A new Personal Injury Commission (PIC) has been approved by the New South Wales Parliament in a bid to simplify the dispute resolution system for injured road users and workers who make compensation claims.

Currently, dispute resolution services are delivered by the Workers Compensation Commission and the State Insurance Regulatory Authority. The latter is in charge of the Dispute Resolution Service, the Motor Accidents Claims Assessment and Resolution Service, and the Motor Accidents Medical Assessment Service.

Under the legislation passed by Parliament, the functions of these multiple dispute resolution bodies will be transferred to PIC on March 01, 2021. That means the dispute resolution systems of the workers’ compensation and compulsory third party (CTP) insurance schemes will be merged into one independent tribunal.

“Making a compensation claim is already stressful enough, and this new Commission will put the claimant at the centre of the dispute resolution process,” stated Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello.

“The new single tribunal will help thousands of customers resolve their disputes each year. In 2019, around 7,000 applications were lodged in the Workers Compensation Commission and around 10,000 CTP applications were also lodged.”

According to Dominello, hours of consultation with scheme providers and industry stakeholders were completed to come up with PIC, which is aimed at delivering the best possible experience for claimants.

“The commission will have two specialist divisions to deal with workers’ compensation and motor accidents, with an independent judicial head,” noted the minister. “The purpose of the commission is to simplify the dispute resolution process and deal with disputes justly, quickly, and as cost-efficiently as possible.”