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All Canberrans will have access to compulsory third party insurance, regardless of whether they are at fault, under the new scheme voted for by the citizens jury on Sunday. Chief Minister Andrew Barr had committed to implement whatever plan the jury came up with, and on Sunday head of the ACT public service Kathy Leigh committed to have legislation based on the report delivered by the jury in the Assembly by the end of the year. Under the new plan, known as Model D out of the four models prepared by the jury, all people injured in car accidents will have access to a set of defined benefits, while those with serious injuries caused by the negligence of another driver will have access to a higher level of cover through common law proceedings. "The jury has selected this model because it provides early access to all people regardless of fault," the report said. The defined benefits include medical treatment for up to five years, care for up to five years and a quality of life benefit of up to $350,000. It is also the option with the lowest premiums, with the cost range to be between $385 and $465 a year, below the current average premium of $556. Under the current system, drivers who are not at fault, but can't prove that another driver is at fault, are not covered by compulsory third party insurance. For example a driver who ran off the road in wet weather without the involvement of another car, who was not previously covered, now will be. "The availability of long term defined benefits shifts focus from large settlements to early recovery," the report said. The new scheme puts a cap of $500,000 on the quality of life benefit available under common law to someone who was injured through the fault of another driver. Under the plan, gratuitous care, which is unpaid care provided to an injured person by a friend or family member will not be covered. The report was presented to Kathy Leigh by jurors Emma Rowland and Darryl Messer and will be presented to Chief Minister Andrew Barr on Tuesday. Out of the 39 jurors, 32 voted for model D, while seven did not. Four jurors submitted a minority report, which said that under the new scheme "compensation will be spread too thinly". "The chosen model reduces compensation in the ACT by $16 million and per year (20 per cent) while expanding people covered by two-thirds," it said. The options voted on were developed by a group of stakeholders that included insurers, lawyers and healthcare advocates. In the first meeting in October the jury developed a set of objectives to guide their decision-making process. These were access to medical treatment, equitable cover for all people injured in car accidents, value for money and a support system for navigating the process. They also wanted more Canberrans to have knowledge of the scheme, to promote safer driving and reduce fraud in the system. Overall, members of the citizens jury were positive about their experience, which included three weekends managed by consultants DemocracyCo. Recently retired federal public servant Louise Elliott said she enjoyed the process. "It's incredibly rewarding," she said. "I'm absolutely delighted that I was picked at random to be on the jury." Ms Elliott said it was important that the chief minister had committed to adopt the jury's recommendation before the process began. "I think that step of faith was really important and I think we have justified that trust," she said. Jake Krausmann policy and regulation adviser at insurer Suncorp, was part of the stakeholder reference group, said the process had closed a hole in the system and would change the "very adversarial system" currently in place. "What the jury has brought is common sense and community expectation to CTP insurance. At the moment in the ACT around a third of people who are injured on the road are not properly covered and most people don't know that," he said.

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