Bills Digest no. 67 2009–10
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill
2009
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage history
Purpose
Background
Financial implications
Main provisions
Contact officer & copyright details
Passage history
Date
introduced: 21 October
2009
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations
Commencement:
Royal
Assent
Links: The
relevant
links to the Bill, Explanatory Memorandum and second
reading speech can be accessed via BillsNet, which is at http://www.aph.gov.au/bills/.
When Bills have been passed they can be found at ComLaw, which is
at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/.
To provide the Minister for
Education, Employment and Workplace Relations with the absolute
discretion to consider requests for declarations of eligibility for
a licence under the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Act
1988 (the SRC Act).[1]
The SRC Act is the
legislative basis for the Commonwealth workers compensation scheme.
It establishes and regulates the scheme for compensating and
rehabilitating Commonwealth workers who are injured either out of
or in the course of their employment.[2] It also covers private corporations
that are licensed to self-insure their worker s compensation
liabilities under the Comcare scheme.
In 1992, the SRC Act
was amended to enable privatised Commonwealth government business
enterprises to remain under the scheme. Corporations competing in
the market place with formerly Commonwealth owned businesses were
also able to apply to join the scheme as self insurers.
The Howard government
extended the eligibility to apply to be a self-insurer under the
scheme, making it possible for Optus to be eligible to apply for a
self-insurance licence. This opened the gate for a number of
corporations with no historical connection to the Commonwealth to
apply to be granted self-insurance licences.
In the past year and a half, there has been a sizable increase
in the number of employees covered by the Comcare scheme (410 000)
with the current number of licensees under the scheme having
reached 29. The expansion of responsibility in the number and range
of industries covered by the scheme has raised certain concerns and
a desire that all employees are sufficiently protected by robust
occupational health and safety[3] safeguards and appropriate worker s compensation
benefits.[4]
On 11 December 2007, Julia Gillard, Minister for Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations, announced a review of the
Comcare scheme and a moratorium on granting further self-insurance
declarations (of eligibility to apply for a self-insurance licence
under the Comcare scheme).[5] Issues of particular interest under the review are:
the appropriateness of OHS and workers
compensation coverage under the Comcare scheme for workers employed
by self-insurers;
whether the current arrangements for
self-insurers pose any risk to the Commonwealth or to state and
territory schemes;
why corporations seek to join the scheme;
and
whether there should be changes to the
eligibility rules for obtaining a licence to self-insure.[6]
According to the Explanatory Memorandum,
the amendment will be of no financial cost to the Commonwealth
.[7]
Item 2 amends section 100 of the SRC Act
providing that the Minister is empowered but not required to
consider a request for a declaration of eligibility to be granted a
licence for self-insurance under the Comcare scheme.
This amendment would continue the aforementioned moratorium
announced in December 2007 until 2011, by which time it is expected
that the new uniform occupational health and safety laws will be
implemented in all states and territories.
The Senate Scrutiny of Bills Committee made the following
comments about item 2:[8]
The Committee considers that the Minister s
absolute discretion in these circumstances may be an inappropriate
delegation of legislative power. However, since the bill appears to
be seeking to formalise in legislation what is a clear policy
decision, the Committee leaves to the Senate as a
whole any further consideration of this issue.
Members, Senators and Parliamentary staff can obtain further
information from the Parliamentary Library on (02) 6277 2404.
Juli Tomaras
23 November 2009
Bills Digest Service
Parliamentary Library
© Commonwealth of Australia
This work is copyright. Except to the extent of uses permitted
by the Copyright Act 1968, no person may reproduce or transmit any
part of this work by any process without the prior written consent
of the Parliamentary Librarian. This requirement does not apply to
members of the Parliament of Australia acting in the course of
their official duties.
This work has been prepared to support the work of the Australian
Parliament using information available at the time of production.
The views expressed do not reflect an official position of the
Parliamentary Library, nor do they constitute professional legal
opinion.
Feedback is welcome and may be provided to: web.library@aph.gov.au. Any
concerns or complaints should be directed to the Parliamentary
Librarian. Parliamentary Library staff are available to discuss the
contents of publications with Senators and Members and their staff.
To access this service, clients may contact the author or the
Library’s Central Entry Point for referral.
Back to top