18Interest on damages

#### 18 Interest on damages 18 Interest on damages > > (1) A court cannot order the payment of interest on damages awarded for any of the following— > > > > > (a) non-economic loss, > > > > > (b) gratuitous attendant care services as defined in section 15 (other than gratuitous attendant care services to which section 15A applies), > > > > > (c) loss of a claimant’s capacity to provide gratuitous domestic services to the claimant’s dependants (as provided by section 15B). > > > (2) If a court is satisfied that interest is payable on damages (other than damages in respect of which a court cannot order the payment of interest under subsection (1)), the amount of interest is to be calculated— > > > > > (a) for the period from when the loss to which the damages relate was first incurred until the date on which the court determines the damages, and > > > > > (b) in accordance with the principles ordinarily applied by the court for that purpose, subject to subsection (3). > > > (3) The rate of interest to be used in any such calculation is— > > > > > (a) such interest rate as may be determined by the regulations, or > > > > > (b) if no such rate is determined by the regulations—the relevant interest rate as at the date of determination of the damages. > > > (4) For the purposes of subsection (3), the relevant interest rate is the rate representing the Commonwealth Government 10-year benchmark bond rate as published by the Reserve Bank of Australia in the *Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin* (however described) and as applying— > > > > > (a) on the first business day of January of each year (in which case the rate is to apply as the relevant interest rate for the period from 1 March until 31 August of that year), or > > > > > (b) on the first business day of July of each year (in which case the rate is to apply as the relevant interest rate for the period from 1 September of that year until the last day of February of the following year). > > > (5) Nothing in this section affects the payment of interest on a debt under a judgment or order of a court. > > **s 18:** Am 2006 No 55, Sch 1 \[12\] \[13\].