NTIn ForceAct
Motor Accidents (Compensation) Act 1979
14Benefits payable to young persons
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 14
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Motor Accidents (Compensation) Act 1979.
14 Benefits payable to young persons
(1) A person who would have been entitled to a benefit under
section 13 had the person suffered a reduction of earning capacity
but who, at the time of the relevant accident:
(a) had not attained the age of 15 years; or
(b) had attained that age but was a full-time student at a school,
college or university:
(i) there being, in the opinion of the Commission, no
substantial break in the continuation of the person
studies;
(ii) who was not married or in a relationship that, in the
opinion of the Commission, was a de facto relationship;
and
(iii) whose earnings from personal exertion (either physical
or mental) in the 3 months to that time did not exceed
25% of what, in the opinion of the Commission, were the
average earnings during that period of wage earners in
the Territory,
shall not receive a benefit under that section except in respect of a
period commencing on the date on which:
(c) the person attains the age of 15 years; or
(d) the person ceases to be a full-time student or sooner marries
or enters a relationship that, in the opinion of the Commission,
is a de facto relationship,
whichever is the later, and on so attaining that age, ceasing to be a
full-time student or marrying or entering that relationship, as the
case may be, the person shall be deemed to have suffered a
reduction in earning capacity for the purposes of, and to be entitled
to a benefit under, that section.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the amount of benefit payable under
section 13 to a person entitled or deemed to be entitled to receive
such a benefit but who has not attained the age of 21 years and is
not married is, in respect of that period while the person remains of
the age indicated in Column 1 of the following Table the relevant
Part 4 Payments in respect of injuries
Division 1 General benefits
Motor Accidents (Compensation) Act 1979 22
percentage, indicated in Column 2 of the Table and set out opposite
the age in Column 1, of the amount that would otherwise be
payable to the person under section 13:
TABLE
Column 1 Column 2
Age Percentage
15 40
16 55
17 60
18 70
19 80
20 90
(3) A person referred to in subsection (2) who:
(a) marries; or
(b) enters a relationship that, in the opinion of the Commission, is
a de facto relationship; or
(c) has a child or other person primarily dependent on the person
for financial support,
shall be entitled to the full amount of benefit calculated in
accordance with section 13 in respect of the period commencing on
the date of the marriage, establishment of the relationship or
commencement of the dependence, as the case may be.