On 1 March 2021 the Personal Injury Commission (PIC) commenced. The PIC was established by the Personal Injury Compensation Act 2020. It incorporates the Workers Compensation Commission and the Dispute Resolution Service. The dispute resolution service as was previously part of the Motor Accidents Authority.
The PIC is designed to assist injured people who have been involved in work accidents or motor vehicle accidents.
The president of the commission is His Honour Judge Gerard Phillips, and the deputy presidents are Mr Michael Smell and Ms Elizabeth Wood.
New rules and procedures have been developed for how the PIC will work. They incorporate many of the features of the previous Workers Compensation Commission and the Dispute Resolution Service, with all entitlements and benefits remaining the same for workers compensation claims and CTP claims.
During COVID-19 the Workers Compensation Commission generally dealt with matters by way of telephone or video link. The Personal Injury Commission is continuing this process.
The Workers Compensation Commission had a proud history of sitting in regional and rural areas throughout New South Wales. It will be interesting to see if the PIC does restore face to face hearings when the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided. Restoring face to face hearings would be beneficial to many injured people particularly those in remote areas.
Here is a link to the Personal Injury Compensation Act.
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