ByLawyers News and Updates

Courts and tribunals – 1 July fee increases and legislation updates

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1 July always sees legislative changes, including increases to court fees. Happy New (financial) Year!

The following are some of the important changes commencing 1 July 2018. By Lawyers publications in each state have been updated as appropriate.

LITIGATION, CRIMINAL LAW, FAMILY LAW & DECEASED ESTATES

All States

Fee increases apply in all courts and tribunals.

Injury claims – where damages for permanent impairment and/or non-economic loss are subject to statutory caps (e.g. motor accidents and workers compensation legislation) these maximum amounts have been updated.

Defamation – the maximum amount of damages for non-economic loss available under the Uniform Defamation Law is now $398,500.

VIC Supreme Court

All documents for Supreme Court Common Law, Commercial Court and Costs Court matters must now be electronically filed using the RedCrest electronic filing platform. Court users will need to register. See the Supreme Court page ‘Electronic filing and case management’ and the commentary in the By Lawyers Victorian Supreme Court Guide

 

Updates to Motor Vehicle Accidents NSW Guide

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Some helpful additions have been made to the commentary:

  • Effect of any settlement or award of damages on income protection policies;
  • Enhanced commentary on statutory benefits under the post-December 2017 scheme, including the critical definition of ‘minor injuries’, with further headings and content for improved readability;
  • Direct link to the ‘Apply for personal injury benefits’ page on the SIRA website, including SIRA’s simple ‘how-to’ video on claiming statutory benefits.

Motor Vehicle Accidents NSW – Post 1 December 2017 amendments

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The Motor Vehicle Accidents NSW Publication has been amended in relation to the new regime brought in by the the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 which commenced in full on 1 December 2017 and applies to all motor vehicle accidents occurring after that date. The Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 continues to apply to accidents prior to that date and there are accordingly two separate regimes operating for at least three years.

This comprehensive and easy to follow publication helps practitioners to navigate the convoluted and restrictive legislation which applies to motor accident claims in NSW. There are two separate Guides – one for accidents which occurred prior to 1 December 2017 and another for accidents occurring on or after 1 December 2017. Each Guide contains commentary, precedents and forms specific to the relevant statutory regime.

The new Guide is available to all LEAP cloud users and via subscription to the ByLawyers website.

NSW – Driver licence disqualifications – major changes

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ALERT: The Road Transport Amendment (Driver Licence Disqualification) Act 2017 commenced on 28 October 2017. It reduces some penalties for various driver licencing offence (notably it removes the automatic disqualification for driving unlicensed), it repeals the Habitual Traffic Offender declaration provisions entirely, it removes/amends mandatory minimum disqualifications and it creates an application to the Local Court to remove licence disqualifications after certain offence-free periods.

It is suggested that the last of these will likely create new/increased  work for lawyers in the Local Court.

NSW – Workers compensation – weekly benefits

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Injured workers in NSW who have been receiving weekly benefits for more than five years, risk losing their entitlement from September 2017 unless they can establish a whole permanent impairment of at least 21%.  This assessment can only be achieved by obtaining a Medical Assessment Certificate via the Workers Compensation Commission. Note this assessment cannot be obtained by agreement with the insurer.

Practitioners should be aware that these workers are being contacted by the insurers about this issue and may therefore contact their lawyer seeking advice. Funding for the provision of advice and medical assessment can be obtained from the Workers Compensation Independent Review office (WIRO).

NB: Injured workers and employers may also be contacted by insurers or icare to notify them of changes, as two insurance companies (CGU and QBE) are no longer providing claims service to workers compensation at 31 December 2017. This is a purely administrative change.

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