The Act creates specific powers, duties and entitlements distributed among the Authority, participants, insurers, providers, the Minister and the Treasurer. Below are the principal ones, with section references.
Authority duties and powers. The Authority must administer the Scheme and the Fund, monitor operation, advise the Minister, maintain LSS Rules under review, disseminate information and fund programs, research and education (s 16). The Authority is required to establish the Fund and apply it to Scheme payments, costs of administration, dispute resolution and related duties (s 42(1)-(3)). The Authority must determine assessed treatment, care and support needs, certify assessments in writing and give participants a copy with reasons (ss 27(1)-(2), 30(3)). It may approve providers, set conditions, vary or revoke approvals, and enforce conditions with penalties (s 29).
Participant rights and duties. A participant has a statutory right to payment by the Authority for necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in relation to assessed treatment, care and support needs while a person is a participant in the Scheme (s 27(1)). Participants must comply with reasonable requests from the Authority or assessors in connection with assessments, including medical or other examinations (s 31). Participants may apply to have assessments reviewed by an expert review panel and may seek Tribunal review of review officer decisions within set timeframes (ss 34(1), 35(1), 38(1)-(3)). A participant accepted as a lifetime participant remains a participant for life (s 26(5)).
Insurer and nominal defendant duties and rights. Insurers and the nominal defendant can apply to have a person accepted into the Scheme, and such applications do not require the injured person’s consent (s 25(1)(b), (2)). Insurers must provide information obtained under the Motor Vehicles Act to the Authority (s 48(2)). Under the amended Motor Vehicles Act, insurers may be liable to pay treatment, care and support costs in relation to persons under 16 in certain circumstances, and insurers and nominal defendant cost liabilities and claim procedures are regulated by inserted provisions such as ss 126A, 127B, 127C (Schedule 2 Part 4).
Funding duties. The Authority must determine an amount required to be contributed to the Fund before each relevant period, using an independent actuary’s report after consulting the Treasurer, and must furnish that determination to the Minister (s 43(1)-(3)). The Minister, after consultation with the Treasurer, determines the required fund contribution (s 43(4)). The LSS Fund levy is then imposed on all persons applying for registration, exemptions or permits under the Motor Vehicles Act, and that levy is collected by the Registrar and remitted to the Authority with allowance for administration expenses retained by the Registrar as set by the Treasurer (s 44(1)-(6)).
Recovery rights. The Authority is entitled to recover, as a debt, the present value of its treatment and care liabilities from the appropriate person if an injury was caused by the fault of an owner or driver whose vehicle was not insured under State law at the time, subject to reductions for contributory negligence and statutory defences (s 45). The Authority can also exercise rights of recovery where an insurer or nominal defendant has a right against a relevant person under designated sections of the Motor Vehicles Act, substituting the Authority into those rights (s 46).
Rule‑making and discretion. The Governor may make LSS Rules on the Authority’s recommendation, and the Rules can be general or limited in application, incorporate external documents, and make different provision by person or circumstance, and may permit matters to be determined according to the discretion of the Minister or the Authority (s 56(1)-(3)). The LSS Rules are exempted from certain subordinate legislation requirements (s 56(4)) and come into operation on the day made or a later fixed date (s 56(5)).
Information and confidentiality. The Authority may disclose information about participants’ treatment and support needs and related expenses as it thinks fit, subject to any conditions it imposes (s 48(1)). Insurers are authorised to disclose information they hold under the Motor Vehicles Act to the Authority (s 48(2)).
Enforcement, penalties and immunities. The Act prescribes penalties for failing to comply with certain requirements, such as $10 000 for approved providers who contravene a condition without reasonable excuse (s 29(4)), and $10 000 for providing false or misleading information to the Authority (s 51). Failure to comply with a review officer or expert panel summon is a $5 000 penalty (s 34(6), Schedule 1 cl 6(5)). Assessors, review officers and expert panel members enjoy immunity for acts done in good faith, with liability transferring to the Crown (s 49).
Rights to review and appeal. Interested parties have internal review by review officers for certain determinations, then Tribunal review within prescribed periods (ss 34-35). Eligibility disputes and medical matters may be referred to expert review panels, whose determinations are certified and final for the purposes of the Act, subject to judicial review (ss 36-38, Schedule 1).
The Act therefore sets a network of administrative duties and rights: the Authority must assess and fund necessary and reasonable care within Rule and LSS Rules limits, participants have cooperation duties but a statutory entitlement while participants, insurers face data and procedural obligations, and the Minister and Treasurer retain key fiscal and policy decision roles through determinations, consultations, loans and guarantees.