New South Wales Consolidated Acts

WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT 1987 - SECT 145A

145A Recovery from directors of corporations liable to reimburse Insurance Fund

(1) If a corporation is liable to reimburse the Insurance Fund an amount for a payment made in respect of a claim under this Division and the amount is not recoverable from the corporation, the Nominal Insurer is entitled to recover the amount from a person who was a culpable director of the corporation at the relevant time.

(2) A corporation is considered to be liable to reimburse the Nominal Insurer an amount for such a payment if the Nominal Insurer is entitled to recover the amount either under section 145 or under an order of the Commission made on application under that section, even if the corporation has ceased to exist.

(3) An amount is considered to be not recoverable from a corporation if the Nominal Insurer certifies that it will be unable or unlikely to recover the amount from the corporation by reasonable efforts at recovery, whether because the corporation is being wound up and is unable to pay its debts, or otherwise.

(4) A person is a culpable director of a corporation at the relevant time if:

(a) the corporation contravened section 155 (Compulsory insurance for employers) in respect of a policy of insurance that would have covered the corporation for the liability to which the payment made in respect of the claim under this Division related (whether or not the corporation has been proceeded against or convicted of an offence for the contravention), and

(b) at the time of the contravention the person was a director of the corporation.

(5) A person is not a culpable director of a corporation if the person establishes that:

(a) the corporation contravened section 155 without the person’s knowledge, or

(b) the person was not in a position to influence the conduct of the corporation in relation to that contravention, or

(c) the person, being in such a position, used all due diligence to prevent the contravention by the corporation.

(6) If there is a right of recovery against more than one director of a corporation in respect of the same amount, the right is a right against all those directors jointly and severally.

(7) A director from whom an amount is recovered under this section is entitled to recover the amount from the corporation.