South Australian Numbered Acts South Australian Numbered Acts6—Amendment of section 22—Assessment of permanent impairment
(1) Section 22(4)(e)—delete paragraph (e)
(2) Section 22(6)—delete subsection (6) and substitute:
(6) An amendment or substitution in relation to the Impairment Assessment Guidelines under subsection (4)(f) will take effect from a date specified by the Minister as part of the amendment, or in the substituted guidelines, as the case may be (the "commencement date").
(6a) If the Impairment Assessment Guidelines are amended or substituted, the amendment or substituted guidelines (as the case may be) will apply in relation to an injury regardless of whether the injury occurred before or on or after the commencement date.
(3) Section 22—after subsection (8) insert:
Note—
The Parliament confirms that this subsection is to be interpreted and applied in accordance with the principles enunciated in the reasons of the Full Court of the Supreme Court in Return to Work Corporation of South Australia v Summerfield [2021] SASCFC 17.
(4) Section 22—after subsection (9) insert:
(9a) For the purposes of this section, an assessment (or parts of an assessment) may be undertaken by more than 1 accredited medical practitioner and their assessments combined so as to create 1 assessment.
(5) Section 22(10) and (11)—delete subsections (10) and (11) and substitute:
(10) Subject to subsections (12) to (15) (inclusive), if—
(a) a worker has had a whole person impairment assessment under this section; and
(b) another impairment from the same injury or cause develops or manifests itself after that assessment,
then that other impairment—
(c) will be assessed separately; and
(i) will not be combined in any respect (whether under this section or sections 56 or 58) with the impairment or impairments that have already been assessed; but
(ii) may be combined with any other impairment from the same injury or cause that has also developed or manifested itself after the earlier assessment.
Example—
A worker suffers impairments arising from injuries A and B which both arise from the same cause. The worker has those impairments assessed under section 22. After the assessment of the impairments arising from injuries A and B, the worker develops further impairments from injuries C and D which arise from the same cause as injuries A and B. The worker is entitled to be assessed for the impairment arising from injuries C and D and to combine the impairments from those injuries. However, the worker cannot combine the impairments arising from injuries C and D with the impairments arising from injuries A and B under this Act.
(6) Section 22—after subsection (18) insert:
(19) Sections 10 (other than subsection (1)) and 10A of the Legislative Instruments Act 1978
apply to the publication, amendment or substitution of the Impairment Assessment Guidelines under this section (and a reference in section 10 or 10A to a regulation will be taken to be a reference to the Impairment Assessment Guidelines, the amendment or the substitution (as the case requires)).