Medical and Midwife Indemnity Legislation Amendment Bill 2019

Summary

Amends the: Medical Indemnity Act 2002 to: clarify eligible related claims for the purposes of aggregation; and clarify that the High Cost Claim Scheme (HCCS) and the Exceptional Claims Scheme (ECS) are only intended to apply in respect of medical practitioners; Age Discrimination Act 2004, Medical Indemnity Act 2002 and Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Act 2010 to clarify eligibility for the Run off Cover Schemes and permit access for medical practitioners and eligible midwives retiring before the age of 65; Medical Indemnity Act 2002 and Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Act 2010 to: clarify the intent of the medical indemnity law that payments will only be made if the claim relates to the provision of a health service; and make administrative changes to streamline and clarify the operation of the legislation; Medical Indemnity Act 2002, Medical Indemnity (Prudential Supervision and Product Standards) Act 2003, Medical Indemnity (Run-off Cover Support Payment) Act 2004 and Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Act 2010 to restructure and consolidate medical and midwife indemnity legislative instruments; and Medical Indemnity Act 2002 and Medical Indemnity (Prudential Supervision and Product Standards) Act 2003 to: require all medical indemnity insurers to provide universal cover to medical practitioners; and create high cost claim and exceptional claims schemes for allied health professionals, and enable private sector employee midwives to access these schemes. Also: repeals the Medical Indemnity (Competitive Advantage Payment) Act 2005 and Medical Indemnity (UMP Support Payment) Act 2002 to remove redundant payments; and makes consequential amendments to five Acts.

Progress

House of Representatives
Introduced and read a first time	18 Sep 2019
Second reading moved	18 Sep 2019
Second reading debate	16 Oct 2019
Second reading agreed to	16 Oct 2019
Third reading agreed to	16 Oct 2019

Senate
Introduced and read a first time	17 Oct 2019
Second reading moved	17 Oct 2019
Second reading debate	14 Nov 2019
Second reading agreed to	14 Nov 2019
Third reading agreed to	14 Nov 2019


Finally passed both Houses	14 Nov 2019
Assent Act no: 105 Year: 2019	28 Nov 2019

Documents and transcripts

Text of bill

First reading

As passed by both Houses

Explanatory memoranda

Explanatory memorandum

Transcript of speeches

Proposed amendments

No proposed amendments have been circulated.

Schedules of amendments

No documents at present

Bills digest

Bills Digest

Notes

Considered by scrutiny committee (17/10/2019): Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills; Scrutiny Digest 10 of 2019
An electronic version of this Act is available on the Federal Register of Legislation (www.legislation.gov.au)

Helpful information

Text of bill

First reading: Text of the bill as introduced into the Parliament
Third reading: Prepared if the bill is amended by the house in which it was introduced. This version of the bill is then considered by the second house.
As passed by both houses: Final text of bill agreed to by both the House of Representatives and the Senate which is presented to the Governor-General for assent.

Explanatory memoranda

Explanatory memorandum: Accompanies and provides an explanation of the content of the introduced version (first reading) of the bill.
Supplementary explanatory memorandum: Accompanies and explains amendments proposed by the government to the bill.
Revised explanatory memorandum: Accompanies and explains the amended version (third reading) of the bill. It supersedes the explanatory memorandum.

Proposed amendments

Circulated by members and senators when they propose to make changes to the bill. For details about the outcome of proposed amendments please refer to either the Votes and Proceedings (House of Representatives) or the Journals (Senate).

Schedules of amendments

Schedules of amendments list amendments agreed to by the second house are communicated to the first house for consideration. Subsequent action by either house may also be included in a schedule.