Test a Victorian proposal against the structured-settlement definition
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- In a firm-controlled tool, test the proposed terms against section 54-10 and record the date under section 54-5. The tool does not state an annuity exemption or a condition in sections 54-15 to 54-40. Those sections were not opened.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether the definition is met, and which date applies.
- Test the employer and workers' compensation exclusions before treating the terms as inside the definition.
- Leave any Centrelink preclusion calculation in its own task.
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Victoria: a proposed structured settlement tested against section 54-10
Produce. A sourced test of the proposed terms against the structured-settlement definition, with the date recorded.
Have ready. The proposed terms; Whether the defendant is sued as employer; Whether the agreement depends on court approval.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The proposal buys an annuity for a shop-fall injury and is not a workers' compensation claim. The note sets each limb of section 54-10(1) and leaves the annuity conditions in later sections unstated. The lawyer decides whether the definition is met.
Stop and hand it back when
- The claim is against the employer and the tool would still call it a structured settlement.
- The tool would state an exemption in a section that was not opened.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Do not begin AI assistance until the responsible lawyer has defined and confirmed its permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- A workers' compensation claim, and a claim against the defendant as employer, are outside section 54-10(1)(c).
- The settlement must be a written agreement, and some or all of the compensation must be used to buy the annuity, or the annuity and lump sums, the section describes.
- Where the agreement depends on court approval for its effectiveness, section 54-5 points the date to the order.
- Do not state conditions in sections 54-15 to 54-40. They were not opened.
Sources
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) section 54-10 · 2026-10-23
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) section 54-5 · 2026-10-23
- Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2025 (Vic) rule 15.08 · 2026-10-23
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 54-10(1): a structured settlement is a settlement of a claim for compensation or damages for personal injury, made by the injured person or their legal personal representative, based on a wrong or a right created by statute, not made against the defendant as employer or as an associate of an employer, and not made under a workers' compensation law or as an alternative to such a claim. It takes the form of a written agreement, whether or not a court approves it or a consent order embodies it. Under the terms, some or all of the compensation is used by the defendant, or by a person with whom the defendant has insurance against the liability, to purchase from one or more life insurance companies or State insurers an annuity, or an annuity and one or more lump sums, paid to the injured person or to a trustee for them. A structured order under subsection (1A) is a different instrument: it is not an order that merely approves an agreement under subsection (1)(d). Subsection (3) applies the section only to the personal-injury compensation, and only to annuities or lump sums identified as solely in payment of it, where the claim also seeks another remedy.
Section 54-5: the date of a structured settlement is the date the agreement was entered into, or, if the agreement depends for its effectiveness on a court order approving it or a consent order embodying it, the date of that order. The date of a structured order is the date the order was made. Where rule 15.08 makes a compromise in a proceeding ineffective until approval, and the agreement depends on that approval, the date rule points to the order. Sections 54-15 to 54-40 were not opened. State none of their conditions.