Part 7The Fund

Part 7—The Fund Division 1—Establishment of Fund 42—Lifetime Support Scheme Fund (1) The Authority must establish and maintain a fund entitled the Lifetime Support Scheme Fund. (2) The Fund will consist of— (a) the levies paid to the Authority under this Part; and (b) any income and accretions produced by the investment of money from the Fund; and (c) any money advanced to the Authority for the purposes of the Fund; and (d) other money received by the Authority under, or in connection with, this Act; and (e) other money required to be paid into the Fund by or under this or any other Act. (3) The Fund is to be applied towards— (a) all payments required to be made by the Authority for the purposes of Part 4; and (b) the costs incurred by the Authority in performing its functions under this Act; and (c) the costs of the system of assessment, dispute resolution or review under this Act; and (d) without limiting paragraph (c), a contribution to the costs associated with the establishment and operation of expert review panels, determined by the Minister from time to time after consultation with the Authority; and (e) the duty imposed under Part 3 Division 11 of the Stamp Duties Act 1923; and (f) any other costs or liabilities prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection; and (g) all other money required or authorised by or under this or any other Act to be paid from the Fund. (4) The Authority may invest money that is not immediately required for the purposes of the Fund as the Authority thinks fit. (5) The Treasurer may, until there are sufficient funds in the Fund to meet the liabilities of the Fund, or at any other time considered appropriate by the Treasurer, lend money (from time to time) to the Authority on such terms and conditions as the Treasurer may determine. (6) The Treasurer may charge a fee of such amount as the Treasurer thinks fit in respect of any loan made to the Authority under subsection (5). Division 2—Contributions associated with motor vehicle injuries 43—Determination by Authority of amount to be contributed to Fund (1) The Authority is to determine, before the beginning of each relevant period, an amount that the Authority considers is required to be contributed to the Fund— (a) to fund the present and likely future liabilities of the Authority under Part 4 in respect of persons who become participants in the Scheme in respect of motor vehicle injuries suffered during that period; and (b) to meet the payments required to be made from the Fund (other than excluded payments or payments under Part 4) during that period (to the extent that liability for any such payment has not been covered under paragraph (a)); and (c) to satisfy the requirement to make any payment of duty under Part 3 Division 11 of the Stamp Duties Act 1923 in relation to the relevant period; and (d) to make provision for such other matters as the Authority should, in all the circumstances, make provision for under this Division in connection with any liability of the Authority under this Act (including so as to make provision for any past liability that would otherwise be unfunded). (2) The Authority's determination in respect of a relevant period is to be made— (a) in accordance with a report of an independent actuary engaged by the Authority after consultation with the Treasurer to report to the Authority on the amount required to be contributed to the Fund as referred to in subsection (1); and (b) after applying any principle or requirement specified by the Minister by notice in the Gazette for the purposes of this section; and (c) after taking into account any other payments that may be made by another body or person in connection with the operation of this Act. (3) The Authority must, once it has made a determination under this section, embody the terms of that determination in a report furnished to the Minister before the beginning of the relevant period. (4) The Minister must, on receipt of a report under subsection (3) and after taking into account such matters (including matters not covered by the report) as the Minister thinks fit, after consultation with the Treasurer, determine an amount that should be paid to the Authority for contribution to the Fund for the relevant period (the required fund contribution). (5) If the Minister, in acting under subsection (4), makes a determination that is inconsistent with the determination embodied in the Authority's report under subsection (3), the Authority must include a report on the matter in its annual report. (6) In this section— excluded payments means any payments— (a) that relate to a person who is a participant in the Scheme under section 6; or (b) that relate to any other matter (if any) prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition; relevant period means a financial year or such other period as the Authority determines from time to time, after consultation with the Minister, to be a relevant period for the purposes of this section. (7) Relevant periods can be determined so as to overlap but there must be no gap between successive relevant periods and each relevant period must be no longer than 12 months. 44—LSS Fund levy (1) The required fund contribution for a relevant period is to be made by the payment to the Authority of a levy (the LSS Fund levy) that is imposed on all persons who apply for any of the following under the Motor Vehicles Act 1959: (a) the registration of a motor vehicle; (b) an exemption from registration in respect of a motor vehicle; (c) a permit in respect of a motor vehicle. (2) The LSS Fund levy payable by a person is to be an amount calculated under a scheme determined by the Minister after consultation with the Treasurer and the Authority, and the total of all LSS Fund levies with respect to a relevant period must aim to be an amount that will result in the required fund contribution for the relevant period being contributed to the Fund. (3) Without limiting subsection (2), a scheme under this section may provide for a differentiation that applies according to any classification or criteria determined by the Minister. (4) The amounts to be recovered under this section will be payable at the time of any application that falls within the ambit of subsection (1) and will be collected by the Registrar at the time that any such application is made. (5) The Registrar must, subject to subsection (6), pay to the Authority the LSS Fund levies collected by the Registrar under this section. (6) The Registrar will retain out of the amount to be paid to the Authority such administration expenses as are determined by the Treasurer for the purposes of this section. 45—Recovery of payments in respect of vehicles not insured under State law (1) The Authority is entitled to recover from the appropriate person as a debt due to the Authority the present value of its treatment, care and support liabilities in respect of the motor vehicle injury of a participant in the Scheme if— (a) the injury was caused by the fault of the owner or driver of a motor vehicle in the use or operation of the vehicle; and (b) at the time of a motor vehicle accident the motor vehicle was not insured in accordance with the requirements of Part 4 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959. (2) If the participant suffered the motor vehicle injury as a result of the participant's contributory negligence, the amount that the Authority is entitled to recover under this section is to be reduced in proportion to the participant's share in the responsibility for the injury. (3) If the participant suffered the motor vehicle injury as a result partly of the fault of a person (other than the owner or driver of a motor vehicle), the Authority is entitled to recover from that person as a debt due to the Authority such proportion of the present value of its treatment, care and support liabilities in respect of the injury as corresponds to the person's share in the responsibility for the injury. (4) The present value of the Authority's treatment, care and support liabilities in respect of a motor vehicle injury is the sum of the following amounts: (a) amounts already paid by the Authority under Part 4 in respect of the treatment, care and support needs associated with the injury; and (b) the present value of the amounts that the Authority estimates will be payable by the Authority in the future under Part 4 in respect of the treatment, care and support needs associated with the injury. (5) The appropriate person from whom the Authority may recover is the person who at the time of the motor vehicle accident was the owner of the motor vehicle or, if at that time some other person was driving the motor vehicle, the owner and the driver jointly or either of them severally. (6) It is a sufficient defence in any proceedings to recover under this section against the owner (whether severally or jointly with the driver) of a motor vehicle if the owner establishes to the satisfaction of the court that, at the time of the occurrence, some other person was driving the motor vehicle without the owner's authority. (7) It is a sufficient defence in any proceedings to recover under this section against the driver of a motor vehicle (whether severally or jointly with the owner) if the driver establishes to the satisfaction of the court that, at the time of the occurrence, the driver was driving the motor vehicle with the authority of the owner (or had reasonable grounds for believing and did in fact believe that the driver had such authority) and that the driver had reasonable grounds to believe and did in fact believe that the motor vehicle was insured in accordance with the requirements of Part 4 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959. (8) The Authority is not entitled to recover under this section from the owner or driver of a motor vehicle that, at the relevant time, was not required to be registered or was exempt from registration or, if required to be registered, was not required to be insured under the Motor Vehicles Act 1959. (9) The certificate of the Authority as to the present value of the Authority's treatment, care and support liabilities in respect of an injury is evidence of the matters certified for the purposes of any proceedings in connection with this section. (10) This section does not permit the Authority to recover the present value of its treatment, care and support liabilities in respect of injuries to a participant in the Scheme if the participant paid an amount to the Authority under section 6 in respect of those injuries. 46—Recovery in respect of persons in default (1) If— (a) an approved insurer or the nominal defendant has a right of recovery against a person (the relevant person) under a designated section; and (b) the person who suffered a bodily injury in relation to which the right of recovery applies becomes a participant in the Scheme, then the Authority may exercise the same right of recovery against the relevant person for the present value of its treatment, care and support liabilities in respect of the participant in the Scheme as the approved insurer or nominal defendant has under the designated section. (2) The present value of the Authority's treatment, care and support liabilities in respect of a participant in the Scheme is the sum of— (a) amounts already paid by the Authority under Part 4 in respect of the treatment, care and support needs of the participant; and (b) the present value of the amounts that the Authority estimates will be payable by the Authority in the future under Part 4 in respect of the treatment, care and support needs of the participant. (3) The certificate of the Authority as to the present value of the Authority's treatment, care and support liabilities in respect of an injury is evidence of the matters certified for the purposes of any proceedings in connection with this section. (4) For the purposes of this section, a designated section will apply in relation to a right of recovery by the Authority— (a) as if a reference to an insurer or the nominal defendant (as the case may require) were a reference to the Authority; and (b) subject to such other modifications or exclusions as may be prescribed by regulation made under this section. (5) In this section— designated section means— (a) section 116; or (b) section 124A, of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959.