Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Accident Compensation Act 1985 - SECT 10A

Sub-contracting where sub-contractor not a worker

10A. Sub-contracting where sub-contractor not a worker



(1) If a person (in this section referred to as the principal contractor) in
the course of or for the purposes of the person's trade or business contracts
with any other person who is not, and is not deemed under section 8 or 9 to
be, a worker (in this section referred to as the contractor) for the execution
by or under the contractor of the whole or any part of any work undertaken by
the principal contractor, the principal contractor, if the contractor does not
have a WorkCover insurance policy or is not a self-insurer at the time a
worker employed in the execution of the work receives an injury, is liable to
pay any compensation under this Act in respect of that injury which the
principal contractor would have been liable to pay if that worker and all
other workers employed by the contractor in the execution of the work had been
immediately employed by the principal contractor.

(2) If compensation is claimed from or proceedings are taken against the
principal contractor in respect of any such injury, then, in the application
of this Act, a reference to the principal contractor shall be substituted for
a reference to the employer, except that the amount of compensation shall be
calculated with reference to the earnings of the worker under the employer by
whom the worker is immediately employed.

(3) In the case of sub-contracts-

   (a)  principal contractor includes not only the original principal
        contractor but also each contractor who constitutes himself, herself
        or itself as a principal contractor with respect to a sub-contractor
        by contracting with the sub-contractor for the execution by the
        sub-contractor of the whole or any part of the work; and

   (b)  contractor includes not only the original contractor but also each
        sub-contractor-

and each principal contractor's right to indemnity shall include a right
against each contractor standing between the principal contractor and the
contractor by whom the worker was employed at the time when the injury
occurred.

(4) If the principal contractor is liable to pay compensation under this
section, the principal contractor is entitled to be indemnified by any person
who would have been liable to pay compensation to the worker independently of
this section, and all questions as to the right to and amount of any such
indemnity shall in default of agreement be settled by a court.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing a worker
recovering compensation under this Act from the contractor instead of the
principal contractor.





(6) If-





   (a)  a principal contractor under a contract referred to in subsection (1)
        is, at the time of an injury to a worker employed in the execution of
        the work under the contract, insured under a WorkCover insurance
        policy in respect of workers other than the workers employed in the
        execution of the work under the contract;

   (b)  compensation payable by the principal contractor under subsection (1)
        in respect of the injury is paid in accordance with the principal
        contractor's WorkCover insurance policy; and

   (c)  the principal contractor has not, in respect of the policy, paid a
        premium in respect of the principal contractor's liability under
        subsection (1)-

the principal contractor is liable to pay the Authority, in addition to the
premium payable or paid in respect of the policy, a premium calculated having
regard to-

   (d)  the insurance premiums order in force as at the commencement of the
        policy; and

   (e)  the remuneration paid or payable to the workers employed in the
        execution of the work under the contract during the relevant policy
        period.

(7) A principal contractor under a contract referred to in subsection (1) is
not, under subsection (6), liable to pay in respect of a WorkCover insurance
policy more than one additional premium in respect of the workers employed in
the execution of the work under the contract.



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