Medical Indemnity Act 2002

A claim is an eligible run‑off claim if:

it is a claim made against a person who, at the time the claim is made, is a person to whom subsection (2) applies; and

it relates to an incident, or a series of related incidents, that occurred in the course of, or in connection with, the person’s practice as a medical practitioner; and

if a termination date for the run‑off cover indemnity scheme has been set (see subsection (3)), the person:

was, immediately before the termination date, a person to whom subsection (2) applies; and

continued to be such a person for the whole of the period between the termination date and the time when an MDO or insurer was first notified of the claim, or of facts that might give rise to the claim; and

the person has medical indemnity cover that indemnifies the person in relation to the claim, being cover that:

is required to be provided under Division 2A of Part 3 of the Medical Indemnity (Prudential Supervision and Product Standards) Act 2003; or

is incident‑occurring based cover provided by an MDO.

For the meaning of incident‑occurring based cover, see subsections 7(2A) and (3).

This subsection applies to a person who is one or more of the following:

a person who has retired permanently from private medical practice;

a person who has not engaged in private medical practice at any time during the preceding period of 3 years;

a person who has ceased (temporarily or permanently) the person’s practice as a medical practitioner because of maternity (see subsection (4A));

a person who has ceased the person’s practice as a medical practitioner because of permanent disability (see subsection (4B));

a person who is the legal personal representative of a deceased person who had been a medical practitioner;

a person who is included in a class of persons that the rules specify as persons to whom this subsection applies.

The rules may set a termination date for the run‑off cover indemnity scheme.

The termination date cannot be a date occurring before the end of the period of 12 months after the day on which the rules in question are registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

A person is taken, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(c), to have ceased the person’s practice as a medical practitioner because of maternity if and only if:

the person:

is pregnant; or

has given birth; or

is recovering from a pregnancy (including a miscarriage or a stillbirth); and

another person who is a medical practitioner has certified, in the form approved by the Chief Executive Medicare, that the person is pregnant, has given birth or is recovering from a pregnancy, as the case requires; and

the person has ceased all practice as a medical practitioner:

because she is pregnant; or

in order to care for one or more children to whom she has given birth; or

in order to recover from the pregnancy; and

any other requirements specified in the rules have been met.

A person is taken, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(d), to have ceased the person’s practice as a medical practitioner because of permanent disability if and only if:

the person has incurred an injury, or suffers from an illness, that is permanent, or is likely to be permanent; and

as a result of the injury or illness, the person can no longer practise in the area of medicine in which he or she had (at the time of the injury or illness) chosen to practise and been qualified to practise; and

another person who is a medical practitioner has certified, in the form approved by the Chief Executive Medicare, that the person:

has incurred an injury, or suffers from an illness, that is permanent, or is likely to be permanent; and

can no longer practise in that area of medicine; and

the person has permanently ceased all practice as a medical practitioner.

For the purposes of paragraph (4B)(b), if registration in respect of that area of medicine is required in order to practise in that area of medicine in the place where the person would have practised, the person is not taken to be qualified in that area of medicine unless he or she is so registered.