On Friday 29 July 2022, Aeran’s Jane Campbell spoke at the Australian Lawyers Alliance Medical Law Conference in Sydney.

Increasingly personal injury clients are asking their lawyer to explain what will need to be repaid to the NDIS at the time of settlement and if there is any scope to reduce that repayment.

In her presentation, Jane highlighted the relatively few situations in which there may be no repayment or a reduced repayment.

Personal injury clients are also wanting to know what impact the settlement will have on their existing NDIS funding. The NDIS can’t give any estimate pre-settlement, but it can be an important issue in the lead up to settlement. Knowing how the NDIS calculates the CRA is helpful.

The NDIS is designed to complement and not replace compensation, so hopefully going forward the NDIA will liaise more openly and cooperatively with personal injury lawyers. It seems that the risks of litigation ought to be taken into account in the compensation recovery rules, so as not to create disincentives to pursue compensation.

It’s in the interests of the NDIA and all taxpayers for compensation claims against negligent wrong-doers to be made, to help meet the cost of supporting injured Australians.