a person after an injury;

   (m)  modification to a work station or equipment used by a person that is
        likely to facilitate the return to work of the person after an injury;

   (n)  any other service authorised by the Commission- but does not include a
        disability service, a hospital service or a rehabilitation service;

worker has the same meaning as in the Accident Compensation Act 1985.

(1A) For the purposes of the definition of transport accident in section 3(1)
an incident includes an incident3-

   (a)  involving a motor vehicle, a railway train or a tram which is out of
        control;

   (b)  involving a collision between a pedal cycle and an open or opening
        door of a motor vehicle;

   (c)  involving a collision between a pedal cycle and a motor vehicle while
        the cyclist is travelling to or from his or her place of employment.



* * * * *





(2) A person who is injured or dies in or as a result of a transport accident
is an earner for the purposes of this Act if the person is at least 15 years
of age or is exempt under section 74G of the Community Services Act 1970 from
attendance at school and is a person in respect of whom a permit or licence
has been granted under section 13 of the Child Employment Act 2003 and-

   (a)  was in full-time or part-time employment as an employed or
        self-employed person-

   (i)  at any time during the eight weeks immediately preceding the accident;
        or

   (ii) during a period or periods equal to at least 13 weeks during the year
        immediately preceding the accident; or

   (iii) during a period or periods equal to at least 26 weeks during the two
        years immediately preceding the accident-

and, at the date of the accident, had not retired permanently from all
employment; or

   (b)  before the accident, had entered into an arrangement (whether or not
        an enforceable contract)-

   (i)  with an employer or other person to undertake employment; or

   (ii) to commence business as a self-employed person-

at a particular time and place; or

   (c)  was receiving a weekly payment or other payment in respect of the loss
        of earnings under this Act, the Accident Compensation Act 1985 or a
        law referred to in section 37(1).

(2A) The definition of injury as amended by section 3(3)(b) of the Transport
Accident (Amendment) Act 2000 applies to and in respect of a transport
accident which occurs on or after the commencement of that section.



(3) In this Act-

   (a)  a reference to an injury or death (not being a reference to the death
        of a dependent partner or dependent child of a deceased person) is a
        reference to an injury or death, as the case may be, caused by a
        transport accident4; and

   (b)  a reference to a person who is injured or dies (not being a reference
        to a dependent partner or dependent child of a deceased person) is a
        reference to a person who sustains injuries that were, or whose death
        was, as the case may be, caused by a transport accident5; and

   (c)  a reference to an injury or death in or as a result of or resulting
        from a transport accident, or to a person who is injured or dies in or
        as a result of a transport accident, is a reference to an injury or
        death directly caused by the driving of a motor vehicle, a railway
        train or a tram or to a person who sustains injuries that were, or
        whose death was, directly caused by the driving of a motor vehicle, a
        railway train or a tram6.

(4) If an injury resulting from a transport accident does not manifest itself
at the time of the accident, a reference in this Act to 18 months after the
accident is a reference to 18 months after the injury first manifests itself.

(5) For the purposes of this Act-

   (a)  a reference to damages includes a reference to an amount paid under a
        compromise or settlement of a claim for damages and, except in section
        93, includes a reference to compensation and to an amount paid under a
        compromise or settlement of a claim for compensation, whether legal
        proceedings had been instituted or not but does not include a
        reference to an amount paid in respect of costs incurred in connexion
        with legal proceedings; and

   (b)  damages shall be deemed to have been recovered in respect of a person
        who is injured or dies when the amount of the damages is paid to or
        for the benefit of that person or the partner or child of that person;
        and

   (c)  a reference to a person who is injured or dies includes, if that
        person is dead, a reference to the legal personal representative of
        the person.

(6) For the purposes of the definition of domestic partner in subsection (1)-

   (a)  registered relationship has the same meaning as in the
        Relationships Act 2008; and

   (b)  in determining whether persons who are not in a registered
        relationship are domestic partners of each other, all the
        circumstances of their relationship are to be taken into account,
        including any one or more of the matters referred to in section 35(2)
        of the Relationships Act 2008 as may be relevant in a particular case.

(7) The Governor in Council may, by Order published in the Government Gazette,
declare any motor vehicle or class of motor vehicles not to be a recreation
vehicle or recreation vehicles for the purposes of this Act.





(8) The definition of transport accident as amended by section 4(1) of the
Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 2000 applies to and in respect of any claim
arising out of the transport accident which occurred on 7 February 1997
involving the pedal cycle of Mr Dale Sheppard as if the definition as amended
by that section was in force when that transport accident occurred and this
Act has effect accordingly.

(9) A reference to the payment of compensation to a person by the Commission
in this Act includes a reference to any amount paid in advance in respect of
compensation by the Commission to the person under an agreement authorised by
this Act.