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Wrongs (Remarriage Discount) Bill
Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents
Circulation Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Clause Notes
Clause 1 sets out the purpose of the Bill.
Clause 1 states that the purpose of the Bill is to prevent a court,
when apportioning damages for wrongful death, from making a
separate discount for the remarriage, re-partnering or prospects of
remarriage or re-partnering of certain dependants of the deceased.
Clause 2 sets out the proposed commencement of the Bill.
Clause 2 provides for the Act to come into operation on the day
after the day on which the Bill receives the Royal Assent.
Clause 3 inserts new sections 19(2), 19(3), 19(4) and 19(5) into section 19
of the Wrongs Act 1958.
New sub-section (2) provides that in any action for wrongful
death commenced after the commencement of the Act, no
separate reduction may be made on account of the remarriage or
formation of a domestic partnership, or the prospects of the
remarriage or formation of a domestic partnership, of the
surviving spouse, domestic partner, former spouse or former
domestic partner of the deceased.
New sub-section (3) defines a "domestic partner" of the deceased
and a "spouse" of the deceased.
New sub-section (4) provides that for the purposes of
determining whether a person was a domestic partner of the
deceased, all the circumstances of the relationship are to be taken
into account, including any one or more of the matters referred to
in section 275(2) of the Property Law Act 1958.
Section 275(2) of the Property Law Act 1958 sets out a number
of factors which the court may take into account in assessing
whether a person is a domestic partner of another person,
including the duration of the relationship, the degree of mutual
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financial support in the relationship and whether friends and
family regard the persons as domestic partners of each other.
Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents
New sub-section (5) provides that except as provided in
section 19, nothing in section 19 affects any other law in relation
to the assessment of damages under Part III of the Wrongs Act
1958.
Part III of the Wrongs Act 1958 deals with actions for wrongful
acts or neglect causing death.
inserts new section 23AD at the end of Part III of the Wrongs
Clause 4
Act 1958.
New section 23AD provides that it is the intention of
section 19(2) of the Wrongs Act 1958 to alter or vary section 85
of the Constitution Act 1975.
amends section 24A of the Wrongs Act 1958 to change the
Clause 5
spelling of the word "employé" to "employee". This provision is
in accordance with the Statute Law Revision Project.
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