Bills Digest No. 102, 2016–17
PDF version [590KB]
Paula Pyburne
Law and Bills Digest Section
29
May 2017
Contents
Purpose of the Bill
History of the measures
Structure of the Bill
Background
Comcare and Seacare Schemes
Comcare scheme
Seacare scheme
Aligning pension age
Hanks report recommendation
Catastrophic injury
Productivity Commission inquiry
Nature of catastrophic injury
Rationale for the measure
Productivity Commission
recommendation
Heads of Treasuries
Committee consideration
Selection of Bills Committee
Senate Standing Committee for the
Scrutiny of Bills
Policy position of non-government
parties/independents
Position of major interest groups
Financial implications
Statement of Compatibility with Human
Rights
Parliamentary Joint Committee on
Human Rights
Pension age
Commencement
Key provisions
Application and transitional
provisions
Catastrophic injury
Commencement
Key provisions
Providing for non-catastrophic injury
Providing for catastrophic injuries
Whether services are reasonably
required
Application and transitional
provisions
Redemption payments
Commencement
Key provisions
Date introduced: 11
May 2017
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Employment
Commencement: Various
dates as stated in the body of this Bills Digest
Links: The links to the Bill,
its Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech can be found on the
Bill’s home page, or through the Australian
Parliament website.
When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent,
they become Acts, which can be found at the Federal Register of Legislation
website.
All hyperlinks in this Bills Digest are correct as
at May 2017.
Purpose of
the Bill
The purpose of the Comcare and Seacare Legislation
Amendment (Pension Age and Catastrophic Injury) Bill 2017 (the Bill) is to
amend the Safety,
Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act) and the Seafarers Rehabilitation
and Compensation Act 1992 (Seafarers Act) to implement two
measures being:
- to
ensure that injured employees in receipt of weekly compensation payments for
incapacity under the SRC Act or the Seafarers Act can
continue to receive those payments until they reach pension age as defined in
the Social
Security Act 1991 and
- to
allow for legislative rules to be made to align both statutes with minimum
benchmarks for catastrophic workplace injuries developed for the National
Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS).
History of
the measures
These measures have previously been introduced as part of
larger amending Bills as follows:
- on
25 March 2015, the Safety
Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Improving the Comcare Scheme) Bill
2015 (Improving the Comcare Scheme Bill) was introduced into the House of
Representatives. The amendments contained in the Improving the Comcare Scheme
Bill were more extensive than those in the current Bill. The Bill lapsed when
the Parliament was prorogued on 17 April 2016
- on
13 October 2016, the Seafarers
and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 was introduced into the House of
Representatives. The Bill has not been the subject of any debate. It contains amendments
to both the Seafarers Act and the SRC Act in equivalent terms to
those in the current Bill[1]
- on
9 November 2016 the Safety,
Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment (Defence Force) Bill 2016
was introduced into the House of Representatives. The Bill has not been the
subject of any debate. If enacted, it will create the Safety, Rehabilitation
and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988. That Act will apply only
to members of the ADF who have been injured prior to 1 July 2004 and will have
provisions in equivalent terms to those in the current Bill.
Structure of the Bill
The Bill comprises two Schedules:
- Schedule
1 contains the relevant amendments to the SRC Act and the Seafarers
Act to ensure that certain provisions are aligned with the pension age as
defined in the Social Security Act and insert references to catastrophic
injuries and
- Schedule
2 contains application and transitional provisions.
Background
Comcare and
Seacare Schemes
Comcare scheme
The SRC Act underpins the Comcare scheme which
provides for the rehabilitation and compensation of injured employees employed
by:
- Commonwealth
Government agencies and statutory authorities that pay premiums to Comcare
under the SRC Act
- Australian
Capital Territory Government agencies and authorities that pay premiums to
Comcare under the SRC Act and
- Commonwealth
authorities and eligible corporations that have been granted self-insurance
licences by the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (the
Commission) under the SRC Act.[2]
The SRC Act also applies to members of the
Australian Defence Force who were injured before 1 July 2004 during
non-operational service.[3]
Seacare
scheme
‘Seacare is a national scheme of occupational health and
safety (OHS), rehabilitation and workers' compensation arrangements which
applies to defined seafaring employees and—in relation to OHS—defined third
parties.’[4]
Claims for workers’ compensation are managed by the employee’s employer. This
management responsibility is often outsourced to an employer’s insurer or third
party with claims management expertise. Premium income from these insurance
policies does not contribute to the cost of scheme services, unlike
arrangements in centrally-managed schemes.
Aligning
pension age
In February 2013 Peter Hanks QC delivered his report of
the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Review (Hanks report) to the
Government.[5]
The Hanks report noted, amongst other things, that under the SRC Act, compensation
is not payable to an employee who has reached 65 years of age. The exception to
this is an employee who has reached 63 years of age and then suffers an injury:
that employee is entitled to a maximum of 104 weeks of incapacity payments. The
rationale for those provisions was that ‘the Government does not consider it
appropriate that employees should continue to receive workers’ compensation
benefits after the normal retirement age’.[6]
However, in 2009, the Government enacted the Social Security
and Other Legislation Amendment (Pension Reform and Other 2009 Budget Measures)
Act 2009 to amend the Social Security Act to increase the
eligibility age for the age pension progressively from 65 years to 67 years, to
be phased in between 2017 and 2023. Outlining the measure, the Minister for Families,
Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs stated:
As part of these reforms, and to improve the
longer-term sustainability of the pension system, the qualifying age for age pension
will increase for both men and women from 65 to 67 years. This will be done on
a gradual basis, with the qualifying age for age pension increasing by six
months every two years, commencing on 1 July 2017 and will be fully implemented
on 1 July 2023. Phasing the change in over this period will allow affected
individuals time to plan for their retirement.
The change will ensure age pension age is
adjusted to reflect the significant improvements in life expectancy that have
occurred since age pension was first introduced in 1909. It will allow the government
to respond to the long-term cost of our demographic challenges. This change
will not impact on current age pensioners, and will only affect people born on
or after 1 July 1952.[7]
Hanks
report recommendation
To avoid inconsistency between the operation of the Social
Security Act and the SRC Act, the Hanks report recommended that the SRC
Act be amended so:
- the
cut-off age is tied to the qualifying age for the Age Pension and
- employees
who are injured at any time after five years prior to the Age Pension
qualifying age can receive incapacity payments for a period of 260 weeks.[8]
As both the SRC Act and the Seafarers Act
provide that compensation is not payable to a person who has reached 65 years
of age, the Bill amends both of the statutes to ensure that compensation is
payable until a person reaches pension age.
From 1 July 2017, Age Pension age will be 65 years and six
months.[9]
That being the case, enactment of this measure before 1 July 2017 is imperative
if the Government wishes to ensure that injured workers remain eligible for
workers’ compensation up to the extended Age Pension age.
Catastrophic
injury
Productivity
Commission inquiry
In August 2011, the Productivity Commission released its
report on disability care and support (DCS report) in Australia.[10]
The DCS report considered, amongst other things, the arrangements that are in
place in each of the states and territories to fund, manage and coordinate the
lifetime care and support needs of all people acquiring a catastrophic injury
at some point in their lives.
The Productivity Commission considered that, in order to improve
outcomes for people with catastrophic injuries, governments should create a
no-fault system of nationally consistent care and support arrangements for such
people, to be called the National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS).[11]
Nature of
catastrophic injury
According to the Productivity Commission, a catastrophic
injury would need to be defined according to the type and severity of injury:
Severe brain injury and spinal cord injury are the most
common types of serious or catastrophic injury, but multiple amputations,
severe burns and permanent blindness can also be “catastrophic” and give rise
to a similar need for treatment, rehabilitation and lifetime care and support ...
The severity of the injury would be based on a range of relevant clinically
verified measures.[12]
Rationale
for the measure
The rationale for the introduction of the NIIS is that
‘most catastrophic injuries involve lifelong disability, and hence, the need
for lifelong care and support’.[13]
In some cases, the courts can deliver adequate payouts that cover all of these
costs if an injured person is able to prove that their injury was caused by
negligence—but this is not available in every case.
Under the common law, compensation for the losses
associated with catastrophic injury only applies where an at-fault (provably
negligent) first party (defendant) can be identified. The adequacy of any
payout will then be dependent on whether damages are assessed accurately and whether
there is contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff that reduces the
amount of compensation the defendant is liable to pay.
A person acquiring a catastrophic injury who is unable to
establish another party’s fault for the injury will not generally be able to gain
access to compensation under a fault-based common law system. This includes
cases where the accident was purely a matter of chance without any other
party’s involvement—for example, a swimmer may acquire a brain injury when
submerged by a freak wave. Alternatively, an accident may take place in a
person’s own home or private property, such as from falling off a ladder:
Consequently, the scope of cases that are non-compensable
under the common law is very wide. Australia-wide, only about half of
catastrophic injuries are compensated through insurance, with the supports
required for the remainder covered through (generally inadequate)
taxpayer-funded health and disability services. The proportion varies
significantly across jurisdictions and depends crucially on whether a fault or
no-fault insurance system is in place.[14]
Productivity
Commission recommendation
The Productivity Commission proposed that lifetime care
and support under the NIIS would meet all of a person’s injury-related needs
(excluding income payments, which would sit outside of the scheme). It would
fund all reasonable and necessary clinical health services, medical and social
rehabilitation, early interventions, therapies, care, and home and vehicle
modifications.[15]
Under the proposed model:
... scheme management, operation and financing would be jurisdictionally-based.
A coordinated federated approach would be critical, however, to ensure that the
level of benefits and the standard of care provided by individual schemes were
subject to minimum reasonable benchmarks.[16]
[emphasis added]
Heads of
Treasuries
In response to the Productivity Commission recommendations,
the Commonwealth and the states and territories started to develop the NIIS to
provide lifetime care and support to people who suffer a catastrophic injury
from a motor vehicle accident, workplace accident, medical treatment injury or
general accident (occurring in the home or community).
The NIIS is a federated model of separate, state-based
no-fault schemes. It builds on existing state and territory accident
compensation schemes (for example, for motor vehicle and workplace accidents)
to complement the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The development of the NIIS is being progressed through Commonwealth
and state and territory Heads of Treasuries (HoTs).[17]
The first area to be progressed was motor vehicle accidents.[18]
The minimum agreed benchmarks for motor vehicle accidents are now available.[19]
Consideration of benchmarks for workplace accidents is
currently underway.[20]
Committee
consideration
Selection
of Bills Committee
At its meeting of 10 May 2017 the Selection of Bills
Committee deferred consideration of the Bill to its next meeting.[21]
Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
At the time of writing this Bills Digest, the Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills had not considered the Bill.
Policy
position of non-government parties/independents
No adverse commentary in relation to the two measures
contained in the Bill by non-government parties or independents has been
identified.
Position of
major interest groups
There has been no identified commentary from stakeholders
in relation to the measures in this Bill.
Financial
implications
The Explanatory Memorandum states that the Bill will have
no financial impact.[22]
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth), the Government has assessed
the Bill’s compatibility with the human rights and freedoms recognised or
declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of that Act. The
Government considers that the Bill is compatible.[23]
Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights
At the time of writing this Bills Digest, the
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights had not considered the Bill.
Pension age
Commencement
The provisions of the Bill which amend the SRC Act
and the Seafarers Act to ensure that compensation is payable after a
person turns 65 commence on 1 July 2017.
Key
provisions
Under existing section 23 of the SRC Act, weekly compensation
is not payable to an employee who has reached 65 years of age. In addition,
where an employee who has reached 63 suffers an injury, weekly compensation is
payable in respect of the injury for a maximum of 104 weeks during which the
employee is incapacitated.
The provisions of section 38 of the Seafarers Act
are not in equivalent terms. Under that Act, if an employee who has not reached
64 suffers an injury, compensation is not payable for the injury after the
person reaches 65. If an employee who has reached 64 suffers an injury,
compensation is not payable for the injury after the end of the period of 12
months starting on the day on which the injury happened.
The Bill amends section 23 of the SRC Act and
section 38 of the Seafarers Act so that references to a person’s age in
years are removed and references to pension age as defined in the
Social Security Act are inserted.[24]
Application
and transitional provisions
The amendments to the SRC Act and the Seafarers
Act apply in relation to a payment of compensation in respect of a week
that begins after 1 July 2017.[25]
Catastrophic
injury
Commencement
The provisions of the Bill which amend the SRC Act
and the Seafarers Act to provide for household services and attendant
care services for persons who have suffered a catastrophic injury commence on
the day after Royal Assent.
Key
provisions
At present under the SRC Act if as a result of an
injury to an employee, the employee obtains household services or attendant
care services that he, or she, reasonably requires, Comcare is liable to pay
compensation in respect of those services up to a specified amount.[26]
There are different considerations for determining whether compensation is
payable for either household services or attendant care services. However, the
amount of compensation payable for both household and attendant care services
is the same and, other than determining whether services are reasonably
required there is no management or regulation of the provision of those
services and no distinction between services required by severely or
catastrophically injured employees.
Equivalent provisions are contained in the Seafarers
Act.[27]
Providing
for non-catastrophic injury
The amendments in Schedule 1 to the Bill operate so as to
distinguish between those persons who have suffered a catastrophic injury and
those who have not in the provision of household services[28]
and attendant care services.[29]
Existing section 29 of the SRC Act is amended so
that it refers to compensation for household services and attendant care
services obtained as a result of a non-catastrophic injury.[30]
The amount payable for household services and attendant care services is
capped.[31]
Amendments in equivalent terms are made to the Seafarers
Act.[32]
Providing
for catastrophic injuries
Item 1 of Part 1 in Schedule 1 to the Bill inserts
a new definition of catastrophic injury into subsection 4(1) of
the SRC Act being an injury where the conditions specified in the
legislative rules are satisfied. Item 6 inserts proposed section
122A into the SRC Act to empower the Minister, by legislative
instrument, to make such legislative rules.[33]
Amendments in equivalent terms are made to the Seafarers
Act.[34]
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill states that the
amendments will align the workers’ compensation arrangements under both the SRC
Act and the Seafarers Act with minimum benchmarks proposed for the
workplace accidents stream of the NIIS by:
-
inserting a new definition of
‘catastrophic injury’
- providing for the payment of
uncapped weekly compensation for household services and attendant care services
obtained as a result of catastrophic injury; and
- removing the current 28-day waiting
period for household services compensation.[35]
However, there is no direct reference in either the
definition of catastrophic injury or the provision for making
legislative rules that directly links to the minimum benchmarks for
catastrophic injuries in the NIIS.
Item 4 of Part 1 in Schedule 1 to the Bill inserts proposed
section 29A into the SRC Act to provide compensation for household
services and attendant care services obtained as a result of a catastrophic
injury. If an employee obtains household services and/or attendant care
services as a result of a catastrophic injury and those services are reasonably
required by the employee the compensation payable is such amount per week as is
considered reasonable in the circumstances.[36]
Amendments in equivalent terms are made to the Seafarers
Act.[37]
Whether
services are reasonably required
A list of the matters that must be taken into account when
determining whether household services are reasonably required is inserted into
both the SRC Act and the Seafarers Act.[38]
The list includes, but is not limited to:
- the
number of persons living with the employee as members of his or her household,
their ages and their need for household services and
- the
extent to which the persons living with the employee as members of his or her
household, or any other members of the employee’s family, might reasonably be
expected to provide household services for themselves and for the employee
after the catastrophic injury.
This is consistent with the view of the Federal Court in Lander
v Comcare in which the Court considered the extent to which members of an
employee’s family might reasonably be expected to provide household services
for themselves and the employee.[39]
In particular, the Federal Court noted:
... the household services envisaged are those provided by
the household members themselves. They are not services for which those members
make provision for the injured employee through the agency of third party
providers.[40]
Similarly there is a non-exhaustive list of the matters to
be taken into account in determining the attendant care services that are
reasonably required in a particular case into both the SRC Act and the Seafarers
Act, including:
- the
nature of the catastrophic injury and the degree to which that injury impairs the
person’s ability to provide for his, or her, personal care
- the
extent to which any medical service or nursing care received by the person
provides for his, or her, essential and regular personal care
- the
extent to which it is reasonable to meet any wish by the person to live outside
an institution
- the
extent to which attendant care services are necessary to enable the person to
undertake or continue employment
- any
assessment made in relation to the rehabilitation of the person and
- the
extent to which a relative of the person might reasonably be expected to
provide attendant care services.[41]
Application
and transitional provisions
The amendments to section 29 of the SRC Act and
section 43 of the Seafarers Act—that is, the sections which relate to non-catastrophic
injuries—apply in relation to compensation in respect of a week
beginning after the commencement of the first legislative rules made for the
purposes of the new definition of catastrophic injury.[42]
Proposed section 29A of the SRC Act and proposed
section 43A of the Seafarers Act—that is, the sections which relate to catastrophic
injuries—apply in relation to compensation in respect of a week
beginning after the commencement of the first legislative rules made for the
purposes of the new definition of catastrophic injury.[43]
Redemption payments
Commencement
The provisions of the Bill in relation to redemption
payments commence on 1 July 2017.
Key
provisions
A redemption payment is a payment to an
injured employee of a lump sum to finalise ongoing and future entitlements to
income maintenance and/or medical expenses. The method of calculating
redemption payments, and their scope, differs across jurisdictions.
Broadly speaking, redemption payments have three features.
They comprise a lump sum payment based on an estimation of the injured
employee’s future needs. They represent a compromise between the positions of
the claimant and the insurer or employer, so that neither party gets exactly
what they want. They are problematic because they typically involve a full
release of the insurer from liability in circumstances where the future course
of disability and medical treatment may deviate from that assumed in making the
calculation. What might seem to be a reasonable ‘compromise’ today may turn out
to be inadequate (or excessive) in just a few years.[44]
The Bill updates the formulae for calculating a redemption
payment in both the SRC Act and the Seafarers Act by omitting
references to a person’s age in years and inserting references to a person’s
pension age.[45]
[1]. According
to the Minister for Environment and Energy, Mr Frydenberg, the measures in this
Bill are being ‘progressed separately due to their time critical nature’. Source:
J Frydenberg, ‘Second
reading speech: Comcare and Seacare Legislation Amendment (Pension Age and
Catastrophic Injury) Bill 2017’, House of Representatives, Debates, (proof),
11 May 2017, p. 4.
[2]. P
Hanks, Safety,
Rehabilitation and Compensation Act review: report, (Hanks report), Department
of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Canberra, February 2013, p.
5.
[3]. Ibid.
[4]. Seafarers
Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Authority (Seacare Authority), ‘About us’,
Seacare website, 1 February 2017.
[5]. Hanks
report, op. cit.
[6]. B
Howe, ‘Second
reading speech: Commonwealth Employees Rehabilitation and Compensation Bill
1988’, House of Representatives, Debates, 27 April 1988, p. 2191.
[7]. J
Macklin, ‘Second
reading speech: Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Pension Reform
and Other 2009 Budget Measures) Bill 2009’, House of Representatives, Debates,
15 June 2009, p. 5851.
[8]. Hanks
report, op. cit., recommendation 7.16, p. 112.
[9]. Department
of Human Services (DHS), ‘Age
pension: eligibility basics’, DHS website, 12 April 2017.
[10]. Productivity
Commission (PC), Disability
care and support, Inquiry report, 54, vol. 1, PC, Canberra, 31 July
2011.
[11]. PC,
Disability
care and support, Inquiry report, 54, vol. 2, PC, Canberra, 31 July
2011, p. 852.
[12]. Ibid.,
p. 794.
[13]. Ibid.,
p. 798.
[14]. Ibid.,
p. 820.
[15]. Ibid.,
p. 853.
[16]. Ibid.,
p. 854.
[17]. HoTs
will report to the Standing Council on Federal Financial Relations (Standing
Council) and then an update will be provided to the Council of Australian
Governments (COAG). Source: Treasury, National
Injury Insurance Scheme: issues discussion paper, Treasury, Canberra, 2013,
p. 3.
[18]. B
Shorten (Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation), Moving
towards a comprehensive National Injury Insurance Scheme,
media release, 5 April 2013. See also: PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia
(PwC), National
Injury Insurance Scheme: motor vehicle accidents, consultation
regulation impact statement (RIS), Treasury, Canberra, 16 April 2014.
[19]. Treasury,
‘Agreed
minimum benchmarks for motor vehicle accidents’, Treasury website.
[20]. Standing
Council on Federal Financial Relations, National
Injury Insurance Scheme: workplace accidents, consultation RIS, Department
of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), Canberra, 5 March 2015.
[21]. Selection
of Bills Committee, Report,
5, 2017, The Senate, 11 May 2017.
[22]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Comcare and Seacare Legislation Amendment (Pension Age and
Catastrophic Injury) Bill 2017.
[23]. The
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights can be found at pages 1–2 of the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Bill.
[24]. Items
7–10, 12 and 15 of Part 1 in Schedule 1 to the Bill and items 22–23 of
Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Bill respectively.
[25]. Subitem
2(1) of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Bill and subitem 4(1) of Part 2
of Schedule 2 to the Bill.
[26]. Safety,
Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, section 29.
[27]. Seafarers
Act, section 43.
[28]. SRC
Act, subsection 4(1) defines household services, in relation
to an employee, as services of a domestic nature (including cooking, house
cleaning, laundry and gardening services) that are required for the proper
running and maintenance of the employee’s household. A definition in equivalent
terms is contained in section 3 of the Seafarers Act.
[29]. SRC
Act, subsection 4(1) defines attendant care services, in
relation to an employee, as services (other than household services, medical or
surgical services or nursing care) that are required for the essential and
regular personal care of the employee. A definition in equivalent terms is
contained in section 3 of the Seafarers Act.
[30]. Items
2 and 3 of Part 1 in Schedule 1 to the Bill.
[31]. SRC
Act, subsection 29(1) for household services and subsection 29(3) for
attendant care services. Seafarers Act, subsection 43(2) for household
services and subsection 43(4) for attendant care services.
[32]. Items
17 and 18 of Part 2 in Schedule 1 to the Bill.
[33]. Section
42 of the Legislation
Act 2003 provides that a legislative instrument can be subject to
disallowance if either a Senator, or Member of the House of Representatives,
moves a motion of disallowance within 15 sitting days of the day that the
legislative instrument is tabled in the relevant House of the Parliament.
[34]. Items
16 and 21 of Part 2 in Schedule 1 to the Bill.
[35]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Comcare and Seacare Legislation Amendment (Pension Age and
Catastrophic Injury) Bill 2017, pp. 2 and 5.
[36]. SRC
Act, proposed subsections 29A(1) and (3).
[37]. Seafarers
Act, proposed subsections 43A(1) and (3) inserted by item 19
of Part 2 in Schedule 1 to the Bill.
[38]. SRC
Act, proposed subsection 29A(2); Seafarers Act, proposed subsection
43A(2).
[39]. Lander
v Comcare (2000) 102 FCR 11, [2000] FCA 339.
[40]. Ibid.,
paragraph 10.
[41]. SRC
Act, proposed subsection 29A(4); Seafarers Act, proposed subsection
43A(4).
[42]. Subitem
1(1) of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Bill and subitem 3(1) of Part 2
of Schedule 2 to the Bill.
[43]. Subitem
1(2) of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Bill and subitem 3(2) of Part 2
of Schedule 2 to the Bill.
[44]. H
Allan Hunt and PS Barth, Compromise
and release settlements in workers’ compensation: final report, W.E. Upjohn
Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, 2010, p. 1.
[45]. Items
11 and 12 of Schedule 1 to the Bill amends subsection 30(3) of the SRC
Act; item 24 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Bill amends subsection
44(2) of the Seafarers Act.
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