WORKERS REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION ACT 1986 - SECT 99D
This legislation has been repealed.
WORKERS REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION ACT 1986 - SECT 99D
(1) The WorkCover
Ombudsman has the following functions:
(a) to
identify and review issues arising out of the operation or administration of
this Act, and to make recommendations for improving the operation or
administration of this Act, especially so as to improve processes that affect
workers who have suffered a compensable injury or employers;
(b) to
receive and investigate complaints about administrative acts under this Act,
and to seek to resolve those complaints expeditiously, including by making
recommendations to relevant parties;
(c)
without limiting paragraphs (a)
and (b)
—
(i)
to receive and investigate complaints about failures to
comply with section 58B
or 58C
and to give directions to the Corporation or any relevant employer in
connection with the operation or requirements of either section;
(ii)
to investigate other matters relating to providing for
the effective rehabilitation of injured workers and their return to work on a
successful basis;
(d) to
encourage and assist the Corporation and employers to establish their own
complaint-handling processes and procedures with a view to improving the
effectiveness of this Act;
(e) to
initiate or support other activities or projects relating to the workers
rehabilitation and compensation scheme established by this Act;
(f) to
provide other assistance or advice to support the fair and effective operation
or administration of this Act.
(2) The WorkCover
Ombudsman may act under subsection (1)
on his or her own initiative, at the request of the Minister, or on the
receipt of a complaint by an interested person.
(3) However, the
WorkCover Ombudsman—
(a) may
not investigate an act where the relevant matter—
(i)
is, or is capable of being, the subject of proceedings
under Part 5
, 6
, 6A
, 6B
or 6C; or
(ii)
is the subject of any legal proceedings; and
(b) may
not investigate an act in the nature of an industrial dispute under the Fair
Work Act 1994
.
(4) The WorkCover
Ombudsman must establish a scheme for receiving and dealing with complaints
for the purposes of subsection (1)
.
(5) The WorkCover
Ombudsman may refuse to entertain a complaint, or, having commenced to
consider a matter raised in a complaint, may refuse to continue if of the
opinion—
(a) that
the matter raised in the complaint is trivial; or
(b) that
the complaint is frivolous or vexatious or is not made in good faith; or
(c) that
the complainant or the person on whose behalf the complaint was made has not a
sufficient personal interest in the matter raised in the complaint; or
(d) that
the complainant has failed, without good reason, to take reasonable steps to
resolve the matter through another established complaint-handling process; or
(e) that
having regard to all the circumstances of the case, the investigation or the
continuance of the investigation of the matter raised in the complaint is
unnecessary or unjustifiable; or
(f) that
the matter raised in the complaint should be dealt with under another Act or
by another person or body; or
(g) that
there is some other reasonable cause that justifies the discontinuance of
proceedings under this Part.
(6) The WorkCover
Ombudsman may, at any time, decide to attempt to deal with a complaint by
conciliation (and, in doing so, may act personally or through some other
person).
(7) In this
section—
"act" includes—
(a) an
omission;
(b) a
decision, proposal or recommendation,
and the circumstances surrounding an act.