The Standing Committee on Law and Justice has an ongoing role to review the exercise of the functions of the Motor Accidents Authority (MAA) and the Motor Accidents Council (MAC). The MAA is a statutory corporation that regulates the NSW Motor Accidents Scheme. It was established under the Motor Accidents Act 1988 on 10 March 1989 and continues to be constituted under the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999.
Section 210 of the latter Act provides that a committee of the Legislative Council is to be charged with the responsibility of supervising the exercise of the functions of the MAA and the MAC. The Legislative Council appointed the Standing Committee on Law and Justice to undertake this role in November 1999 and has reappointed the Law and Justice Committee in the current Parliament. The text of the resolution appointing the Committee is set out under the heading 'Inquiry Terms of Reference.'
This year's review is the Committee's seventh review of the exercise of the functions of the MAA and the MAC.
The review formally commenced on 17 November 2005. The Minister's response to the sixth review was tabled on 21 November 2005 and is available below. The 2004-2005 Annual Report of the MAA has also been tabled and is also available below.
In previous years the Committee has considered a range of issues including the efficiency of the motor accidents compensation scheme, the performance of the Motor Accidents Assessment Service and the Claims Assessment Resolution Service, insurer profitability, trends in motor accident compensation claims, the road safety initiatives of the MAA and the cost of compulsory third party motor accident insurance. The terms of reference for the inquiry prevent the Committee from inquiring into particular compensation claims.
Submissions to the Seventh Review have now closed. Submissions published by the Committee are available on this web-site.
The Committee held a public hearing on Friday 31 March 2006. Representatives of the MAA, the MAC, the Insurance Council of Australia and the NSW Bar Association attended to give evidence. The MAA made a presentation on insurer profitability in the NSW CTP scheme. The transcript of the hearing is available below.
The Committee tabled its report on 20 September 2006. The report is available below.http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lawandjustice
Legislative Council Committee Report Debate, 20 September 2006
