WORKERS REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION ACT 1986 - SECT 71
This legislation has been repealed.
WORKERS REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION ACT 1986 - SECT 71
(1) A premium payable
by an employer in relation to a particular period (other than an employer who
is not liable to pay a premium under this Division) will be—
(a)
determined in accordance with a WorkCover premium order under this section; or
(b) to
the extent that a WorkCover premium order does not apply to the
employer—the aggregate base premiums applying to that employer in
respect of all classes of industry in which the employer employs workers
(subject to any adjustments or requirements that apply in the circumstances).
(2) For the purposes
of subsection (1)(a)
, the Corporation may, after consultation with the Minister and applying any
principle specified by the Minister for the purposes of this section, fix the
manner in which a premium payable by an employer (or a person who proposes to
become an employer) will be calculated.
(3) The Corporation
must, for the purposes of subsection (2)
, publish an order (or orders) in the Gazette (and any such order will be
referred to as a "WorkCover premium order").
(4) A
WorkCover premium order will take effect from the commencement of a financial
year specified by the order (and will then apply, including in relation to a
succeeding financial year, until superseded by another WorkCover
premium order).
(5) A
WorkCover premium order may—
(a)
apply generally or be limited in its application by reference to specified
factors or exceptions; and
(b)
apply differently according to—
(i)
categories of employers; and
(ii)
different factors of a specified kind; and
(c)
authorise any matter to be determined, applied or regulated by a specified
person or body,
or may do any combination of these things.
(6) Without limiting a
preceding subsection, a WorkCover premium order may—
(a)
apply any principle relevant to the claims experience of a particular category
or class of employer, or the size of an employer (after applying such
principles or assumptions as the Corporation thinks fit); and
(b) fix
and apply various principles, weights, adjustments, caps, limits (including
limits on the reduction of premiums), assumptions or exclusions according to
specified factors; and
(c)
without limiting any other provision, specify any adjustment or assumption
relating to the remuneration paid to workers over a particular period
(including a period into the future); and
(d)
allow employers who satisfy any specified criteria, on application and at the
discretion of the Corporation, to pay a premium determined by the Corporation
according to an alternative set of principles—
(i)
specified in the order; or
(ii)
specified in another WorkCover premium order that applies
in the circumstances; or
(iii)
agreed between the Corporation and the employer; and
(e)
require that employers of a specified class must provide a deposit, bond or
guarantee, or some other form of security, specified in the order; and
(f) make
any other provision or impose any other requirement prescribed by the
regulations.
(7) Subject to any
remission or reduction of premium granted by the Corporation, where—
(a) the
amount of premium payable by an employer in respect of a designated period
would, apart from this subsection, be less than the designated minimum
premium; or
(b) an
employer is registered but no premium would, apart from this subsection, be
payable by the employer for a designated period,
the premium payable by the employer for the designated period is the
designated minimum premium.
(8) For the purposes
of subsection (7)
, the Corporation may, from time to time, as part of the WorkCover premium
provisions, fix—
(a) the
designated period; and
(b) the
designated minimum premium.
(9) The Corporation
may, if it considers that there is an error in a WorkCover premium order,
after consultation with the Minister, amend the WorkCover premium order by
notice in the Gazette.
(10) A notice under subsection (9)
may, if the notice so provides, take effect from a date that is earlier than
its date of publication (being on or after the date on which the relevant
WorkCover premium order took effect).