New South Wales Consolidated Acts

WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT 1987 - SECT 66A

66A Agreements for compensation

(1) In this section, "complying agreement" means a written agreement:

(a) under which a worker who has received an injury, and an employer or insurer, agree as to either or both of the following:

(i) the degree of permanent impairment that has resulted from the injury,

(ii) the amount of pain and suffering compensation to which the worker is entitled in respect of the injury, and

(b) in which there is a provision in which the employer or insurer certifies that it is satisfied that the worker has obtained independent legal advice before entering into the agreement.

(2) If a worker enters into a complying agreement in relation to an injury:

(a) the permanent impairment compensation to which the worker is entitled in respect of the injury is the compensation payable in respect of the degree of impairment so agreed, and

(b) the pain and suffering compensation to which the worker is entitled in respect of the injury is the amount so agreed.

(3) The Commission may award compensation additional to the compensation payable under subsection (2) by virtue of a complying agreement if it is established that:

(a) the agreed degree of permanent impairment or the amount of pain and suffering compensation is manifestly too low, or

(b) the worker has been induced to enter into the agreement as a result of fraud or misrepresentation, or

(c) since the agreement was entered into, there has been an increase in the degree of permanent impairment beyond that so agreed.

(4) Complying agreements, and the payments made under them, are to be recorded in accordance with the WorkCover Guidelines.

(5) Subsection (2) has effect despite section 234 (No contracting out) of the 1998 Act.

(6) Nothing in this section prevents a complying agreement from containing provision as to the payment of costs.