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Queensland
Workers' Compensation and
Rehabilitation and Other Acts
Amendment Bill 2004
Queensland
Workers' Compensation and
Rehabilitation and Other Acts Amendment
Bill 2004
Contents
Page
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Part 2 Amendment of Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation
Act 2003
3 Act amended in pt 2 and sch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4 Replacement of s 11 (Who is a worker) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
11 Who is a worker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5 Replacement of s 30 (Who is an employer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
30 Who is an employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
6 Amendment of s 32 (Meaning of injury) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7 Amendment of s 50 (When an employer contravenes the
general obligation to insure) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8 Replacement of s 65 (Meaning of excess period) . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
65 What is the excess period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
9 Amendment of s 66 (Employer's liability for excess period) . . . . . 13
10 Amendment of s 81 (Annual levy payable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
11 Amendment of s 84 (Bank guarantee or cash deposit) . . . . . . . . 14
12 Replacement of ch 3, pt 1 hdg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
13 Omission of s 105 (Meaning of amount payable under an
industrial instrument) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
14 Insertion of new ch 3, pt 1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Part 1A Entitlements to compensation under industrial
instruments
107A Definitions for pt 1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
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Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
107B Meaning of amount payable under an industrial
instrument ............................... 15
107C Meaning of usual employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
107D Entitlements to compensation under industrial
instrument generally prohibited and void . . . . . . . . . . 16
107E Authority's board may approve amount payable
under industrial instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
15 Amendment of s 109 (Who must pay compensation). . . . . . . . . . 18
16 Insertion of new s 109A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
109A When an employer contravenes obligation not to
pay compensation payable by WorkCover . . . . . . . . . 18
17 Insertion of new s 133A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
133A Employer's duty to tell WorkCover if worker asks for,
or employer makes, a payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
18 Amendment of s 134 (Decision about application for
compensation) ................................... 20
19 Amendment of s 140 (Maximum entitlement). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
20 Insertion of new ch 3, pt 8A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Part 8A When entitlement to compensation stops
144B When payment of medical treatment, hospitalisation
and expenses stops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
21 Amendment of s 150 (Total incapacity--workers whose
employment is governed by an industrial instrument) . . . . . . . . . 21
22 Amendment of s 151 (Total incapacity--workers whose
employment is not governed by industrial instrument) . . . . . . . . . 22
23 Amendment of s 152 (Total incapacity--certain contract workers) 22
24 Amendment of s 157 (Total incapacity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
25 Amendment of s 159 (Total incapacity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
26 Amendment of s 160 (Total incapacity--reference about
impairment to medical assessment tribunal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
27 Amendment, relocation and renumbering of s 177 (When
weekly payments stop) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
28 Amendment of s 192 (Additional lump sum compensation for
certain workers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
29 Amendment of s 193 (Additional lump sum compensation for
gratuitous care) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
30 Amendment of s 200 (Total dependency). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
31 Amendment of s 202 (Workers under 21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
32 Insertion of new ch 3, pt 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Part 13 Compensation claim costs and third parties
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Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
207A Insurer may recover costs of reports from third party. 26
33 Amendment of s 211 (Extent of liability for medical treatment) . . 27
34 Amendment of s 212 (Extent of liability for prosthetic expenses) . 27
35 Insertion of ch 4, pt 2, div 3, sdiv 1 hdg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
36 Amendment of s 215 (Definitions for div 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
37 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3, sdiv 2 hdg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
38 Amendment of s 216 (Extent of liability for period of
hospitalisation) ................................. 28
39 Amendment of s 217 (Cost of hospitalisation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
40 Omission of s 218 (Maximum liability for cost of hospitalisation) . 29
41 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3, sdiv 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Subdivision 3 Public hospitalisation
218 Extent of liability for hospitalisation in public hospital 29
218A Cost of hospitalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
42 Amendment of s 233 (Definitions for ch 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
43 Insertion of new ss 278A and 278B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
278A Insurer may add other person as contributor . . . . . . . 30
278B Contributor's response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
44 Amendment of s 279 (Claimant and insurer to cooperate). . . . . . 32
45 Amendment of s 281 (Claimant and insurer to attempt to
resolve claim) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
46 Amendment of s 282 (Worker to undergo medical examination) . 33
47 Amendment of s 283 (Joint expert reports) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
48 Amendment of s 284 (Non-disclosure of certain material) . . . . . . 34
49 Amendment of s 285 (Consequence of failure to give
information) ................................... 35
50 Amendment of s 289 (Compulsory conference). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
51 Amendment of s 290 (Procedure at conference) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
52 Insertion of new s 290A hdg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
53 Amendment of s 292 (Parties to make written final offer if claim
not settled at compulsory conference) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
54 Insertion of new s 292A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
292A Offer to contribute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
55 Amendment of s 293 (Settlement of claim for damages) . . . . . . . 38
56 Amendment of s 296 (Claimant to have given complying notice
of claim or insurer to have waived compliance) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
57 Replacement of ch 5, pt 10 (No right to particular damages). . . . 38
Part 10 No right to damages for particular services
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Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
308 Application of pt 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
308A Definitions for pt 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
308B Paid services provided to worker before injury. . . . . . 39
308C Worker performed services before injury . . . . . . . . . . 40
308D Gratuitous services provided to worker before injury . 40
308E Services not required by or provided to worker
before injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
58 Amendment of s 313 (Costs if written final offer by insurer). . . . . 41
59 Amendment of s 316 (Principles about orders as to costs) . . . . . 41
60 Amendment of s 330 (General statement of Authority's functions) 41
61 Amendment of s 453 (WorkCover's solvency) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
62 Insertion of new ch 9, pt 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Part 3 The Minister and codes of practice
486A Code of practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
486B Effect of code of practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
63 Amendment of s 540 (Application of pt 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
64 Amendment of s 545 (Review of decision or failure to make a
decision) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
65 Amendment of s 546 (Notice of review decision) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
66 Insertion of new s 546A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
546A Matter returned to decision-maker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
67 Amendment of s 548 (Application of div 1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
68 Insertion of new s 548A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
548A Meaning of appeal body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
69 Amendment of s 549 (Who may appeal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
70 Amendment of s 550 (Procedure for appeal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
71 Amendment of s 552 (Notice of time and place for hearing) . . . . 48
72 Amendment of s 554 (Exchanging evidence before hearing). . . . 48
73 Replacement of s 555 (Adjourning hearing). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
555 Adjourned hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
74 Amendment of s 556 (Additional medical evidence) . . . . . . . . . . 49
75 Amendment of s 557 (Correcting defects in proceedings) . . . . . . 49
76 Amendment of s 558 (Powers of industrial magistrate) . . . . . . . . 50
77 Amendment of s 559 (Decision of industrial magistrate) . . . . . . . 50
78 Amendment of s 560 (Recovery of costs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
79 Amendment of s 561 (Appeal from industrial magistrate to
Industrial Court) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
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Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
80 Amendment of s 566 (Decision about payment of compensation) 51
81 Amendment of s 569 (Starting appeals). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
82 Amendment of s 573 (Disclosure of information) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
83 Amendment of s 576 (Information not actionable) . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
84 Amendment of s 579 (Summary proceedings for offences other
than against ch 8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
85 Omission of s 585 (Entitlements to compensation under
industrial instrument prohibited and void). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
86 Insertion of new ch 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter 16 Transitional provisions for Workers'
Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Act 2004
612 Definitions for ch 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
613 Workers, employers and injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
614 Excess period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
615 Employers who pay own claims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
616 Entitlement to compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
617 Decision about application for compensation . . . . . . . 56
618 When entitlement to compensation stops . . . . . . . . . 56
619 Weekly payment for total incapacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
620 Recovery of compensation claim costs from third
party ................................ 57
621 Public hospitalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
622 Damages for particular services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
623 Review of decisions of insurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
624 Appeal of review decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
625 Appeals generally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
87 Amendment of sch 2 (Who is a worker) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
88 Amendment of sch 3 (Who is an employer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
89 Amendment of sch 6 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Part 3 Amendment of Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995
90 Act amended in pt 3 and sch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
91 Amendment of s 3A (Relationship with Electrical Safety
Act 2002) ..................................... 60
92 Replacement of s 9 (What is a workplace?). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
9 What is a workplace? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
93 Amendment of s 10 (Who is an employer?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
94 Amendment of s 14 (What is a construction workplace?) . . . . . . 61
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Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
95 Omission of s 16 (When is a worker at work?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
96 Amendment of s 26 (How obligations can be discharged if
regulation etc. made) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
97 Amendment of s 28 (Obligations of employers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
98 Amendment of s 29 (Obligations of self-employed persons) . . . . 62
99 Amendment of s 29A (Obligations of persons conducting
business or undertaking) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
100 Amendment of s 38 (Regulations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
101 Replacement of s 41 (Advisory standards and industry codes
of practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
41 Code of practice about managing exposure to risks . 63
102 Insertion of new s 42DA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
42DA Giving workplace health and safety undertaking . . . . 63
103 Amendment of s 42I (Contravention of workplace health and
safety undertaking). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
104 Insertion of new s 103A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
103A Inspectors may give advice to persons with
workplace health and safety obligation. . . . . . . . . . . . 64
105 Amendment of s 108 (General powers after entering places) . . . 64
106 Amendment of s 117 (Improvement notice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
107 Amendment of s 118 (Prohibition notice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
108 Amendment of s 120 (Power to require name and address) . . . . 66
109 Amendment of s 121 (Power to inquire into workplace incident) . 66
110 Amendment of s 122 (Power to require production of certain
documents) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
111 Amendment of s 144 (Offences by witnesses) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
112 Replacement of s 182 (Revocation of accredited provider's
appointment) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
182 Suspension or revocation of accredited provider's
appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
113 Replacement of pt 17, divs 2 and 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Division 2 Transitional provisions for Workers'
Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Act 2004
190 Existing advisory standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
191 Existing codes of practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
114 Amendment of sch 2 (Specified high risk plant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
115 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
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Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Part 4 Amendment of Electrical Safety Act 2002
116 Act amended in pt 4 and sch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
117 Amendment of s 14 (Meaning of electrical equipment) . . . . . . . . 69
118 Amendment of s 18 (Meaning of electrical work) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
119 Amendment of s 44 (Code of practice about discharging
electrical safety obligation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
120 Insertion of new s 49A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
49A Giving electrical safety undertaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
121 Amendment of s 54 (Contravention of electrical safety
undertaking) .................................... 71
122 Insertion of new pt 4, div 1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Division 1A Rectification of defective electrical work
57A Power of chief executive to direct defective electrical
work to be rectified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
57B Notice of proposed action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
123 Insertion of new pt 4, div 2A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Division 2A Miscellaneous requirements
64A Chief executive may ask for further information or
documents from licence holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
124 Amendment of s 88 (Functions of licensing committee). . . . . . . . 74
125 Replacement of s 134 (Revocation of accredited auditor's
appointment) ...................................... 74
134 Suspension or revocation of accredited auditor's
appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
126 Insertion of new s 143A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
143A Inspectors may give advice to persons with
electrical safety obligation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
127 Amendment of s 144 (General powers after entering place) . . . . 74
128 Amendment of s 153 (Improvement notice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
129 Amendment of s 154 (Electrical safety protection notice) . . . . . . 75
130 Amendment of s 157A (Power to inquire into serious electrical
incident or dangerous electrical event). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
131 Amendment of s 158 (Power to require production of certain
documents) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
132 Insertion of new pt 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Part 16 Transitional provision for Workers'
Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Act 2004
242 Existing codes of practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
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Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Part 5 Amendment of Industrial Relations Act 1999
133 Act amended in pt 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
134 Amendment of s 267 (Commission's jurisdiction is exclusive) . . . 76
Part 6 Amendment of Statutory Instruments Act 1992
135 Act amended in pt 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
136 Amendment of s 46 (When is preparation of a regulatory
impact statement unnecessary?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Schedule Minor amendments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
2004
A Bill
for
An Act to amend the Workers' Compensation and
Rehabilitation Act 2003, the Workplace Health and Safety Act
1995, the Electrical Safety Act 2002 and for other purposes
s1 10 s2
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Part 1 Preliminary 2
Clause 1 Short title 3
This Act may be cited as the Workers' Compensation and 4
Rehabilitation and Other Acts Amendment Act 2004. 5
Clause 2 Commencement 6
(1) The following provisions commence on 1 January 2005-- 7
· sections 12 to 17 8
· section 19 9
· sections 28 to 31 10
· section 85 11
· section 86 (to the extent it inserts sections 615 and 616) 12
· section 89(1) (to the extent it omits definition amount 13
payable under an industrial instrument) 14
· section 89(2) (to the extent it inserts definitions amount 15
payable and usual employment) 16
· section 102 17
· section 120. 18
(2) Sections 100 and 118(1) commence on 1 February 2005. 19
(3) The following provisions commence on 1 July 2005-- 20
· sections 8 and 9 21
· section 61 22
· section 86 (to the extent it inserts section 614) 23
· section 89(3). 24
(4) The following provisions commence on a day to be fixed by 25
proclamation-- 26
s3 11 s4
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
· sections 21 to 26 1
· sections 32 and 33 2
· sections 35 to 41 3
· section 68 4
· section 69(1) 5
· sections 70 and 71 6
· section 72(2) 7
· sections 73 to 80 8
· section 86 (to the extent it inserts sections 619 to 621 9
and 625) 10
· section 89(1) (to the extent it omits definition 11
hospitalisation) 12
· section 89(2) (to the extent it inserts definitions appeal 13
body, hospitalisation, private patient and public patient) 14
· schedule, item 18. 15
Part 2 Amendment of Workers' 16
Compensation and 17
Rehabilitation Act 2003 18
Clause 3 Act amended in pt 2 and sch 19
This part and the schedule amend the Workers' Compensation 20
and Rehabilitation Act 2003. 21
Clause 4 Replacement of s 11 (Who is a worker) 22
Section 11-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`11 Who is a worker 25
`(1) A worker is a person who works under a contract of service. 26
s5 12 s6
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(2) Also, schedule 2, part 1 sets out who is a worker in particular 1
circumstances. 2
`(3) However, schedule 2, part 2 sets out who is not a worker in 3
particular circumstances. 4
`(4) Only an individual can be a worker for this Act.'. 5
Clause 5 Replacement of s 30 (Who is an employer) 6
Section 30-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`30 Who is an employer 9
`(1) An employer is a person-- 10
(a) for whom an individual works under a contract of 11
service; or 12
(b) who enters into a contract with an individual in the 13
circumstances mentioned in schedule 2, part 1. 14
`(2) Also, schedule 3 sets out who is an employer in particular 15
circumstances. 16
`(3) To remove doubt, a reference to an employer of a worker who 17
sustains an injury is a reference to the employer out of whose 18
employment, or in the course of whose employment, the 19
injury arose. 20
`(4) In this section-- 21
contract includes agreement and arrangement. 22
person includes-- 23
(a) a government entity; and 24
(b) the legal personal representative of a deceased 25
individual.'. 26
Clause 6 Amendment of s 32 (Meaning of injury) 27
Section 32(5)(c), after `action by'-- 28
insert-- 29
`the Authority or'. 30
s7 13 s 10
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Clause 7 Amendment of s 50 (When an employer contravenes the 1
general obligation to insure) 2
Section 50(a), `before or immediately'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`within 5 business days'. 5
Clause 8 Replacement of s 65 (Meaning of excess period) 6
Section 65-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`65 What is the excess period 9
`(1) The excess period, in relation to a worker who sustains an 10
injury for which compensation is payable, is the period that 11
starts on the day that the worker's entitlement to 12
compensation arises under chapter 3, part 7.1 13
`(2) The excess period ends at the end of the day that the amount 14
of weekly compensation paid to the worker exceeds an 15
amount prescribed under a regulation.'. 16
Clause 9 Amendment of s 66 (Employer's liability for excess 17
period) 18
Section 66(2), before `compensation'-- 19
insert-- 20
`weekly payment of'. 21
Clause 10 Amendment of s 81 (Annual levy payable) 22
Section 81(2)-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`(2) The levy may include-- 25
1 Chapter 3 (Compensation), part 7 (Payment of compensation)
s 11 14 s 14
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(a) an amount that relates to the amount paid by the 1
Authority on behalf of self-insurers under 2
section 364(3);2 and 3
(b) an amount that relates to other costs incurred by the 4
Authority in performing its functions or exercising its 5
powers under this Act. 6
7
Example of other costs--
8
an administrative cost'.
Clause 11 Amendment of s 84 (Bank guarantee or cash deposit) 9
Section 84(3)-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`(3) The estimated claims liability-- 12
(a) must be assessed annually by an actuary approved by 13
the Authority; and 14
(b) must be calculated in the way prescribed under a 15
regulation.'. 16
Clause 12 Replacement of ch 3, pt 1 hdg 17
Chapter 3, part 1, heading-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`Part 1 Interpretation'. 20
Clause 13 Omission of s 105 (Meaning of amount payable under an 21
industrial instrument) 22
Section 105-- 23
omit. 24
Clause 14 Insertion of new ch 3, pt 1A 25
After section 107-- 26
2 Section 364 (Funds and accounts)
s 14 15 s 14
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
insert-- 1
`Part 1A Entitlements to compensation 2
under industrial instruments 3
`107A Definitions for pt 1A 4
`In this part-- 5
amount includes rate. 6
Industrial Act means-- 7
(a) the Industrial Relations Act 1999; or 8
(b) the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cwlth). 9
`107B Meaning of amount payable under an industrial 10
instrument 11
`(1) An amount payable, under an industrial instrument, to a 12
worker is-- 13
(a) if an amount has been approved by the Authority's 14
board under section 107E--the amount applying 15
immediately before the worker became incapacitated; or 16
(b) if paragraph (a) does not apply--an amount equal to the 17
weekly rate of wages (however described) under the 18
industrial instrument that the worker was entitled to be 19
paid in the worker's usual employment immediately 20
before the worker became incapacitated. 21
`(2) If the industrial instrument provides for a change in the 22
amount mentioned in subsection (1)(a) after the amount is 23
approved, or there is a change in the rate of wages under the 24
industrial instrument at any time after the worker became 25
incapacitated, the amount payable to the worker changes 26
accordingly. 27
`(3) If a worker is employed in an industry that is seasonal in 28
nature, the amount payable to the worker must reflect the 29
relevant season under the industrial instrument. 30
s 14 16 s 14
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`107C Meaning of usual employment 1
`(1) A worker's usual employment is the worker's permanent 2
position or classification of employment. 3
`(2) However, if a worker is temporarily appointed to another 4
position or classification for a period, the worker's usual 5
employment for the period of the temporary appointment is 6
the temporary position or classification. 7
8
Example of usual employment for subsection (2)--
9
A worker is acting in higher duties for 3 months. The worker is
10
incapacitated after 1 month. The worker would be entitled to the higher
11
duties wage rate for the remaining 2 months. When that 2 months ends,
12
the worker would be entitled to the wage rate of the worker's permanent
13
position or classification.
`107D Entitlements to compensation under industrial 14
instrument generally prohibited and void 15
`(1) The industrial commission can not include in an industrial 16
instrument made by it, or approve for an industrial instrument 17
submitted to it, a provision for accident pay, or other payment, 18
on account of a worker sustaining an injury. 19
`(2) The registrar of the industrial commission is not to register an 20
industrial instrument submitted to the registrar that provides 21
for payment of accident pay, or other payment, on account of 22
a worker sustaining an injury. 23
`(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2), an industrial instrument, other 24
than an award under an Industrial Act, may provide for an 25
amount to be payable as a weekly rate of wages (however 26
described) to a worker if the worker becomes incapacitated. 27
`(4) A provision of an industrial instrument, other than a provision 28
mentioned in subsection (3) that contains an amount that has 29
been approved by the Authority's board under section 107E, 30
is of no force or effect to the extent that it provides for 31
payment of accident pay, or other payment, on account of a 32
worker sustaining an injury. 33
s 14 17 s 14
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`107E Authority's board may approve amount payable 1
under industrial instrument 2
`(1) This section applies if an industrial instrument, other than an 3
award under an Industrial Act, provides for an amount to be 4
payable as a weekly rate of wages (however described) to a 5
worker if the worker becomes incapacitated. 6
`(2) An employer may, by written notice, ask the Authority's 7
board to approve the amount provided for in the industrial 8
instrument for the purposes of section 107B. 9
`(3) The board can approve the amount provided for in the 10
industrial instrument only if the amount was contained in the 11
industrial instrument as approved or certified under an 12
Industrial Act. 13
`(4) In deciding whether or not to approve the amount, the board 14
must have regard to-- 15
(a) if the industrial instrument is a workplace agreement or 16
if an employee organisation is not a party to the 17
industrial instrument--the entitlements of a worker to 18
weekly payment of compensation under 19
section 150(1)(a)(i);3 or 20
(b) in all other cases--whether the amount is consistent 21
with the compensation entitlements of a worker under 22
previous industrial instruments agreed to by the parties 23
to the industrial instrument. 24
`(5) The board must make a decision within 25 business days after 25
it receives the request. 26
`(6) If the board refuses to approve the amount, the employer may 27
appeal under chapter 13.4 28
`(7) In this section-- 29
employee organisation means an organisation of employees. 30
workplace agreement means-- 31
3 Section 150 (Total incapacity--workers whose employment is governed by an
industrial instrument)
4 Chapter 13 (Reviews and appeals)
s 15 18 s 16
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(a) a Queensland workplace agreement under the Industrial 1
Relations Act 1999; or 2
(b) an Australian workplace agreement under the 3
Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cwlth).'. 4
Clause 15 Amendment of s 109 (Who must pay compensation) 5
Section 109(3)-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`(3) An employer who is not a self-insurer can not pay a worker an 8
amount, either in compensation or instead of compensation, 9
that is payable by WorkCover under the Act for an injury 10
sustained by the worker. 11
`(4) However, an employer who is not a a self-insurer may pay a 12
worker an amount, either in compensation or instead of 13
compensation, that is payable by WorkCover under the Act for 14
an injury sustained by the worker if-- 15
(a) the worker has made an application for compensation 16
under section 132;5 and 17
(b) the employer has complied with section 133A.6 18
`(5) Subsections (2) and (3) are subject to section 66.7'. 19
Clause 16 Insertion of new s 109A 20
After section 109-- 21
insert-- 22
`109A When an employer contravenes obligation not to 23
pay compensation payable by WorkCover 24
`(1) This section applies if an employer contravenes 25
section 109(3). 26
5 Section 132 (Applying for compensation)
6 Section 133A (Employer's duty to tell WorkCover if worker asks for, or employer
makes, a payment)
7 Section 66 (Employer's liability for excess period)
s 17 19 s 17
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(2) WorkCover may require the employer to pay WorkCover an 1
amount by way of penalty equal to 50% of the employer's 2
premium for the period of insurance. 3
`(3) WorkCover may recover the amount from the employer-- 4
(a) as a debt; or 5
(b) as an addition to a premium payable by the employer. 6
`(4) The employer may apply in writing to WorkCover to waive or 7
reduce the penalty because of extenuating circumstances. 8
`(5) The application must specify the extenuating circumstances 9
and the reasons the penalty should be waived or reduced in the 10
particular case. 11
`(6) WorkCover must consider the application and may-- 12
(a) waive or reduce the penalty; or 13
(b) refuse to waive or reduce the penalty. 14
`(7) If the employer is aggrieved by WorkCover's decision, the 15
employer may have the decision reviewed under chapter 13.8'. 16
Clause 17 Insertion of new s 133A 17
After section 133-- 18
insert-- 19
`133A Employer's duty to tell WorkCover if worker asks for, 20
or employer makes, a payment 21
`(1) An employer, other than a self-insurer, must give WorkCover 22
written notice in the approved form if-- 23
(a) a worker asks the employer for compensation for an 24
injury sustained by the worker; or 25
(b) the employer pays the worker an amount, either in 26
compensation or instead of compensation, that is 27
payable by the employer or WorkCover under the Act 28
for an injury sustained by the worker. 29
8 Chapter 13 (Reviews and appeals)
s 18 20 s 19
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(2) If the employer fails to comply with subsection (1) within 1
8 business days after the request or payment is made, the 2
employer commits an offence, unless the employer has a 3
reasonable excuse. 4
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units.'. 5
Clause 18 Amendment of s 134 (Decision about application for 6
compensation) 7
(1) Section 134(2)-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`(2) The insurer must make a decision on the application-- 10
(a) for a psychiatric or psychological injury, or for the death 11
of a worker--within 60 business days after the 12
application is made; or 13
(b) for another injury--within 40 business days after the 14
application is made.'. 15
(2) Section 134(5), from `3 months'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`the time stated in subsection (2).'. 18
(3) Section 134(6), from `7 days' to `period'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`5 business days after the end of the time stated in 21
subsection (2)'. 22
Clause 19 Amendment of s 140 (Maximum entitlement) 23
(1) Section 140(1)(a) and (b), `$157 955'-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
`$174 625'. 26
(2) Section 140(1)(c)-- 27
omit. 28
s 20 21 s 21
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Clause 20 Insertion of new ch 3, pt 8A 1
After section 144-- 2
insert-- 3
`Part 8A When entitlement to 4
compensation stops 5
`144B When payment of medical treatment, hospitalisation 6
and expenses stops 7
`The entitlement of a worker to the payment of medical 8
treatment, hospitalisation and expenses under chapter 49 for 9
an injury stops when-- 10
(a) the entitlement of the worker to weekly payments of 11
compensation under part 910 stops; and 12
(b) medical treatment by a registered person is no longer 13
required for the management of the injury because the 14
injury is not likely to improve with further medical 15
treatment or hospitalisation.'. 16
Clause 21 Amendment of s 150 (Total incapacity--workers whose 17
employment is governed by an industrial instrument) 18
(1) Section 150(1)(b), `26 weeks'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`39 weeks'. 21
(2) Section 150(1)(b) and (c)-- 22
renumber as section 150(1)(c) and (d). 23
(3) Section 150(1)-- 24
insert-- 25
9 Chapter 4 (Injury management)
10 Part 9 (Weekly payments of compensation)
s 22 22 s 23
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(b) from the end of the first 26 weeks of the incapacity until 1
the end of the first 39 weeks of the incapacity, the 2
greater of the following-- 3
(i) 75% of the worker's NWE; 4
(ii) 65% of QOTE; and'. 5
(4) Section 150(2), `subsection (1)(b) or (c)'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d)'. 8
Clause 22 Amendment of s 151 (Total incapacity--workers whose 9
employment is not governed by industrial instrument) 10
(1) Section 151(1)(b), `26 weeks'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`39 weeks'. 13
(2) Section 151(1)(b) and (c)-- 14
renumber as section 151(1)(c) and (d). 15
(3) Section 151(1)-- 16
insert-- 17
`(b) from the end of the first 26 weeks of the incapacity until 18
the end of the first 39 weeks of the incapacity, the 19
greater of the following-- 20
(i) 75% of the worker's NWE; 21
(ii) 65% of QOTE; and'. 22
Clause 23 Amendment of s 152 (Total incapacity--certain contract 23
workers) 24
(1) Section 152(1)(b), `26 weeks'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`39 weeks'. 27
(2) Section 152(1)(b) and (c)-- 28
renumber as section 152(1)(c) and (d). 29
s 24 23 s 25
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(3) Section 152(1)-- 1
insert-- 2
`(b) from the end of the first 26 weeks of the incapacity until 3
the end of the first 39 weeks of the incapacity, the 4
greater of the following-- 5
(i) 75% of the worker's NWE; 6
(ii) 65% of QOTE; and'. 7
(4) Section 152(2), `subsection (1)(b) or (c)'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d)'. 10
Clause 24 Amendment of s 157 (Total incapacity) 11
(1) Section 157(5)(b), `26 weeks'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`39 weeks'. 14
(2) Section 157(5)(b) and (c)-- 15
renumber as section 157(5)(c) and (d). 16
(3) Section 157(5)-- 17
insert-- 18
`(b) from the end of the first 26 weeks of the incapacity until 19
the end of the first 39 weeks of the incapacity, the 20
greater of the following-- 21
(i) 65% of QOTE; 22
(ii) the reasonable cost of labour paid to replace the 23
person; and'. 24
Clause 25 Amendment of s 159 (Total incapacity) 25
(1) Section 159(1)(b), `26 weeks'-- 26
omit, insert-- 27
`39 weeks'. 28
s 26 24 s 26
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(2) Section 159(1)(b) and (c)-- 1
renumber as section 159(1)(c) and (d). 2
(3) Section 159(1)-- 3
insert-- 4
`(b) from the end of the first 26 weeks of the incapacity until 5
the end of the first 39 weeks of the incapacity, the 6
greater of the following-- 7
(i) the greater of the following-- 8
(A) 75% of the amount stated in the person's 9
contract of insurance; 10
(B) 65% of QOTE; 11
(ii) if the person replaces the person's labour--the 12
payment under subsection (2); and'. 13
(4) Section 159(2), `and (b)(ii)'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`, (b)(ii) and (c)(ii)'. 16
(5) Section 159(3), `subsection (1)(b) or (c)'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d)'. 19
Clause 26 Amendment of s 160 (Total incapacity--reference about 20
impairment to medical assessment tribunal) 21
Section 160(1)-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`(1) This section applies if-- 24
(a) for section 150(1)(d)(i), 151(1)(d)(i), 152(1)(d)(i), 25
157(5)(d)(i) or 159(1)(d)(i), an insurer and a worker or a 26
person can not agree that the injury could result in a 27
WRI of more than 15%; or 28
(b) for section 150(1)(d)(ii), 151(1)(d)(ii), 152(1)(d)(ii), 29
157(5)(d)(ii) or 159(1)(d)(ii), an insurer and a worker or 30
s 27 25 s 30
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
a person can not agree that the injury could result in a 1
WRI of 15% or less.'. 2
Clause 27 Amendment, relocation and renumbering of s 177 (When 3
weekly payments stop) 4
(1) Section 177, heading-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`177 When weekly payments of compensation stop'. 7
(2) Section 177(1), `under this part'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`of compensation under part 9'. 10
(3) Section 177-- 11
relocate and renumber, in chapter 3, part 8A, as section 144A. 12
Clause 28 Amendment of s 192 (Additional lump sum compensation 13
for certain workers) 14
Section 192(2), `$157 955'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`$174 625'. 17
Clause 29 Amendment of s 193 (Additional lump sum compensation 18
for gratuitous care) 19
Section 193(6), `$195 960'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`$216 635'. 22
Clause 30 Amendment of s 200 (Total dependency) 23
(1) Section 200(2)(a), `$263 255'-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
`$300 000'. 26
(2) Section 200(2)(b), `$9 875'-- 27
s 31 26 s 32
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
omit, insert-- 1
`$10 925'. 2
Clause 31 Amendment of s 202 (Workers under 21) 3
Section 202(2) and (3)(a), `$14 905'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`$16 480'. 6
Clause 32 Insertion of new ch 3, pt 13 7
Chapter 3, after section 207-- 8
insert-- 9
`Part 13 Compensation claim costs and 10
third parties 11
`207A Insurer may recover costs of reports from third party 12
`(1) This section applies if an insurer incurs costs in obtaining 13
reports, other than legal reports, while managing a claim for 14
compensation in which an injury to a worker created a legal 15
liability in a person to pay damages for the injury 16
independently of this Act. 17
18
Examples of reports--
19
· medical reports
20
· traffic incident reports
`(2) The insurer-- 21
(a) is entitled to be indemnified by the person for a 22
reasonable proportion of the costs reasonably incurred 23
by the insurer in obtaining the reports; and 24
(b) may recover from the person as a debt a reasonable 25
proportion of the costs reasonably incurred by the 26
insurer in obtaining the reports. 27
`(3) In deciding what is a reasonable proportion of the costs for 28
subsection (2), a court must consider the extent to which the 29
s 33 27 s 36
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
report is used for the purposes of managing the claim or 1
deciding liability. 2
`(4) In this section-- 3
report includes advice.'. 4
Clause 33 Amendment of s 211 (Extent of liability for medical 5
treatment) 6
Section 211(1)(b), `private'-- 7
omit. 8
Clause 34 Amendment of s 212 (Extent of liability for prosthetic 9
expenses) 10
Section 212(3)-- 11
omit. 12
Clause 35 Insertion of ch 4, pt 2, div 3, sdiv 1 hdg 13
Chapter 4, part 2, division 3, before section 215-- 14
insert-- 15
`Subdivision 1 Interpretation'. 16
Clause 36 Amendment of s 215 (Definitions for div 3) 17
(1) Section 215, definitions private hospital and public hospital-- 18
omit. 19
(2) Section 215-- 20
insert-- 21
`contracted hospital means a hospital that provides public 22
health services to a patient under a contractual arrangement 23
with the State, but does not include-- 24
(a) a public sector hospital under the Health Services Act 25
1991; or 26
(b) a Mater Misericordiae Public Hospital. 27
s 37 28 s 39
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
hospital includes a day hospital. 1
private hospital means a hospital to which a worker is 2
admitted as a private patient. 3
private patient means a worker who is a patient of a private 4
doctor at a hospital that is not a contracted hospital. 5
public hospital means a hospital to which a worker is 6
admitted as a public patient. 7
public patient means a patient who is not a private patient.'. 8
Clause 37 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3, sdiv 2 hdg 9
After section 215-- 10
insert-- 11
`Subdivision 2 Private hospitalisation'. 12
Clause 38 Amendment of s 216 (Extent of liability for period of 13
hospitalisation) 14
(1) Section 216, heading-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`216 Extent of liability for hospitalisation at private hospital'. 17
(2) Section 216(1), before `extends'-- 18
insert-- 19
`at a private hospital'. 20
Clause 39 Amendment of s 217 (Cost of hospitalisation) 21
(1) Section 217, heading-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`217 Cost of hospitalisation at private hospital'. 24
(2) Section 217(1)-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`(1) The cost for which an insurer is liable for hospitalisation of a 27
worker as an in-patient at a private hospital is the cost for the 28
s 40 29 s 41
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
provision of the facility at a private hospital where a 1
procedure is carried out.'. 2
Clause 40 Omission of s 218 (Maximum liability for cost of 3
hospitalisation) 4
Section 218-- 5
omit. 6
Clause 41 Insertion of new ch 4, pt 2, div 3, sdiv 3 7
Before chapter 4, part 2, division 4-- 8
insert-- 9
`Subdivision 3 Public hospitalisation 10
`218 Extent of liability for hospitalisation in public 11
hospital 12
`(1) An insurer's liability for the cost of hospitalisation of a worker 13
at a public hospital extends only to the cost of hospitalisation 14
of the worker as an in-patient at the public hospital-- 15
(a) for non-elective hospitalisation--for not more than 16
4 days; or 17
(b) for non-elective hospitalisation for more than 4 days--if 18
the insurer considers the hospitalisation is reasonable, 19
having regard to the worker's injury; or 20
(c) for elective hospitalisation--to the extent agreed to by 21
the insurer under arrangements entered into between the 22
insurer and the worker or someone for the worker before 23
the hospitalisation. 24
`(2) Subject to the Health Services Act 1991, a worker is not liable 25
for the cost of hospitalisation, including medical treatment, as 26
an in-patient at a public hospital for an injury sustained by the 27
worker. 28
s 42 30 s 43
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`218A Cost of hospitalisation 1
`(1) The costs for which an insurer is liable for hospitalisation of a 2
worker as an in-patient at a public hospital are-- 3
(a) the cost for the provision of the facility at a public 4
hospital where a procedure is carried out; and 5
(b) the cost of medical treatment provided at the hospital. 6
`(2) The insurer must pay the cost of hospitalisation and medical 7
treatment, whether the hospitalisation is provided at 1 time or 8
at different times. 9
`(3) The insurer must pay the cost of hospitalisation that is 10
published by the Authority by industrial gazette notice.'. 11
Clause 42 Amendment of s 233 (Definitions for ch 5) 12
Section 233-- 13
insert-- 14
`party includes contributor.'. 15
Clause 43 Insertion of new ss 278A and 278B 16
After section 278-- 17
insert-- 18
`278A Insurer may add other person as contributor 19
`(1) An insurer who receives a notice of claim may, within the 20
time prescribed under a regulation or, if no period is 21
prescribed, within 20 business days after receiving the notice 22
of claim, add someone else as a contributor for the purposes of 23
this part by giving the person a written notice (contribution 24
notice)-- 25
(a) claiming an indemnity from, or contribution towards-- 26
(i) the employer's liability; and 27
(ii) the insurer's liability; and 28
(b) stating the grounds on which the insurer holds the 29
person liable; and 30
s 43 31 s 43
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(c) stating any other information that may be prescribed 1
under a regulation; and 2
(d) accompanied by copies of documents about the claim 3
given to or received from any other party under this Act. 4
`(2) If the time prescribed under subsection (1) for adding a 5
contributor has ended, an insurer may add someone else as a 6
contributor only with the person's agreement and with-- 7
(a) the agreement of the parties; or 8
(b) the court's leave. 9
`(3) If an insurer adds someone as a contributor under this section, 10
the insurer must give a copy of the contribution notice to each 11
other party within the time prescribed under a regulation or, if 12
no period is prescribed, within 5 business days after adding 13
someone as a contributor. 14
Maximum penalty for subsection (3)--50 penalty units. 15
`278B Contributor's response 16
`(1) A contributor must, within the period prescribed under a 17
regulation or, if no period is prescribed, within 20 business 18
days after receiving a contribution notice, give the insurer who 19
gave the contribution notice a written response (contributor's 20
response)-- 21
(a) containing a statement of information prescribed under 22
a regulation; and 23
(b) accompanied by any documents that may be prescribed 24
under a regulation. 25
`(2) The contributor's response must also state-- 26
(a) whether the claim for the contribution or indemnity 27
claimed in the contribution notice is admitted, denied or 28
admitted in part; and 29
(b) if the claim for the contribution or indemnity is admitted 30
in part, the extent, expressed as a percentage, to which it 31
is admitted. 32
`(3) An admission of liability in the contributor's response-- 33
s 44 32 s 44
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(a) is not binding on the contributor in relation to any other 1
claim; and 2
(b) is not binding on the contributor at all if it later appears 3
the admission was induced by fraud. 4
`(4) If the insurer requires information provided by a contributor 5
under this section to be verified by statutory declaration, the 6
contributor must verify the information by statutory 7
declaration.'. 8
Clause 44 Amendment of s 279 (Claimant and insurer to cooperate) 9
(1) Section 279, heading-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`279 Parties to cooperate'. 12
(2) Section 279(1), `A claimant and an insurer'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`The parties'. 15
(3) Section 279(1)(b), `the other party'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`each other party'. 18
(4) Section 279(2)(a), `the claimant or the insurer'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`a party'. 21
(5) Section 279(3) and (4)-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`(3) A claimant and an insurer must give each other copies of the 24
relevant documents within 21 business days after the claimant 25
gives the insurer a notice of claim. 26
`(3A) An insurer and a contributor must give each other copies of 27
the relevant documents within 21 business days after the 28
insurer gives the contributor a contribution notice. 29
s 45 33 s 46
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(3B) A contributor must give the claimant copies of the relevant 1
documents within 21 business days after the insurer gives the 2
contributor a contribution notice. 3
`(3C) If the relevant documents come into a party's possession later 4
than the time mentioned in subsection (3), (3A) or (3B), a 5
party mentioned in the subsection must give the other party 6
mentioned in the subsection a copy of the relevant documents 7
within 21 business days after they come into the party's 8
possession. 9
`(4) A party must respond to a request from another party under 10
subsection (1)(b) within 21 business days after receiving it.'. 11
(6) Section 279(6), definition relevant documents, after 12
`employer,'-- 13
insert-- 14
`a contributor,'. 15
Clause 45 Amendment of s 281 (Claimant and insurer to attempt to 16
resolve claim) 17
(1) Section 281, heading-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`281 Parties to attempt to resolve claim'. 20
(2) Section 281(1), `claimant and the insurer'-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`parties'. 23
(3) Section 281-- 24
insert-- 25
`(4A) The insurer must, within 5 business days after giving the 26
claimant the written notice, give a copy of the notice to any 27
contributor.'. 28
Clause 46 Amendment of s 282 (Worker to undergo medical 29
examination) 30
Section 282(1), from `The' to `expense'-- 31
s 47 34 s 48
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
omit, insert-- 1
`An insurer or a contributor may at any time ask the worker to 2
undergo either or both of the following, whether at 1 time or at 3
different times, at the expense of the insurer or contributor'. 4
Clause 47 Amendment of s 283 (Joint expert reports) 5
(1) Section 283(1), `An insurer and a claimant'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`Some or all of the parties'. 8
(2) Section 283(2), `Neither party'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`None of the parties'. 11
(3) Section 283(3), `both parties'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`the parties'. 14
(4) Section 283(4), `both parties'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`each party'. 17
Clause 48 Amendment of s 284 (Non-disclosure of certain material) 18
(1) Section 284(2)-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`(2) However, the following must be disclosed even though 21
otherwise protected by legal professional privilege-- 22
(a) investigative reports; 23
(b) medical reports; 24
(c) reports relevant to the worker's rehabilitation; 25
s 49 35 s 51
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(d) relevant documents mentioned in section 279,11 other 1
than correspondence between a party and the party's 2
lawyer.'. 3
(2) Section 284(3), after `an insurer'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`or a contributor'. 6
(3) Section 284(3), after `the insurer'-- 7
insert-- 8
`or contributor'. 9
Clause 49 Amendment of s 285 (Consequence of failure to give 10
information) 11
Section 285(1), `the other party'-- 12
insert-- 13
`another party'. 14
Clause 50 Amendment of s 289 (Compulsory conference) 15
(1) Section 289(2), `Either'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`Any'. 18
(2) Section 289(8), from `claimant in person' to `behalf'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`claimant in person, a person authorised to settle on the 21
insurer's behalf and a person authorised to settle on behalf of 22
any contributor'. 23
Clause 51 Amendment of s 290 (Procedure at conference) 24
(1) Section 290(1), `both parties'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
11 Section 279 (Parties to cooperate)
s 52 36 s 52
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`all parties'. 1
(2) Section 290(4), `either party'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`any party'. 4
(3) Section 290(5), first mention, `the other party'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`each other party'. 7
(4) Section 290(5)(a), `other'-- 8
omit. 9
(5) Section 290(6)(d), `the other party'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`all other parties'. 12
(6) Section 290(6)(e), `subsection (7)'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`section 290A(3)'. 15
(7) Section 290-- 16
insert-- 17
`(9) In this section-- 18
party does not include contributor.'. 19
(8) Section 290(5) to (9)-- 20
relocate and renumber as section 290A (1) to (5). 21
Clause 52 Insertion of new s 290A hdg 22
After section 290-- 23
insert-- 24
`290A Exchange of material for compulsory conference'. 25
s 53 37 s 54
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Clause 53 Amendment of s 292 (Parties to make written final offer if 1
claim not settled at compulsory conference) 2
(1) Section 292, heading, `Parties'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`Claimant and insurer'. 5
(2) Section 292(1), `each party'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`both the claimant and the insurer'. 8
(3) Section 292-- 9
insert-- 10
`(1A) If more than 1 claim was the subject of the compulsory 11
conference, the written final offer may be a consolidated final 12
offer for all the claims. 13
`(1B) A consolidated final offer must detail the portion of the offer 14
applicable to each claim. 15
`(1C) A consolidated final offer can only be accepted or rejected in 16
full.'. 17
Clause 54 Insertion of new s 292A 18
Chapter 5, part 6, division 1, after section 292-- 19
insert-- 20
`292A Offer to contribute 21
`(1) This section applies if an insurer makes a claim 22
(a contribution claim) to recover contribution or indemnity 23
against a person in relation to a claim made by a claimant. 24
`(2) A party to the contribution claim may give another party to 25
the contribution claim an offer to contribute towards the 26
settlement of the claim on the conditions specified in the 27
offer. 28
`(3) The court may take account of an offer to contribute in 29
deciding whether it should order that the party to whom the 30
offer to contribute was given should pay all or part of-- 31
s 55 38 s 57
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(a) the costs of the party who made the offer; and 1
(b) any costs the party is liable to pay to the claimant.'. 2
Clause 55 Amendment of s 293 (Settlement of claim for damages) 3
Section 293, after `a claim'-- 4
insert-- 5
`or contribution claim'. 6
Clause 56 Amendment of s 296 (Claimant to have given complying 7
notice of claim or insurer to have waived compliance) 8
Section 296(b), `claimant or'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`claimant, a contributor or'. 11
Clause 57 Replacement of ch 5, pt 10 (No right to particular 12
damages) 13
Chapter 5, part 10-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`Part 10 No right to damages for 16
particular services 17
`308 Application of pt 10 18
`This part sets out the principles a court must apply in 19
awarding damages for services that are provided, or are to be 20
provided, to a worker by another person after the worker 21
sustains an injury. 22
`308A Definitions for pt 10 23
`In this part-- 24
s 57 39 s 57
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
gratuitous services means services, other than paid services, 1
that are provided to a worker by a member of the worker's 2
family or household, or by a friend of the worker. 3
paid services means services that are provided to a worker at 4
commercial rates by another person in the person's 5
professional capacity or in the course of the person's business. 6
services means services of a domestic, nursing or caring 7
nature. 8
9
Examples of services--
10
· changing bandages
11
· cleaning
12
· cooking
13
· dressing wounds
14
· gardening
15
· housekeeping
16
· mowing the lawn
17
· assisting with personal hygiene needs
`308B Paid services provided to worker before injury 18
`(1) This section applies if-- 19
(a) before the worker sustained the injury, the worker was 20
usually provided with particular services that were paid 21
services; and 22
(b) after the worker sustains the injury-- 23
(i) the worker is, or is to be, provided with paid 24
services that are substantially of the same kind; or 25
(ii) the worker is, or is to be, provided with gratuitous 26
services that are substantially of the same kind. 27
`(2) A court can not award damages for the cost or value of the 28
services that have been provided to the worker after the 29
worker sustained the injury or that are to be provided to the 30
worker in the future. 31
s 57 40 s 57
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`308C Worker performed services before injury 1
`(1) This section applies if, before the worker sustained the injury, 2
the worker usually performed particular services. 3
`(2) A court can not award damages for the cost or value of 4
services of substantially the same type that have been 5
provided to the worker after the worker sustained the injury, 6
or that are to be provided to the worker in the future as either 7
gratuitous services or paid services, if the services that have 8
been provided to the worker after the worker sustained the 9
injury are gratuitous services. 10
`308D Gratuitous services provided to worker before injury 11
`(1) This section applies if-- 12
(a) before the worker sustained the injury, the worker was 13
usually provided with particular services that were 14
gratuitous services; and 15
(b) after the worker sustains the injury-- 16
(i) the worker is, or is to be, provided with paid 17
services of substantially the same type; or 18
(ii) the worker is, or is to be, provided with gratuitous 19
services of substantially the same type. 20
`(2) A court can not award damages for the cost or value of the 21
services that have been provided to the worker after the 22
worker sustained the injury or that are to be provided to the 23
worker in the future. 24
`308E Services not required by or provided to worker 25
before injury 26
`(1) This section applies if the worker usually did not require or 27
was not provided with particular services before the worker 28
sustained the injury. 29
`(2) A court can not award damages for the cost or value of any 30
services provided to the worker after the worker sustained the 31
injury, or that are to be provided to the worker in the future as 32
either gratuitous services or paid services, if the services that 33
s 58 41 s 61
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
have been provided to the worker after the worker sustained 1
the injury are gratuitous services.'. 2
Clause 58 Amendment of s 313 (Costs if written final offer by 3
insurer) 4
Section 313(2), `a party'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`the insurer or the claimant'. 7
Clause 59 Amendment of s 316 (Principles about orders as to costs) 8
Section 316(2), `party to the proceeding'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`claimant or an insurer'. 11
Clause 60 Amendment of s 330 (General statement of Authority's 12
functions) 13
(1) Section 330(2)(d) to (l)-- 14
renumber as section 330(2)(e) to (m). 15
(2) Section 330(2)-- 16
insert-- 17
`(d) to approve amounts payable under an industrial 18
instrument for the purposes of section 107B;12'. 19
Clause 61 Amendment of s 453 (WorkCover's solvency) 20
(1) Section 453, heading-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`453 WorkCover's capital adequacy'. 23
(2) Section 453(1)(b) and (c)-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
12 Section 107B (Meaning of amount payable under an industrial instrument)
s 62 42 s 62
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(b) maintains capital adequacy as required under a 1
regulation.'. 2
Clause 62 Insertion of new ch 9, pt 3 3
Chapter 9, after section 486-- 4
insert-- 5
`Part 3 The Minister and codes of 6
practice 7
`486A Code of practice 8
`(1) The Minister may make a code of practice that states-- 9
(a) ways an insurer may perform its functions under this 10
Act in relation to the management of its claims; and 11
(b) ways an insurer may exercise its powers under this Act 12
in relation to the management of its claims; and 13
(c) ways an insurer may meet its obligations under this Act 14
in relation to the management of its claims. 15
`(2) To remove any doubt, a code of practice can not include a 16
requirement that an insurer acts in a way that is inconsistent 17
with this Act. 18
`(3) The Authority must recommend the making of a code of 19
practice to the Minister. 20
`(4) The Authority must consult with the Minister before giving 21
the recommendation. 22
`(5) The Minister must notify the making of a code of practice. 23
`(6) A code of practice expires 10 years after its commencement. 24
`(7) The Authority must ensure that a copy of each code of 25
practice, and any document applied, adopted or incorporated 26
by the code of practice, is made available for inspection 27
without charge during normal business hours at each of the 28
Authority's offices. 29
`(8) If a code of practice is inconsistent with a regulation, the 30
regulation prevails to the extent of the inconsistency. 31
s 63 43 s 63
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(9) A notice mentioned in subsection (5) is subordinate 1
legislation. 2
`486B Effect of code of practice 3
`(1) Unless otherwise stated in a code of practice, the code of 4
practice does not state all that an insurer must do, or must not 5
do, to perform its functions, exercise its powers and meets its 6
obligations under this Act. 7
`(2) An insurer, including WorkCover, commits an offence if the 8
insurer-- 9
(a) contravenes, or otherwise acts inconsistently with, the 10
code of practice; and 11
(b) does not follow a way that is as effective as, or more 12
effective than, the code of practice for complying with a 13
requirement of this Act. 14
Maximum penalty--1 000 penalty units.'. 15
Clause 63 Amendment of s 540 (Application of pt 2) 16
(1) Section 540(1)(a)(iv), after `66'-- 17
insert-- 18
`, 109A'. 19
(2) Section 540(1)(a)(viii) and (ix)-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`(viii)to allow or reject an application for compensation; 22
or 23
(ix) to terminate or suspend payment of compensation; 24
or 25
(ixa) to increase or decrease a weekly payment of 26
compensation under chapter 3; or'. 27
(3) Section 540(1)(b)(ii) and (iii)-- 28
omit, insert-- 29
s 64 44 s 64
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(ii) to allow or reject an application for compensation; 1
or 2
(iii) to terminate or suspend payment of compensation; 3
or 4
(iiia) to increase or decrease a weekly payment of 5
compensation under chapter 3; or'. 6
Clause 64 Amendment of s 545 (Review of decision or failure to 7
make a decision) 8
(1) Section 545(1)-- 9
insert-- 10
`(d) set aside the decision and return the matter to the 11
decision-maker with the directions the Authority 12
considers appropriate.'. 13
(2) Section 545-- 14
insert-- 15
`(1A) The Authority may act under subsection (1)(d) only if the 16
Authority-- 17
(a) has considered information that was not available to, or 18
known by, the decision-maker when the decision-maker 19
made its decision; or 20
(b) believes on reasonable grounds that the decision-maker 21
did not have satisfactory evidence or information to 22
make its decision; or 23
(c) believes on reasonable grounds that the decision-maker 24
has not observed natural justice in making its decision.'. 25
(3) Section 545(4)-- 26
omit, insert-- 27
`(4) The Authority may extend the time in subsection (1)-- 28
(a) with the applicant's consent, to allow the applicant a 29
right of appearance or to make representations under 30
section 543; or 31
s 65 45 s 66
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(b) with the applicant's consent, to obtain information under 1
section 544; or 2
(c) if the applicant applies to the Authority in writing for 3
time to give the Authority further information.'. 4
Clause 65 Amendment of s 546 (Notice of review decision) 5
(1) Section 546(2), `section 540(1)(a)(viii)'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`section 540(1)(a)(vii)'. 8
(2) Section 546(3)(b), after `notice of the decision'-- 9
insert-- 10
`, unless the Authority has acted under section 545(1)(d)'. 11
(3) Section 546-- 12
insert-- 13
`(3A) A decision of the Authority under section 545 to return a 14
matter to the decision-maker can not be appealed.'. 15
Clause 66 Insertion of new s 546A 16
After section 546-- 17
insert-- 18
`546A Matter returned to decision-maker 19
`(1) This section applies if the Authority returns a matter under 20
section 545 to a decision-maker. 21
`(2) The decision-maker must, within the time specified by the 22
Authority-- 23
(a) make a decision; and 24
(b) give the applicant and the Authority written notice of the 25
fresh decision including-- 26
(i) the reasons for the decision; and 27
(ii) the applicant's rights of review and appeal; and 28
s 67 46 s 69
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(c) if the decision relates to a matter mentioned in 1
section 540(1)(a)(vii) to (xiii) or (1)(b) or (c),13 give a 2
copy of the fresh decision to the claimant or worker and 3
to the employer.'. 4
Clause 67 Amendment of s 548 (Application of div 1) 5
Section 548(a)-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`(a) a review decision, other than a decision to return a 8
matter to a decision-maker under section 545;'. 9
Clause 68 Insertion of new s 548A 10
After section 548-- 11
insert-- 12
`548A Meaning of appeal body 13
`(1) An appeal body for this part is-- 14
(a) an industrial magistrate; or 15
(b) the industrial commission. 16
`(2) However, the appeal body is an industrial magistrate-- 17
(a) for a decision of the Authority's board under 18
section 107E;14 or 19
(b) for a decision of the Authority about a matter mentioned 20
in section 540(1)(a)(i) to (vi);15 or 21
(c) for a non-reviewable decision.'. 22
Clause 69 Amendment of s 549 (Who may appeal) 23
(1) Section 549(1) and (2), `industrial magistrate'-- 24
13 Section 540 (Application of pt 2)
14 Section 107E (Authority's board may approve amount payable under industrial
instrument)
15 Section 540 (Application of pt 2)
s 70 47 s 70
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
omit, insert-- 1
`appeal body'. 2
(2) Section 549(2)-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`(2) An insurer aggrieved by a decision of the Authority to 5
confirm, vary or set aside a decision of the insurer mentioned 6
in section 540(1)(a)(i) to (vi) may appeal to an industrial 7
magistrate against the decision of the Authority. 8
`(3) If the appellant is an employer-- 9
(a) the claimant or worker may, if the claimant or worker 10
wishes, be a party to the appeal; and 11
(b) an insurer may, if the insurer wishes, be a party to the 12
appeal if the appeal is against a decision of the 13
Authority to confirm, vary or set aside a decision of the 14
insurer mentioned in section 540(1)(a)(i) to (vi). 15
`(4) If the appellant is WorkCover, an employer may, if the 16
employer wishes, be a party to the appeal.'. 17
Clause 70 Amendment of s 550 (Procedure for appeal) 18
(1) Section 550(4)-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`(3A) An appeal may be started only with 1 appeal body. 21
`(4) The appeal may be started only by giving a written notice of 22
appeal to the appeal body. 23
`(4A) If the appeal body is the industrial commission, the notice of 24
appeal must be filed in the industrial registry.'. 25
(2) Section 550(5), `The'-- 26
omit, insert-- 27
`If the appeal body is an industrial magistrate, the'. 28
(3) Section 550-- 29
insert-- 30
s 71 48 s 73
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(9) If a notice of appeal required to be filed in a Magistrates Court 1
is filed in the industrial registry, the industrial registrar may 2
send any relevant documents to the registrar of the appropriate 3
Magistrates Court. 4
`(10) If a notice of appeal required to be filed in the industrial 5
registry is filed in a Magistrates Court, the registrar of the 6
Magistrates Court may send any relevant documents to the 7
industrial registrar.'. 8
Clause 71 Amendment of s 552 (Notice of time and place for 9
hearing) 10
Section 552(1), after `The registrar of'-- 11
insert-- 12
`the industrial commission or'. 13
Clause 72 Amendment of s 554 (Exchanging evidence before 14
hearing) 15
(1) Section 554(1), 7 days'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`10 business days'. 18
(2) Section 554(2), `industrial magistrate'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`appeal body'. 21
Clause 73 Replacement of s 555 (Adjourning hearing) 22
Section 555-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`555 Adjourned hearing 25
`(1) The appeal body may, at any time before or after the start of 26
the hearing, adjourn the hearing if-- 27
(a) the appeal body is satisfied the hearing could be held 28
more conveniently at a future time; or 29
s 74 49 s 75
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(b) if the appeal body is an industrial magistrate, the appeal 1
body is satisfied that the hearing could be held more 2
conveniently at another place or before another 3
industrial magistrate-- 4
(i) having regard to the difficulty or expense of 5
producing witnesses; or 6
(ii) for another appropriate reason. 7
`(2) If subsection (1)(b) applies-- 8
(a) the appeal body must send the relevant documents to the 9
registrar of the appropriate Magistrates Court; and 10
(b) the other industrial magistrate has jurisdiction to decide 11
the matter as if it had been brought before that 12
magistrate.'. 13
Clause 74 Amendment of s 556 (Additional medical evidence) 14
(1) Section 556(2) and (3), `industrial magistrate'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`appeal body'. 17
(2) Section 556(3) and (5)(a), `the magistrate'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`the appeal body'. 20
Clause 75 Amendment of s 557 (Correcting defects in proceedings) 21
(1) Section 557(1), `industrial magistrate'-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`appeal body'. 24
(2) Section 557(2), `magistrate'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`appeal body'. 27
(3) Section 557(4), `magistrate's'-- 28
s 76 50 s 77
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
omit, insert-- 1
`appeal body's'. 2
Clause 76 Amendment of s 558 (Powers of industrial magistrate) 3
(1) Section 558, heading-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`558 Powers of appeal body'. 6
(2) Section 558(1), `industrial magistrate'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`appeal body'. 9
(3) Section 558(1)(d) and (2), `magistrate'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`appeal body'. 12
(4) Section 558(3), `magistrate's'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`appeal body's'. 15
Clause 77 Amendment of s 559 (Decision of industrial magistrate) 16
(1) Section 559, heading-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`559 Decision of appeal body'. 19
(2) Section 559, `industrial magistrate'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`appeal body'. 22
(3) Section 559(a), `magistrate's'-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`appeal body's'. 25
s 78 51 s 82
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Clause 78 Amendment of s 560 (Recovery of costs) 1
Section 560(1), `industrial magistrate'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`appeal body'. 4
Clause 79 Amendment of s 561 (Appeal from industrial magistrate 5
to Industrial Court) 6
(1) Section 561, heading-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`561 Appeal from appeal body to Industrial Court'. 9
(2) Section 561(1), `industrial magistrate's'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`appeal body's'. 12
(3) Section 561(3), `magistrate'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`appeal body'. 15
Clause 80 Amendment of s 566 (Decision about payment of 16
compensation) 17
Section 566(1), `an industrial magistrate'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`the appeal body'. 20
Clause 81 Amendment of s 569 (Starting appeals) 21
Section 569(2)(a), `deemed premium'-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`deemed levy'. 24
Clause 82 Amendment of s 573 (Disclosure of information) 25
Section 573-- 26
s 83 52 s 83
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
insert-- 1
`(3A) The Authority may, if asked by an insurer, disclose to the 2
insurer any information it has that is relevant to a claim 3
against the insurer.'. 4
Clause 83 Amendment of s 576 (Information not actionable) 5
Section 576(2) and (3)-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`(2) Action can not be brought against the Authority or the insurer, 8
or a person acting for any of them, by a person claiming to be 9
aggrieved about the disclosure in relation to-- 10
(a) a claimant's physical or mental condition; or 11
(b) a claimant's capacity or incapacity for work; or 12
(c) the credibility of any of the following-- 13
(i) an employer; 14
(ii) an insurer; 15
(iii) a claimant; 16
(iv) a contributor; 17
(v) another person involved in the claim, if the 18
disclosure is relevant to the claim. 19
`(3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply to-- 20
(a) information in the possession of WorkCover only to the 21
extent the information came into WorkCover's 22
possession-- 23
(i) under its powers and functions under the Act; or 24
(ii) because of a disclosure by the Authority under 25
section 573(3A) or an insurer under 26
section 573(4);16 and 27
16 Section 573 (Disclosure of information)
s 84 53 s 84
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(b) information in the possession of a self-insurer only to 1
the extent the information came into the self-insurer's 2
possession-- 3
(i) under its powers and functions under section 92 4
or 92A;17 or 5
(ii) because of a disclosure by the Authority under 6
section 573(3A) or an insurer under 7
section 573(4).'. 8
Clause 84 Amendment of s 579 (Summary proceedings for offences 9
other than against ch 8) 10
(1) Section 579-- 11
insert-- 12
`(1A) A proceeding for an offence committed by WorkCover against 13
section 486B(2)18 is to be taken in a summary way under the 14
Justices Act 1886 before an industrial magistrate on the 15
complaint of-- 16
(a) the chief executive officer of the Authority; or 17
(b) a person authorised for the purpose by the chief 18
executive officer of the Authority; or 19
(c) the Attorney-General.'. 20
(2) Section 579(2), `The proceeding for the offence'-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`A proceeding for an offence other than an offence against 23
section 486B(2)'. 24
(3) Section 579(3), `The'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`A'. 27
(4) Section 579(3)(b)-- 28
17 Section 92 (Powers of self-insurers) or 92A (Powers of local government
self-insurers)
18 Section 486B (Effect of code of practice)
s 85 54 s 86
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
omit, insert-- 1
`(b) within 6 months after the commission of the offence 2
comes to the knowledge of-- 3
(i) for a proceeding mentioned in 4
subsection (1A)--the chief executive officer of the 5
Authority; or 6
(ii) for a proceeding mentioned in subsection (2)--the 7
chief executive officer of the Authority or 8
WorkCover;'. 9
(5) Section 579(4), `the proceeding'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`a proceeding'. 12
(6) Section 579-- 13
insert-- 14
`(5) A person aggrieved by a decision of the industrial magistrate 15
in the proceeding may appeal against the decision to a District 16
Court judge under the Justices Act 1886.'. 17
Clause 85 Omission of s 585 (Entitlements to compensation under 18
industrial instrument prohibited and void) 19
Section 585-- 20
omit. 21
Clause 86 Insertion of new ch 16 22
After section 611-- 23
insert-- 24
s 86 55 s 86
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`Chapter 16 Transitional provisions for 1
Workers' Compensation 2
and Rehabilitation and 3
Other Acts Amendment Act 4
2004 5
`612 Definitions for ch 16 6
`In this chapter-- 7
amending Act means the Workers' Compensation and 8
Rehabilitation and Other Acts Amendment Act 2004. 9
`613 Workers, employers and injuries 10
`Sections 11, 30 and 32,19 as in force immediately before the 11
commencement of this section, continue to apply in relation to 12
an injury sustained by a worker before the commencement as 13
if the amending Act had not been enacted. 14
`614 Excess period 15
`Sections 65 and 66, as in force immediately before the
20
16
commencement of this section, continue to apply in relation to 17
an injury sustained by a worker before 1 July 2005 as if the 18
amending Act had not been enacted. 19
`615 Employers who pay own claims 20
`The amendments of this Act made by sections 15 to 17 of the 21
amending Act apply only in relation to an injury sustained by 22
a worker on or after 1 January 2005. 23
19 Sections 11 (Who is a worker), 30 (Who is an employer) and 32 (Meaning of injury)
20 Sections 65 (Meaning of excess period) and 66 (Employer's liability for excess
period)
s 86 56 s 86
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`616 Entitlement to compensation 1
`The following provisions, as in force immediately before 2
1 January 2005, continue to apply in relation to an injury 3
sustained by a worker before 1 January 2005 as if the 4
amending Act had not been enacted-- 5
· section 105 6
· chapter 3, part 6, part 10, division 4 and part 11 7
· section 585.21 8
`617 Decision about application for compensation 9
`Section 134, as in force immediately before the
22
10
commencement of this section, continues to apply to an 11
application for compensation made before the 12
commencement. 13
`618 When entitlement to compensation stops 14
`Section 144B applies only in relation to an injury sustained
23
15
by a worker on or after the commencement of the section. 16
`619 Weekly payment for total incapacity 17
`The provisions of chapter 3, part 9, division 4, as in force
24
18
immediately before the commencement of this section, 19
continue to apply in relation to an injury sustained by a 20
worker before the commencement as if the amending Act had 21
not been enacted. 22
21 Section 105 (Meaning of amount payable under an industrial instrument), chapter 3
(Compensation), part 6 (Maximum statutory compensation), part 10 (Entitlement to
compensation for permanent impairment), division 4 (Additional lump sum
compensation), part 11 (Compensation on worker's death) and section 585
(Entitlements to compensation under industrial instrument prohibited and void)
22 Section 134 (Decision about application for compensation)
23 Section 144B (When payment of medical treatment, hospitalisation and expenses
stops)
24 Chapter 3 (Compensation), part 9 (Weekly payment of compensation), division 4
(Entitlement for total incapacity)
s 86 57 s 86
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`620 Recovery of compensation claim costs from third 1
party 2
`The provisions of chapter 3, part 1325 apply only in relation to 3
an application for compensation made on or after the 4
commencement of this section. 5
`621 Public hospitalisation 6
`The provisions of chapter 4, part 2, division 3, subdivision 2 26
7
apply only to the hospitalisation of a worker as an in-patient at 8
a public hospital on or after the commencement of this 9
section. 10
`622 Damages for particular services 11
`Chapter 5, part 10,27 as in force immediately before the 12
commencement of this section, continues to apply to a 13
proceeding for damages only if the trial in the proceeding was 14
started before the commencement. 15
`623 Review of decisions of insurer 16
`(1) The provisions of chapter 13, parts 1 and 2, as in force 28
17
immediately before the commencement of this section, 18
continue to apply to a decision of WorkCover or a self-insurer 19
made before the commencement as if the amending Act had 20
not been enacted. 21
(2) In this section-- 22
decision includes failure to make a decision. 23
25 Chapter 3 (Compensation), part 13 (Compensation claim costs and third parties)
26 Chapter 4 (Injury management), part 2 (Liability for medical treatment,
hospitalisation and expenses), division 3 (Hospitalisation), subdivision 2 (Public
hospitalisation)
27 Chapter 5 (Access to damages), part 10 (No right to particular damages)
28 Chapter 13 (Reviews and appeals), parts 1 (Internal review of proposed decisions)
and 2 (Authority's review of decisions)
s 87 58 s 88
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`624 Appeal of review decision 1
`Sections 548, 549 and 554, as in force immediately before
29
2
the commencement of this section, continue to apply to a 3
review decision of the Authority made before the 4
commencement as if the amending Act had not been enacted. 5
`625 Appeals generally 6
`The provisions of chapter 3, part 3, division 1,30 as in force 7
immediately before the commencement of this section, 8
continue to apply to a decision mentioned in section 54831 as 9
if the amending Act had not been enacted.'. 10
Clause 87 Amendment of sch 2 (Who is a worker) 11
Schedule 2, heading-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Schedule 2 Who is a worker in particular 14
circumstances'. 15
Clause 88 Amendment of sch 3 (Who is an employer) 16
(1) Schedule 3, heading-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`Schedule 3 Who is an employer in 19
particular circumstances'. 20
(2) Schedule 3, part 1, heading-- 21
omit. 22
(3) Schedule 3, part 1, sections 1, 2 and 3, `of service'-- 23
29 Sections 548 (Application of div 1), 549 (Who may appeal) and 554 (Exchanging
evidence before hearing)
30 Chapter 3 (Compensation), part 3 (Compensation entitlements of particular
workers), division 1 (Workers on ships)
31 Section 548 (Application of div 1)
s 89 59 s 89
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
omit, insert-- 1
`(regardless of whether the contract is a contract of service)'. 2
(4) Schedule 3, part 2-- 3
omit. 4
Clause 89 Amendment of sch 6 (Dictionary) 5
(1) Schedule 6, definitions amount payable under an industrial 6
instrument, deemed premium and hospitalisation-- 7
omit. 8
(2) Schedule 6-- 9
insert-- 10
`amount payable, under an industrial instrument, see 11
section 107B. 12
appeal body, for chapter 13, part 3, see section 548A. 13
compulsory conference see section 289. 14
contracted hospital see section 215. 15
contribution claim see section 292A. 16
contribution notice see section 278A. 17
contributor means a person added as a contributor under 18
section 278A. 19
contributor's response see section 278B. 20
deemed levy means a levy calculated under a regulation. 21
hospital see section 215. 22
hospitalisation, of a worker, means the admission of the 23
worker in a private hospital or public hospital for medical 24
treatment for the worker's injury. 25
party, for chapter 5, see section 233. 26
private patient see section 215. 27
public patient see section 215. 28
s 90 60 s 92
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
superannuation contribution means a superannuation 1
contribution under the Payroll Tax Act 1971. 2
usual employment see section 107C.'. 3
(3) Schedule 6, definition wages, paragraph (b)-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`(b) superannuation contributions, for deciding the amount 6
of compensation payable to a worker under chapter 3 7
or 4; and'. 8
Part 3 Amendment of Workplace 9
Health and Safety Act 1995 10
Clause 90 Act amended in pt 3 and sch 11
This part and the schedule amend the Workplace Health and 12
Safety Act 1995. 13
Clause 91 Amendment of s 3A (Relationship with Electrical Safety 14
Act 2002) 15
Section 3A(3), example, `at work'-- 16
omit. 17
Clause 92 Replacement of s 9 (What is a workplace?) 18
Section 9-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`9 What is a workplace? 21
`A workplace is any place where work is, or is to be, 22
performed by-- 23
(a) a worker; or 24
(b) a person conducting a business or undertaking. 25
s 93 61 s 97
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
1
Examples--
2
1 a construction workplace
3
2 a vessel used for teaching members of the public to scuba dive
4
3 a vehicle supplied by an employer for use by a worker in the
5
performance of work'.
Clause 93 Amendment of s 10 (Who is an employer?) 6
Section 10(1)(a), `for gain or reward'-- 7
omit. 8
Clause 94 Amendment of s 14 (What is a construction workplace?) 9
Section 14(1)(a), `after discounting for'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`including'. 12
Clause 95 Omission of s 16 (When is a worker at work?) 13
Section 16-- 14
omit. 15
Clause 96 Amendment of s 26 (How obligations can be discharged 16
if regulation etc. made) 17
Section 26(3), after `obligation'-- 18
insert-- 19
`for exposure to the risk'. 20
Clause 97 Amendment of s 28 (Obligations of employers) 21
Section 28(1) and (2)-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`(1) An employer has an obligation to ensure each of the 24
employer's workers is not exposed to risks to their health and 25
s 98 62 s 100
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
safety arising out of the conduct of the employer's business or 1
undertaking. 2
`(2) `An employer has an obligation to ensure the employer is not 3
exposed to risks to their health and safety arising out of the 4
conduct of the employer's business or undertaking.'. 5
Clause 98 Amendment of s 29 (Obligations of self-employed 6
persons) 7
Section 29(1)-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`(1) A self-employed person has an obligation to ensure the 10
self-employed person is not exposed to risks to their health 11
and safety arising out of the conduct of the self-employed 12
person's business or undertaking.'. 13
Clause 99 Amendment of s 29A (Obligations of persons conducting 14
business or undertaking) 15
(1) Section 29A(1)-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`(1) A person (the relevant person) who conducts a business or 18
undertaking has an obligation to ensure each person who 19
performs a work activity for the purposes of the business or 20
undertaking is not exposed to risks to their health and safety.'. 21
(2) Section 29A(2), example, from `section 28'-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`section 28 to ensure the person's own employees, if any, are 24
not exposed to risks to their health and safety, the person also 25
has, under this section, an obligation to ensure the labour hire 26
employees are not exposed to risks to their health and safety 27
while they are performing the work activity.'. 28
Clause 100 Amendment of s 38 (Regulations) 29
Section 38(7)(b), `registrable workplaces and'-- 30
omit. 31
s 101 63 s 102
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Clause 101 Replacement of s 41 (Advisory standards and industry 1
codes of practice) 2
Section 41-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`41 Code of practice about managing exposure to risks 5
`(1) The Minister may make a code of practice that states ways to 6
manage exposure to risks common to industry or a part of 7
industry. 8
9
Example of a code of practice--
10
A code of practice about managing noise exposure may provide advice
11
about identifying sources of noise, assessing actual or potential levels of
12
noise exposure and eliminating or minimising noise exposure as a risk
13
to health at a workplace.
14
Example of a part of industry--
15
1 the rural sector
16
2 canegrowing within the rural sector
`(2) The Minister must notify the making of a code of practice. 17
`(3) A code of practice expires 10 years after its commencement. 18
`(4) The Minister must ensure that a copy of each code of practice 19
and any document applied, adopted or incorporated by the 20
code of practice is made available for inspection, without 21
charge, during normal business hours at each department 22
office dealing with workplace health and safety. 23
`(5) A notice mentioned in subsection (2) is subordinate 24
legislation.'. 25
Clause 102 Insertion of new s 42DA 26
After section 42D-- 27
insert-- 28
`42DA Giving workplace health and safety undertaking 29
`(1) This section applies if the identified person proposes to make 30
a workplace health and safety undertaking. 31
`(2) The undertaking must be received by the chief executive 32
within the time prescribed under a regulation.'. 33
s 103 64 s 106
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Clause 103 Amendment of s 42I (Contravention of workplace health 1
and safety undertaking) 2
(1) Section 42I(2), `the industrial court'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`an industrial magistrate'. 5
(2) Section 42I(3) and (4), `court'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`magistrate'. 8
Clause 104 Insertion of new s 103A 9
Part 9, division 2, before section 104-- 10
insert-- 11
`103A Inspectors may give advice to persons with 12
workplace health and safety obligation 13
`An inspector may give advice to a person who has a 14
workplace health and safety obligation in relation to the 15
person's compliance with this Act.'. 16
Clause 105 Amendment of s 108 (General powers after entering 17
places) 18
Section 108(5), after `for the person'-- 19
insert-- 20
`, if the person is an individual,'. 21
Clause 106 Amendment of s 117 (Improvement notice) 22
(1) Section 117(2), from `may' to `require'-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`may direct'. 25
(2) Section 117-- 26
insert-- 27
s 107 65 s 107
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(2A) The direction may be given orally, but must be confirmed by 1
written notice (an improvement notice) given to the person as 2
soon as practicable.'. 3
(3) Section 117(3)(c)-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`(c) briefly, how the provision is being, or has been, 6
contravened; and'. 7
(4) Section 117(4)-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`(4) The person must comply with-- 10
(a) the direction; and 11
(b) the improvement notice. 12
Maximum penalty for subsection (4)--40 penalty units.'. 13
Clause 107 Amendment of s 118 (Prohibition notice) 14
(1) Section 118(1) and (2)-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`(1) This section applies if an inspector reasonably believes that 17
circumstances causing, or likely to cause, a risk of serious 18
bodily injury, work caused illness or a dangerous event have 19
arisen, or are likely to arise, in relation to a workplace, 20
relevant workplace area, work activity, plant or substance. 21
`(2) The inspector may direct the person in control of the 22
workplace, relevant workplace area, work activity, plant or 23
substance that caused or is likely to cause, the circumstances 24
to stop using, or allowing to be used, the workplace, area, 25
plant or substance or to stop the activity.'. 26
(2) Section 118(4)-- 27
omit, insert-- 28
`(4) The person must comply with-- 29
(a) the direction; and 30
(b) the prohibition notice. 31
s 108 66 s 110
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units or 6 months 1
imprisonment.'. 2
(3) Section 118(6)(c) and (d)-- 3
omit. 4
(4) Section 118(7)-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`(7) For this section, a person is in control of a workplace, relevant 7
workplace area, work activity, plant or substance if the person 8
has, or reasonably appears to have, authority to exercise 9
control over the workplace, area, activity, plant or substance.'. 10
Clause 108 Amendment of s 120 (Power to require name and 11
address) 12
(1) Section 120(1)(a) and (b), `at a workplace'-- 13
omit. 14
(2) Section 120(1)(b), `just'-- 15
omit. 16
Clause 109 Amendment of s 121 (Power to inquire into workplace 17
incident) 18
Section 121(6), after `for the person'-- 19
insert-- 20
`, if the person is an individual,'. 21
Clause 110 Amendment of s 122 (Power to require production of 22
certain documents) 23
Section 122(3)-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
`(3) If the person is an individual, it is a reasonable excuse for the 26
person not to comply with the requirement under 27
subsection (1)(b) if complying with the requirement might 28
tend to incriminate the person.'. 29
s 111 67 s 113
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Clause 111 Amendment of s 144 (Offences by witnesses) 1
Section 144(4), `It'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`If the person is an individual, it'. 4
Clause 112 Replacement of s 182 (Revocation of accredited 5
provider's appointment) 6
Section 182-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`182 Suspension or revocation of accredited provider's 9
appointment 10
`The chief executive may suspend or revoke an accredited 11
provider's appointment.32'. 12
Clause 113 Replacement of pt 17, divs 2 and 3 13
Part 17, divisions 2 and 3-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`Division 2 Transitional provisions for Workers' 16
Compensation and Rehabilitation 17
and Other Acts Amendment Act 18
2004 19
`190 Existing advisory standards 20
`(1) The Workplace Health and Safety (Advisory Standards) 21
Notice 1998 (the notice) is repealed. 22
`(2) The advisory standards mentioned in the notice, as in force 23
immediately before the commencement of this section-- 24
(a) are continued in force as codes of practice; and 25
(b) expire 10 years after their commencement. 26
32 An accredited provider may appeal under section 152 (Who may appeal?) against a
decision to suspend or revoke the officer's appointment.
s 114 68 s 115
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`191 Existing codes of practice 1
`The industry codes of practice mentioned in the Workplace 2
Health and Safety (Industry Codes of Practice) Notice 1999, 3
as in force immediately before the commencement of this 4
section, expire 10 years after their commencement.'. 5
Clause 114 Amendment of sch 2 (Specified high risk plant) 6
(1) Schedule 2, section 1, `gas cylinder'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`LP gas cylinder'. 9
(2) Schedule 2, section 2, definition gas cylinder-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`LP gas cylinder means a cylinder with a water capacity of 12
more than 0.1 kg that contains liquefied petroleum gas under 13
pressure.'. 14
Clause 115 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) 15
(1) Schedule 3, definitions gas cylinder and workplace activity-- 16
omit. 17
(2) Schedule 3-- 18
insert-- 19
`LP gas cylinder see schedule 2. 20
waters include Queensland waters.'. 21
(3) Schedule 3, definition place, `or under the water'-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`, under'. 24
(4) Schedule 3, definition workplace incident-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`workplace incident means-- 27
(a) an incident resulting in a person suffering-- 28
s 116 69 s 117
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(i) a work injury; or 1
(ii) a work caused injury; or 2
(b) an incident resulting in a dangerous event; or 3
(c) another matter decided by the Minister to be a 4
workplace incident.'. 5
Part 4 Amendment of Electrical Safety 6
Act 2002 7
Clause 116 Act amended in pt 4 and sch 8
This part and the schedule amend the Electrical Safety Act 9
2002. 10
Clause 117 Amendment of s 14 (Meaning of electrical equipment) 11
(1) Section 14(1)(c)-- 12
renumber as section 14(1)(d). 13
(2) Section 14(1)-- 14
insert-- 15
`(c) operated by electricity at an extra low voltage, if the 16
equipment forms part of an electrical installation located 17
in a hazardous area; or'. 18
(3) Section 14-- 19
insert-- 20
`(3) In this section-- 21
`hazardous area has the meaning given by AS/NZS 3000 as 33
22
in force from time to time.'. 23
33 AS/NZS 3000 (Electrical installations), known as the Australian/New Zealand
Wiring Rules, is a standard published jointly by Standards Australia and Standards
New Zealand. It may be purchased from Standards Australia.
s 118 70 s 119
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Clause 118 Amendment of s 18 (Meaning of electrical work) 1
(1) Section 18(2)(d), from `registered' to `1995'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 that is 4
prescribed under a regulation for this paragraph'. 5
(2) Section 18(2)(j)-- 6
renumber as section 18(2)(n). 7
(3) Section 18(2)-- 8
insert-- 9
`(j) erecting structures for the support of electrical 10
equipment; 11
12
Examples of structures--
13
electric poles and towers
(k) locating, mounting or fixing in place electrical 14
equipment, other than-- 15
(i) making or terminating electrical connections to the 16
equipment; or 17
(ii) installing supply conductors that will connect the 18
equipment to a supply of electricity; 19
(l) assisting a licensed electrical worker to perform work on 20
electrical equipment under the direct supervision of the 21
electrical worker, if performing the work does not 22
involve the person directly contacting live electrical 23
equipment; 24
(m) maintaining the structural parts of the electrical traction 25
system on a railway, other than overhead electric lines, 26
that forms part of the works of an electrical entity, if the 27
work is structural work performed under a safe system 28
of work;'. 29
Clause 119 Amendment of s 44 (Code of practice about discharging 30
electrical safety obligation) 31
Section 44(2)-- 32
s 120 71 s 122
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
omit, insert-- 1
`(2) A code of practice expires 10 years after its commencement.'. 2
Clause 120 Insertion of new s 49A 3
After section 49-- 4
insert-- 5
`49A Giving electrical safety undertaking 6
`(1) This section applies if the identified person proposes to make 7
an electrical safety undertaking. 8
`(2) The undertaking must be received by the chief executive 9
within the time prescribed under a regulation.'. 10
Clause 121 Amendment of s 54 (Contravention of electrical safety 11
undertaking) 12
(1) Section 54(2), `the industrial court'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`an industrial magistrate'. 15
(2) Section 54(3) and (4), `court'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`magistrate'. 18
Clause 122 Insertion of new pt 4, div 1A 19
After section 57-- 20
insert-- 21
`Division 1A Rectification of defective electrical 22
work 23
`57A Power of chief executive to direct defective electrical 24
work to be rectified 25
`(1) This section applies if-- 26
s 122 72 s 122
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
(a) the chief executive considers that a person has 1
contravened section 55 or 56;34 and 2
(b) the chief executives considers that -- 3
(i) the way the electrical work was performed was not 4
electrically safe; or 5
(ii) the person who actually performed the electrical 6
work was negligent or incompetent in performing 7
the work; or 8
(iii) because of the performance of the work, a person 9
or property is not electrically safe. 10
`(2) The chief executive may direct the person to rectify the 11
electrical work. 12
`57B Notice of proposed action 13
`(1) Before the chief executive gives a direction to rectify the 14
electrical work, the chief executive must give the person a 15
written notice-- 16
(a) stating that the chief executive proposes to direct the 17
person to rectify the electrical work within the period 18
stated in the direction (the proposed action); and 19
(b) stating the grounds for the proposed action; and 20
(c) outlining the facts and circumstances forming the basis 21
for the grounds; and 22
(d) inviting the person to show, within a stated time of at 23
least 14 days, why the proposed action should not be 24
taken. 25
`(2) The chief executive must consider any representations made 26
by the person within the stated time. 27
`(3) If the chief executive still considers a ground exists to take the 28
proposed action, the chief executive may direct the person to 29
rectify the electrical work within the period stated in the 30
direction. 31
34 Section 55 (Requirement for electrical work licence) or 56 (Requirement for
electrical contractor licence)
s 123 73 s 123
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(4) The chief executive must give the person-- 1
(a) written notice of the decision; and 2
(b) include with the written notice an information notice for 3
the decision. 4
`(5) If the direction is given to a person who is not currently 5
licensed to carry out the required work, the person must have 6
the work carried out by a licensed contractor. 7
`(6) The person to whom the direction is given must comply with 8
the requirement, unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 9
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 10
`(7) It is not a reasonable excuse for a person not to comply with 11
the requirement that a contractor engaged by the person to 12
perform the work had failed to perform the work.'. 13
Clause 123 Insertion of new pt 4, div 2A 14
After section 64-- 15
insert-- 16
`Division 2A Miscellaneous requirements 17
`64A Chief executive may ask for further information or 18
documents from licence holder 19
`(1) The chief executive may, by written notice given to the holder 20
of an electrical licence, require the person to give the chief 21
executive, within a reasonable period of at least 21 days stated 22
in the notice, information or a document the chief executive 23
reasonably requires to satisfy the chief executive that the 24
person continues to satisfy the eligibility requirements for the 25
issue of the licence. 26
27
Example of information--
28
The person continues to hold public liability insurance of the required
29
amount under a contract of insurance approved by the chief executive.
`(2) The chief executive may, in the notice, require the person to 30
verify the further information or document by statutory 31
declaration. 32
s 124 74 s 127
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(3) The person must comply with the notice, unless the person 1
has a reasonable excuse. 2
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units.'. 3
Clause 124 Amendment of s 88 (Functions of licensing committee) 4
Section 88(1)(c), `hear appeals against'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`review'. 7
Clause 125 Replacement of s 134 (Revocation of accredited auditor's 8
appointment) 9
Section 134-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`134 Suspension or revocation of accredited auditor's 12
appointment 13
`The chief executive may suspend or revoke an accredited 14
auditor's appointment.'. 15
Clause 126 Insertion of new s 143A 16
Part 11, division 3, before section 144-- 17
insert-- 18
`143A Inspectors may give advice to persons with 19
electrical safety obligation 20
`An inspector may give advice to a person who has an 21
electrical safety obligation in relation to the person's 22
compliance with this Act.'. 23
Clause 127 Amendment of s 144 (General powers after entering 24
place) 25
Section 144(6), after `for the person'-- 26
insert-- 27
`, if the person is an individual,'. 28
s 128 75 s 132
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Clause 128 Amendment of s 153 (Improvement notice) 1
Section 153(4)(c)-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`(c) briefly, how the provision is being, or has been, 4
contravened; and'. 5
Clause 129 Amendment of s 154 (Electrical safety protection notice) 6
Section 154(8)(e)-- 7
omit. 8
Clause 130 Amendment of s 157A (Power to inquire into serious 9
electrical incident or dangerous electrical event) 10
Section 157A(6), after `for the person'-- 11
insert-- 12
`, if the person is an individual,'. 13
Clause 131 Amendment of s 158 (Power to require production of 14
certain documents) 15
Section 158(3), `It'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`If the person is an individual, it'. 18
Clause 132 Insertion of new pt 16 19
After section 241-- 20
insert-- 21
`Part 16 Transitional provision for 22
Workers' Compensation and 23
Rehabilitation and Other Acts 24
Amendment Act 2004 25
s 133 76 s 136
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`242 Existing codes of practice 1
`The codes of practice mentioned in the Electrical Safety 2
(Codes of Practice) Notice 2002, as in force at the 3
commencement of this section, expire 10 years after their 4
commencement.'. 5
Part 5 Amendment of Industrial 6
Relations Act 1999 7
Clause 133 Act amended in pt 5 8
This part amends the Industrial Relations Act 1999. 9
Clause 134 Amendment of s 267 (Commission's jurisdiction is 10
exclusive) 11
Section 267, after `by this Act'-- 12
insert-- 13
`or another Act'. 14
Part 6 Amendment of Statutory 15
Instruments Act 1992 16
Clause 135 Act amended in pt 6 17
This part amends the Statutory Instruments Act 1992. 18
Clause 136 Amendment of s 46 (When is preparation of a regulatory 19
impact statement unnecessary?) 20
Section 46(1)(k)-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
s 136 77 s 136
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`(k) a notice about a code of practice made under the 1
Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, section 41;35 2
(l) a notice about a code of practice made under the 3
Electricity Safety Act 2002, section 44;36 4
(m) a notice about a code of practice made under the 5
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, 6
section 486A.37'. 7
35 Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, section 41 (Code of practice about
managing exposure to risks)
36 Electrical Safety Act 2002, section 44 (Code of practice about discharging electrical
safety obligation)
37 Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, section 486A (Code of
practice)
78
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Schedule Minor amendments 1
sections 3, 90 and 116 2
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 3
1 Sections 58(6) and (10), 62(1)(b), 80(3) and 583(4)(g), 4
`21 days'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`15 business days'. 7
2 Sections 66(5), 136(1), 167(2), 185(1), 278(2), (3) and (4), 8
281(6), 292(2), 542(6), 546(1) and 550(6), `14 days'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`10 business days'. 11
3 Sections 77(3), 96(1)(b), 97(2), 101(2)(b) and (5), 102(4)(b), 12
131(2), 186(2), 190(2)(b), 542(4)(a), 550(1)(a), (b) and (2), 13
552(2), 569(4) and 572(2), `28 days'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`20 business days'. 16
4 Section 77(4), `3 months'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`60 business days'. 19
5 Section 79(2) and (3) and 103(3), `90 days'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`60 business days'. 22
79
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Schedule (continued)
6 Sections 77(5), 278(5), 281(5), 290(5) and (8), 372(3), 1
468(3), 510(2)(a), 542(4)(b) and 544(1)(a), `7 days'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`5 business days'. 4
7 Section 80(2)(d), `42 days'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`30 business days'. 7
8 Section 92(4), before `exercised'-- 8
insert-- 9
`performed or'. 10
9 Section 92(5), `exercise the self-insurer's functions 11
and'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`perform the self-insurer's functions or exercise the 14
self-insurer's'. 15
10 Section 92(7), `and exercise the functions and'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`the functions and exercise the'. 18
11 Section 96(3) and 133(3), `10 days'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`8 business days'. 21
12 Chapter 3, part 9, division 8, heading-- 22
omit. 23
80
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Schedule (continued)
13 Section 210, heading-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`210 Insurer's liability for medical treatment, hospitalisation 3
and expenses'. 4
14 Section 282(1)(a), `or'-- 5
omit. 6
15 Section 290(4), `30 days'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`21 business days'. 9
16 Section 291, `section 290(7)'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`section 290A(3)'. 12
17 Section 545(1), `35 days'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`25 days'. 15
18 Chapter 13, part 3, division 1, heading, after 16
`magistrate'-- 17
insert-- 18
`, industrial commission'. 19
19 Section 550(3), `28 day'-- 20
omit. 21
81
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Schedule (continued)
20 Chapter 15, heading-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`Chapter 15 Transitional provisions for 3
Act No. 27 of 2003'. 4
21 Schedule 2, part 1, section 1, after `only', second 5
mention-- 6
insert-- 7
`is a worker'. 8
22 Schedule 2, part 1, section 2, before `unless'-- 9
insert-- 10
`is a worker'. 11
23 Schedule 2, part 1, section 3, before `if'-- 12
insert-- 13
`is a worker'. 14
24 Schedule 2, part 1, section 4, after `by commission'-- 15
insert-- 16
`is a worker'. 17
25 Schedule 2, part 1, section 5, after `schedule,'-- 18
insert-- 19
`is a worker'. 20
82
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Schedule (continued)
26 Schedule 2, part 1, section 6, after `else'-- 1
insert-- 2
`is a worker'. 3
27 Schedule 2, part 1, section 7, after `other person'-- 4
insert-- 5
`is a worker'. 6
28 Schedule 2, part 1, section 8, after `another person'-- 7
insert-- 8
`is a worker'. 9
29 Schedule 2, part 2, section 1, `who'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`is not a worker if the person'. 12
30 Schedule 2, part 2, section 2, `while'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`is not a worker while the person is'. 15
31 Schedule 2, part 2, section 3, before `if'-- 16
insert-- 17
`is not a worker'. 18
32 Schedule 2, part 2, section 4, after `tuition'-- 19
insert-- 20
`is not a worker'. 21
83
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Schedule (continued)
33 Schedule 2, part 2, section 5, after `606'-- 1
insert-- 2
`is not a worker'. 3
Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 4
34 Sections 5, 6(a) and (b), 7(1) and (2), 22(1)(a) and (b), 5
31(1)(c) and 97(a), `workplace activities'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`work activities'. 8
35 Sections 7(1), second example, 42C(1)(a)(i), schedule 3, 9
definitions dangerous event, work caused illness, 10
paragraphs (a) and (b) and work injury, paragraphs (a), 11
(b)(ii) and (c), `workplace activity'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`work activity'. 14
36 Section 7(3)(b), `and advisory standards'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`and codes of practice'. 17
37 Section 26(3), 27(1), 37(1)(b) and 42, `an advisory 18
standard or industry'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`a'. 21
84
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Schedule (continued)
38 Section 37(1)(c) and (3) and 45(2)(e), `, advisory standard 1
or industry'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`or'. 4
39 Section 37(3), `, standard'-- 5
omit. 6
40 Part 4, heading-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`Part 4 Regulations, codes of practice 9
and ministerial notices'. 10
41 Part 4, division 2, heading-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`Division 2 Codes of practice'. 13
42 Section 42, heading-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`42 Use of code of practice in proceedings'. 16
43 Section 42, `the standard or'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`the'. 19
44 Section 42(c), `advisory standard or industry'-- 20
omit. 21
85
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Schedule (continued)
45 Section 42C(6), `or advisory standard'-- 1
omit. 2
46 Section 45(2)(n), `advisory standards and industry'-- 3
omit. 4
47 Section 56(2)(c), example, `an industry'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`a'. 7
48 Section 123, heading, after `workplace,'-- 8
insert-- 9
`relevant workplace area,', 10
49 Section 123(1), after `workplace,'-- 11
insert-- 12
`or a relevant workplace area,'. 13
50 Section 123(2), after `part,'-- 14
insert-- 15
`relevant workplace area,'. 16
51 Section 123(2), example, after `a workplace'-- 17
insert-- 18
`, relevant workplace area'. 19
86
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Schedule (continued)
52 Section 123(2), example, after `the workplace'-- 1
insert-- 2
`or relevant workplace area'. 3
53 Section 164(4), `Workplace Relations Act 1997' and 4
footnote-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`Industrial Relations Act 1999'. 7
Electrical Safety Act 2002 8
54 Section 30(3), `subsection (1)'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`subsection (2)'. 11
55 Part 15, heading-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Part 15 Transitional provisions for Act 14
No. 42 of 2002'. 15
© State of Queensland 2004
AMENDMENTS TO BILL
1
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
Workers' Compensation and
Rehabilitation and Other Acts Amendment
Bill 2004
Amendments agreed to during Consideration
1 Clause 21--
At page 22, line 5, `65%'--
omit, insert--
`70%'.
2 Clause 107--
At page 66, after line 2--
insert--
`(2A) Section 118(6)(a), `an immediate'--
omit, insert--
`the'.'.
3 Clause 113--
At page 67, lines 23 to 26 and page 68, lines 1 to 5--
omit, insert--
``(2) The advisory standards mentioned in the notice, and as in
force immediately before the commencement of this
section--
(a) are continued in force as codes of practice; and
(b) expire 10 years after their commencement.
`(3) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (2)(b) does
not prevent a statutory instrument, mentioned in the
subsection and being continued in force, from being amended
or repealed before its expiry under this Act.
2
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`191 Existing codes of practice
`(1) The industry codes of practice mentioned in the Workplace
Health and Safety (Industry Codes of Practice) Notice 1999,
and as in force immediately before the commencement of this
section--
(a) are continued in force as codes of practice; and
(b) expire 10 years after their commencement.
`(2) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (1)(b) does
not prevent a statutory instrument, mentioned in the
subsection and being continued in force, from being amended
or repealed before its expiry under this Act.'.'.
4 Clause 132--
At page 76, lines 2 to 5--
omit, insert--
``(1) The codes of practice mentioned in the Electrical Safety
(Codes of Practice) Notice 2002, and as in force immediately
before the commencement of this section, expire 10 years
after their commencement.
`(2) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (1) does
not prevent a code of practice mentioned in the subsection
from being amended or repealed before its expiry under this
Act.'.'.
5 Clause 136--
At page 77, after line 7--
insert--
`Part 7 Amendment of Trading
(Allowable Hours) Act 1990
`137 Act amended in pt 7
`This part amends the Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990.
3
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`138 Insertion of new pt 9
`After section 48--
insert--
`Part 9 Provisions for 26 December
2004
`49 Definitions for pt 9
`In this part--
south-east Queensland area see section 31B.
trading hours order see section 31B.
`50 Displacement of trading hours order
`(1) This part applies only to a non-exempt shop in the south-east
Queensland area to which the trading hours order applies.
`(2) Despite section 28,1 the trading hours order does not apply to
a non-exempt shop in the south-east Queensland area to the
extent the order is inconsistent with this part.
`51 Allowable hours on Sunday 26 December 2004
`(1) On Sunday 26 December 2004, the occupier of a non-exempt
shop, other than an excluded shop, must ensure the shop is
closed.
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units.
`(2) In this section--
excluded shop means a non-exempt shop in the following
areas as defined in the trading hours order--
(a) gold coast area;
(b) sunshine coast area.
1 Section 28 (Occupier to comply with order relating to premises)
4
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other
Acts Amendment Bill 2004
`52 Work on Sunday 26 December 2004 to be on a
voluntary basis
`An employer must not require an employee to work on
Sunday 26 December 2004 unless the employee agrees, in
writing, to work on that day.
Maximum penalty--16 penalty units.
`53 Expiry of part
`This part expires on 31 March 2005.'.'.
6 Schedule, amendment 17--
At page 80, line 15, before `days'--
insert--
`business'.
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