Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Transport Accident Act 1986 - SECT 60

Medical and like benefits

60. Medical and like benefits



(1) This section specifies amounts that the Commission is liable to pay as
compensation in addition to any other compensation paid under this Act.









(1A) The Commission is only liable to pay compensation under this section for
the expenses and costs incurred in the following periods-

   (a)  if the application for compensation is made within 3 years after the
        date of the transport accident, the period between the date of the
        accident and the date the application is granted; or

   (b)  in any other case, the period of 2 years immediately before the
        application is made.

Note Subsection (1A) applies in respect of all applications for compensation
made on or after 1 January 2001-see section 181(2).

(2) The Commission is liable to pay as compensation to a person who is injured
or in respect of a person who dies as a result of a transport accident-

   (a)  the reasonable costs of road accident rescue services,
        medical services, hospital services, nursing services, disability
        services, rehabilitation services, transportation costs and ambulance
        services received in Australia because of the transport accident; and

   (b)  the reasonable costs of attendant care services that would be
        otherwise payable under paragraph (a) if the injured person had
        received those services in Australia because of the transport
        accident, if the injured person receives those services while
        travelling overseas for a period of not more than 8 weeks in any year;
        and

   (c)  if the person, in the 30 days before the transport accident, was
        engaged in the care of a child and did not receive salary or wages in
        respect of that care, the reasonable costs incurred after the
        transport accident in employing, during the first 5 years after the
        death or injury, an authorised person to undertake in Australia care
        of the child, but payment is not to be made in respect of more than-

   (i)  if, at the time of the accident, the person was in full-time paid
        employment for 35 hours or more per week, a total of 10 hours per week
        of child care services;

   (ii) if, at the time of the accident, the person was in paid employment for
        less than 35 hours per week, a total of x hours per week of child care
        services where "x" is-

                (A)  if the result of the following calculation is less than
                     40- 10 + (35 - the number of hours per week of paid
                     employment)- that number; or

                (B)  in any other case, 40;

   (iii) in any other case a total of 40 hours per week of child care
        services; and

   (ca) if the person, at the time of the transport accident, was the primary
        care-giver in respect of a disabled or elderly member of the immediate
        family of the person and did not receive salary or wages in respect of
        that care, the reasonable costs incurred after the transport accident
        in employing, during the first 12 weeks after the death or injury, an
        authorised person to undertake in Australia the primary care of that
        disabled or elderly member of the immediate family of the person; and

   (d)  the reasonable costs incurred after the transport accident in
        employing an authorised person to provide in Australia home services
        and post acute support during the first 5 years after the death or
        injury, but payment is not to be made in respect of more than a total
        of 40 hours per week of such services or support.

Note Paragraphs (c) and (d) only apply to a person who was injured in a
transport accident that occurred on or after the date of commencement of
section 15 of the Transport Accident (Amendment) Act 2004-see section 192.

(2AA) If a person is entitled to payments under both subsections (2)(c) and
(2)(d), the payments are not to be made for more than a combined total of 40
hours per week of the services or support referred to in those subsections.

(2AB) For the purposes of subsection (2)(c), a woman who was pregnant at the
time she was injured as a result of a transport accident is deemed to have
been engaged in the care of a child in the 30 days before the transport
accident.





(2AC) With respect to subsection (2)(d)-

   (a)  the 5 year limit does not apply to a person who has a severe injury;
        and

   (b)  in determining the reasonable cost of home services, the Commission
        may have regard to the capacity of other members of the person's
        household to carry out such services.

(2A) The Commission is liable to pay as compensation in respect of a person
who is injured or dies as a result of a transport accident-

   (a)  where death or severe injury results from the transport accident, the
        reasonable costs incurred in Australia of family counselling services
        provided to any member of the immediate family of the person who is
        injured or dies by a medical practitioner, a registered psychologist
        or a person who is authorised under section 23 to provide a service
        for the purposes of this subsection not exceeding $5000 in respect of
        that death or severe injury; and

   (b)  where death results from the transport accident, the reasonable costs
        incurred in Australia of burial or cremation.













(2B) In this section-







* * * * *







parent of a dependant child includes-

   (a)  a person who has day to day care and control of the child and with
        whom the child is ordinarily resident;

   (b)  a guardian of the child.



* * * * *



(2BA) The Commission is liable to pay as compensation to an earner who is
injured as a result of a transport accident the reasonable costs of travelling
to and from work for up to 12 weeks after first returning to work after the
accident if the earner is unable, because of the injuries received as a result
of the accident, to undertake that travel in the way that he or she usually
did before the accident, but the total payment made under this subsection to
the earner as a result of the accident is not to exceed $1000.

(2C) If a parent of a dependent child injured and admitted to hospital as a
result of a transport accident incurs reasonable travelling or accommodation
expenses by reason of visiting the dependent child in the hospital, the
Commission is, subject to this Act, liable to pay as compensation, payments in
respect of those expenses.

(2D) Subsection (2E) applies if-

   (a)  a person is injured and admitted as an in-patient in a hospital as a
        result of a transport accident; and

   (b)  the hospital is located at least 100 kilometres from the normal
        residence of members of the immediate family of the person referred to
        in paragraph (a); and

   (c)  members of the immediate family incur reasonable travelling or
        accommodation expenses by reason of visiting the person referred to in
        paragraph (a).

(2E) The Commission is, subject to this Act, liable to pay as compensation to
the members of the immediate family payments not exceeding $5000 in total in
respect of the expenses referred to in subsection (2D)(c).

(3) If a person, as a result of his or her transport accident injury,
reasonably requires a motor vehicle used by him or her in Australia to be
modified, the Commission is liable-

   (a)  to pay the reasonable costs of modifying the vehicle; or

   (b)  if the vehicle is not capable of being modified, to contribute a
        reasonable amount to the purchase cost of a suitably modified motor
        vehicle selected by the Commission.

(3A) If a person, as a result of his or her transport accident injury,
reasonably requires access to a motor vehicle, and he or she does not have
access to a motor vehicle, the Commission is liable to contribute a reasonable
amount to the purchase cost of a suitable motor vehicle selected by the
Commission.

(3B) Without limiting the factors the Commission may consider in determining
what is a reasonable amount for the purposes of subsections (3)(b) and (3A),
the Commission must have regard to any of the following factors that are
applicable-

   (a)  the market value now of the motor vehicle used by the person at the
        time of the accident;

   (b)  if that vehicle is no longer used by the person, the market value of
        the vehicle at the time of the accident;

   (c)  whether the person or, in the case of a minor, his or her parent or
        guardian, owned, leased or rented the vehicle;

   (d)  how often the person was using motor vehicles at the time of the
        accident;

   (e)  how often the person will, or is likely to, use a motor vehicle in
        future;

   (f)  the market value of any other motor vehicle that the person uses.

(4) If a person, as a result of his or her transport accident injury,
reasonably requires that a home in which he or she resides in Australia be
modified, the Commission is liable-

   (a)  to pay the reasonable costs of modifying the home; or

   (b)  if for any reason the home cannot be reasonably modified, to
        contribute a reasonable amount-

   (i)  to the purchase costs of a semi detachable portable unit; or

   (ii) to the costs of relocating the person to another home that is suitable
        for the person or that is capable of being reasonably modified.

(4A) Without limiting the factors the Commission may consider in determining
the reasonable costs or amount for the purposes of subsection (4), the
Commission must have regard to the following factors-

   (a)  whether the home in which the person resides is structurally suitable
        for modification;

   (b)  the nature of the person's injuries as a result of the accident;

   (c)  how those injuries restrict, or are likely to restrict, the person's
        ability-

   (i)  to enter and leave the home in which the person resides; and

   (ii) to move about the home for necessary purposes;

   (d)  the extent of the modifications that will be needed to address those
        restrictions or likely restrictions;

   (e)  any complex, unique or unusual circumstances associated with those
        modifications;

   (f)  whether the cost of those modifications is likely to exceed the value
        of the home in which the person resides.

(4B) If a person moves from a home that has modifications to which the
Commission made a contribution, in assessing whether to make a payment in
respect of modifications to the person's new home, the Commission must have
regard to the appropriateness of that home for modification, having regard to
all relevant circumstances, with respect to the modifications that are needed.

(5) The Commission must not make a payment or contribution under subsection
(3) or (4) which exceeds $10 000 or a greater amount as may be prescribed,
unless the person enters into an agreement with the Commission in relation to
the ownership of, and maintenance of modifications to, the motor vehicle, home
or semi-detachable portable unit.

(6) Without limiting what may be included in an agreement under subsection
(5), the agreement must include provisions in respect of-

   (a)  subsequent modifications;

   (b)  changes of ownership;

   (c)  the frequency of modifications and changes of ownership.

(7) Nothing in this section renders the Commission liable to pay as
compensation the cost of the provision to, or for, a person who is injured as
a result of a transport accident of any of the following things unless the
provision of a particular thing to the person is a medical service, or a
hospital service, provided as a result of the injury-





   (a)  accommodation (including accommodation-related costs such as rent,
        bonds, rates, accommodation costs levied in accordance with
        Commonwealth legislation, capital contributions and costs associated
        with the buying or selling of property, but not including the costs
        and contributions referred to in subsection (4));

   (b)  food or household or personal items;

   (c)  power, water or any other service provided by a utility;

   (d)  room temperature controls;

   (e)  any other thing specified by the regulations for the purposes of this
        subsection.

(8) Subsection (7) does not apply in the case of a person who is under 18
years of age and who, as a result of his or her injury, is unable to reside at
the place that he or she resided at before he or she was injured.

(9) Subsection (7) also does not apply to a person-

   (a)  who receives a hospital service as a result of a transport accident;
        and

   (b)  who is then discharged from hospital; and

   (c)  who then resides in supported accommodation-

during the first 18 months after the person is first discharged from hospital.

(10) For the purposes of subsection (9)-

(a) a person can only be "first" discharged once from hospital in relation to
a particular transport accident; and

   (b)  it does not matter if, during the relevant period, the person changes
        accommodation, or does not live continuously in accommodation of the
        sort listed in subsection (9)(c) (although in this latter case
        subsection (9) only applies to the person while he or she is living in
        accommodation of that sort); and

   (c)  the 18 month period referred to in subsection (9) is to be extended by
        the addition of any period during which a person is in a hospital
        receiving a hospital service after he or she is first discharged from
        hospital.

Note Subsections (7) to (10) only apply to applications for payment made after
the date of commencement of section 25 of the Accident Compensation and
Transport Accident Acts (Amendment) Act 2003-see section 181(1). Also, those
subsections do not apply to people who had been injured in a transport
accident before that date until the expiry of 18 months after that date-see
section 181(3).

(11) Subsection (7) also does not apply to a person while the person is
receiving respite care as a result of the injury.

(11A) Despite subsection (7), the Governor in Council may, by Order published
in the Government Gazette, fix limits in respect of contributions to be made
by a person towards the cost of supported accommodation.

(11B) An Order made under subsection (11A)-

   (a)  may fix limits that vary according to the type of supported
        accommodation in which a person is residing;

   (b)  takes effect on the date that the Order is published in the Government
        Gazette, or on a later date specified in the Order.

(12) The Commission must not make a payment under subsection (2) of more than
$5000 for any equipment or item of the sort described in paragraph (g), (h) or
(i) of the definition of medical service in section 3(1) unless the injured
person enters into an agreement with the Commission in relation to the
equipment or item.

(13) Without limiting what may be included in an agreement under subsection
(12), the agreement must include provisions in respect of-

   (a)  the ownership, operation and maintenance of the equipment or item; and

   (b)  changes of ownership of the equipment or item.