Last week’s summit meeting promised much in the way of reform, but little in the way of instant action. Setting maximum payouts for personal injuries, capping legal fees, removing the right to sue for personal damages and providing volunteer and community groups with immunity from liability claims were the most popular reforms discussed, but little has happened in the week since.

Although neither governments nor the industry are willing to guarantee a cut in the spiralling premiums if such reforms are adopted, they remain optimistic that the reforms will be successful.

Federal Assistant Treasurer Helen Coonan, who chaired the Canberra summit, believes the changes will help reduce premiums: “They won’t come down tomorrow morning, but they will come down if we implement the range of …programs that we have agreed on,” she said.

“The solutions we’ve come up with involve both short-term solutions and a longer-term program to work through some of the tort reform issues,” Senator Coonan said.

The removal of tax imposts was proposed as a way to curb massive one-off compensation payments for pain and suffering. Providing a tax-free status for both lump-sum payments and regular income payments would mean compensation payouts could be switched to structured settlements.

Another method of reducing personal injury claims, which the states and territories would take responsibility for, is banning lawyers from aggressive advertising and preventing them from offering “no-win no-fee” arrangements.

The states have also promised to examine broadly based tort reform, encourage community groups to bulk-buy liability insurance and examine laws protecting volunteer and community groups and sporting organisations from legal action. This could involve changing the definition of negligence in certain situations and extending workers’ compensation to cover volunteers and contractors.

Senator Coonan added: “The way negligence is interpreted by the courts… people can be very foolish, take very little care for themselves, they can drive when they’re drunk, they can slip into a swimming pool when they’re intoxicated or on drugs and sue the proprietor.”

The Trade Practices Act could be changed to make individuals take legal responsibility for high-risk adventure activities such as bungee jumping and skydiving.

An improvement in risk management practices to make insurance more available and affordable is also on the agenda. The role of the insurance industry will be to advise the government on effective risk management practices and compile more detailed information on claims experience through a cooperative industry arrangement.