New South Wales Consolidated Acts

WORKPLACE INJURY MANAGEMENT AND WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT 1998 - SECT 79A

79A Exchange of information before conciliation

(1) A party ( "the applicant") to a dispute who refers the dispute for conciliation must, at the time it is referred, provide the following material to the Principal Conciliator:

(a) a list identifying the documents on which the applicant proposes to rely in connection with the conciliation of the dispute,

(b) a list identifying all other documents that the applicant has that are relevant to the dispute,

(c) such other documents or information as the regulations may require the applicant to provide.

(2) The applicant must also provide that material to the other party ( "the respondent") to the dispute at or before the time the dispute is referred for conciliation.

(3) Within 7 days after the applicant provides that material to the respondent, the respondent must provide the following material to the applicant and to the Principal Conciliator:

(a) a list identifying the documents on which the respondent proposes to rely in connection with the conciliation of the dispute,

(b) a list identifying all other documents that the respondent has that are relevant to the dispute,

(c) such other documents or information as the regulations may require the respondent to provide.

(4) A party to a dispute who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a requirement of this section is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.

(5) A document that a party to a dispute has failed to identify in a list provided as required by this section (being a document that the person has when the list is required to be provided) is not admissible on behalf of the party in proceedings on such a dispute before a conciliator or the Compensation Court.

(6) Subsections (4) and (5) do not apply if the party is a worker unless it is established that the worker was represented by a legal practitioner or agent (as defined in section 131) at the relevant time.

(7) The regulations may provide for exceptions to subsection (5). In particular, the regulations may authorise a conciliator or the Compensation Court to permit the admission in proceedings before the conciliator or Court in specified circumstances of a document that would otherwise be not admissible under that subsection.

(8) If a conciliator is satisfied that a party to a dispute has failed without reasonable excuse to comply with a requirement of this section, the conciliator may:

(a) refer the matter to the Authority, and

(b) note the matter in a conciliation certificate issued by the conciliator in respect of the dispute (together with details of the documents to which the failure relates).

Note: Examples of the documents to which this section applies are medical reports, investigators’ reports, rehabilitation providers’ reports and reports of assessments under section 40A (Assessment of incapacitated worker’s ability to earn) of the 1987 Act.