Senator Cooney asked the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Family Services, upon notice, on 21 May 1996:

(1) What is presently the average time taken by the Health Insurance Commission to give a clearance under the Health and Other Services (Compensation) Act 1995 to insurers to pay lump sum entitlements to compensable persons.

(2) Since the Act came into operation, what has been: (a) the longest time; and (b) the shortest time, taken by the commission to give a clearance to insurers to pay lump sum entitlements to compensable persons.

(3) Since the Act came into operation, have any complaints been received by the commission or the Government about: (a) the time taken by the commission under the Act to give clearance to insurers to pay lump sum entitlements to compensable persons; and (b) the way in which section 11 of the Act is operating; if so, how many such complaints have been received.

Senator Newman —The Minister for Health and Family Services has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1)(a) The average time taken by the Health Insurance Commission to issue a Notice of Charge under section 24 of the Health and Other Services (Compensation) Act 1995 (the Act)(the "clearance" required by the insurer to enable the insurer to pay out the balance of the compensation amount to the claimant) varies from State to State, ranging from two weeks in Tasmania and Queensland to eight weeks in New South Wales.

(b) The Health Insurance Commission has a maximum of three months within which to issue the Notice of Charge following receipt by it of a Notice of Judgement or Settlement.

(2) Since the Act came into operation, the longest time and the shortest time taken by the Health Insurance Commission to issue the Notice of Charge also vary from State to State, for example in New South Wales the longest is eight weeks and the shortest is two days, and in Queensland the longest is four weeks and the shortest one day.

(3)(a) Since the Act came into operation, the total number of correspondence concerning the operation of the Act which had been received by the Health Insurance Commission is 116. The principal issue raised by those letters relates to the time taken by the Health Insurance Commission to issue the Notice of Charge. A number of those letters suggests possible amendments to the Act in order to ameliorate perceived delays in the paying out of compensation monies to claimants.

(b) Section 11 of the Act requires notification of compensation claims received by compensation payers on or after the commencement of the Act. There have been a number of requests for clarification on whether or not the Health Insurance Commission is prepared to accept "substantial compliance" in relation to the specific matters required to be notified, that is, whether or not the Health Insurance Commission will be prepared to register and process a section 11 Notice of Claim which is incomplete, for example, where the insurer is unable to provide the date of birth of the claimant. Unless the identity of the compensation claimant cannot be ascertained from the information provided in the Notice, the Health Insurance Commission does accept "substantial compliance" and will proceed to respond to the Notice pursuant to the other provisions of the Act. However, where the identity of the claimant cannot be verified from the information given in the Notice, the Health Insurance Commission will return the Notice to the insurer concerned for rectification.