2.1
The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill
2014 seeks to make a number of amendments to the Safety, Rehabilitation and
Compensation Act 1988 (the Act). The explanatory memorandum for the bill
states that the amendments are intended to reduce the cost of the regulatory
burden on the economy by implementing recommendations of the 2012 Review of the
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (the Review).[1]
The bill will amend the Act to:
2.3
The committee sought clarification from the Minister for Employment as
to whether the proposed changes to the licensing system may limit the right to
social security and the right to enjoy just and favourable conditions of work
and, if so:
The Committee noted that, if passed, the Bill will have the
effect of expanding and changing the eligibility criteria for licencing under
the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, which will bring
more employers, and therefore employees, under the (Commonwealth) Comcare
scheme. It also noted that the 'minor variations' between the Comcare scheme
and the state and territory workers' compensation schemes might reduce the
amount of compensation being received by an injured worker who has moved from a
state or territory scheme to the Comcare scheme. The Committee noted that such
variations may represent a limitation on the right to social security and the
right to enjoy just and favourable conditions of work.
The Coalition Government submits that the minor variations in
compensation amounts between the Comcare scheme and the state and territory
schemes merely reflect different approaches and priorities by the different
jurisdictions in implementing a workers' compensation scheme, and therefore
should not be considered a limitation on human rights. Regardless of which
jurisdiction they fall under, employees have access to a very comprehensive
no-fault compensation and rehabilitation scheme for injuries arising out of, or
in the course of, their employment. With respect, the Australian Work Health
and Safety and workers compensation schemes are widely recognised as the best
in the world. Improvements to the Comcare scheme will improve its operation and
any suggestion that people will be left worse off, compared to both national
and international standards are unsustainable.
For instance, the Government notes that in many respects the
Com care scheme provides equal, if not higher, compensation to injured workers
than many of the state or territory workers' compensation schemes. For example,
under the Comcare scheme, weekly incapacity benefits (the income replacement
component of compensation) are paid at 100 per cent of an injured worker's
normal weekly earnings for up to 45 weeks. For longer term incapacity the
amount is reduced to between 70 and 75 per cent of normal weekly earnings and
ceases at 65 years of age. State and territory schemes mostly pay 100 per cent
of normal weekly earnings for the first 13 weeks, after which payments reduce
in varying increments and at varying time intervals from the date of injury.
Those reductions result in payments ranging from 65 per cent to 95 per cent of normal
weekly earnings. Comcare's longer initial payment period means that it
continues to be at least as generous as the other schemes in the longer term.
Another example relates to compensation for medical expenses.
Under the Comcare scheme compensation is available as long as treatment is
reasonably required, which is also the case in the Australian Capital
Territory, the Northern Territory and South Australia. In the other schemes (as
at 30 September 2012) limits are imposed on compensation for medical expenses:
-
in New South Wales, the limit is
$50 000 (or a greater amount if prescribed or directed by the Workers'
Compensation Commission)
-
in Victoria, medical payments
cease 52 weeks after the cessation of weekly incapacity benefits
-
in Western Australia, medical
payments arc limited to $59 510 (or in exceptional medical circumstances with a
severe injury to a maximum of $250 000); and in Queensland there is a five year
limit on the payment of medical expenses.
Each scheme also pays for attendant care services, home help
and other costs such as home modifications. All states either set fees, limit
duration of payments, limit the amounts that can be paid or do a combination of
these. Comcare has no limits on these costs, except that payment amounts are as
Comcare determines are appropriate to the medical treatment of the compensable
injury or illness.
Lump sum payments to compensate for permanent impairment also
vary considerably across the schemes. As at 30 September 2012, lump sums for
permanent impairment varied from a maximum of $198 365 in Western Australia to
a maximum of $543 920 in Victoria. Comcare's permanent impairment maximum lump
sum amount is $231 831. Lump sum death entitlement payments to surviving
dependants also vary across schemes: as at 30 September 2012 they ranged from a
maximum of$271 935 in Western Australia to a maximum of$538 715 in Queensland,
with the Comcarc scheme amount being $475 962. All schemes also separately pay
funeral expenses, with the exception of Tasmania.
Based on components such as income replacement amounts, the
periods for which they are paid and the reimbursement for medical and hospital
costs, Comcare is one of the more generous schemes. On other scheme elements,
while comparisons become more difficult because of the different emphases
placed on each element of each scheme, Comcare is in the middle or upper range
of benefits paid.
To the extent that these variations could be considered
potential limitations on the right to social security and the right to enjoy
just and favourable conditions of work, they are nonetheless proportionate to
the legitimate objective they are aimed at achieving. The objective aimed at is
the reduction of the regulatory burden on multi-state employers by enabling
them to access a single workers' compensation jurisdiction. Reducing the
regulatory burden on multi-state employers will enhance other human rights,
through enabling employers to reallocate resources to growing their enterprises
(which promotes the right to work), and to developing practical work health and
safety programs (which promotes the right to safe and healthy working
conditions).
The regulatory burden caused by multi-state employers falling
under several different workers' compensation schemes is caused, in part, by
the numerous minor variations between the different state and territory
schemes. This regulatory burden can only be reduced by allowing these employers
to move to a single workers' compensation scheme. The changes are part of reforms
which will reduce the regulatory impact on the economy by $32.8 million each
year for the next 10 years.[2]