VICTORIA STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE ACT 2005 - SECT 47 Compensation for injury during emergency service
VICTORIA STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE ACT 2005 - SECT 47
Compensation for injury during emergency service(1) If a registered member or probationary member suffers personal injury arising out of or in the course of emergency service, compensation is to be paid in accordance with this Part.
(2) An injury is deemed to arise out of or in the course of a registered member's or probationary member's emergency service if the injury occurs while the member is—
(a) engaging in any authorised activity in or outside Victoria as a registered member or probationary member; or
(b) training or practising for any such activity; or
(c) travelling to or from any place where any such activity is to be or has been engaged in.
S. 47(2A) inserted by No. 5/2021 s. 55(1).
(2A) If a registered member or probationary member who is entitled to make a claim for compensation under this Part does so in respect of a personal injury that is a mental injury, the person is entitled to be paid provisional payments in relation to that mental injury.
S. 47(2B) inserted by No. 5/2021 s. 55(1).
(2B) Subsection (2A) does not apply—
(a) if the claim for compensation was made before the commencement of section 11 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Provisional Payments) Act 2021 ; or
(b) if a claim for compensation relating to the same mental injury and circumstances has previously been determined.
S. 47(3) amended by Nos 67/2013 s. 649(Sch. 9 item 35(2)(a)), 5/2021 s. 55(2).
(3) For the purposes only of this Part, the person to whom or for whose benefit compensation or provisional payments are payable are those persons to whom or for whose benefit compensation or provisional payments would be payable under the Accident Compensation Act 1985 or the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 if—
(a) the registered member or probationary member suffering personal injury arising out of or in the course of emergency service were a worker within the meaning of that Act; and
(b) the personal injury were caused in the person's employment arising out of or in the course of the employment.
(4) A claim for compensation under this section must be made to the Victorian WorkCover Authority in accordance with this Part.
S. 47(5) amended by No. 5/2012 s. 102(1).
(5) All matters relating to compensation must be determined in accordance with this Part by the Victorian WorkCover Authority, the ACCS, a Medical Panel, the County Court or the Magistrates' Court, as the case requires.
S. 47(6) amended by Nos 5/2012 s. 102(1), 67/2013 s. 649(Sch. 9 item 35(2)(b)).
(6) In making a determination in relation to any matter referred to in subsection (3), the Victorian WorkCover Authority, the ACCS, a Medical Panel, the County Court or the Magistrates' Court must, as far as practicable, be guided by reference to the applicable provisions of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 or the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 governing the corresponding matter in that Act.
S. 47(7) amended by Nos 67/2013 s. 649(Sch. 9 item 35(2)(c)), 5/2021 s. 55(3).
(7) A registered member or probationary member is not debarred from compensation or provisional payments in respect of personal injury caused to the member in the course of emergency service by reason only that the member was not, at the relevant time, a worker within the meaning of Accident Compensation Act 1985 or the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 .
S. 47(8) amended by Nos 5/2012 s. 102(2)(a), 67/2013 s. 649(Sch. 9 item 35(2)(d)).
(8) For the purpose of assessing compensation, the average weekly earnings of a registered member or probationary member is to be computed by the Victorian WorkCover Authority, the ACCS, a Medical Panel, the County Court or the Magistrates' Court—
(a) by reference to his or her employment by any employer or employers during the relevant period before the accident; or
S. 47(8)(b) amended by No. 5/2012 s. 102(2)(b).
(b) if he or she was not then
working under a contract of service, on any basis that, in the opinion of the
Authority, the ACCS, a Medical Panel, the County Court or the Magistrates'
Court, is best calculated to give
the appropriate compensation for his or her
loss of earning capacity—
but so that any relevant maximum limits imposed by the Accident Compensation Act 1985 or the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 are not exceeded.
S. 47(9) amended by Nos 67/2013 s. 649(Sch. 9 item 35(2)(e)), 5/2021 s. 55(4).
(9) If compensation or provisional payments are paid under this Part, the payment has the same legal effects as follow from the payment of compensation under the Accident Compensation Act 1985 or the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 .
(10) For the purposes of enabling the return to work of a registered member or probationary member, the Victorian WorkCover Authority may—
S. 47(10)(a) amended by No. 9/2010 s. 141(a) (as amended by No. 80/2010 s. 159(o)).
(a) plan the worker's return to work;
S. 47(10)(b) amended by No. 9/2010 s. 141(b).
(b) approve a provider of occupational rehabilitation services for the purposes of planning the worker's return to work under paragraph (a);
(c) provide alternative assistance or programs to the worker or in respect of the employment of the worker.
(11) Any costs and expenses incurred as a result of subsection (10) are to be paid by the Victorian WorkCover Authority under section 52(2) as if the costs and expenses were a payment of compensation and section 52(3) applies accordingly.
S. 47(12) inserted by No. 5/2012 s. 102(3).
(12) In this section—
S. 47(12) def. of ACCS amended
by No. 67/2013 s. 649
(Sch. 9 item 35(2)(f)(i)).
"ACCS" means the Accident Compensation Conciliation Service under the
Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 ;
S. 47(12) def. of Medical Panel amended by No. 67/2013
s. 649
(Sch. 9 item 35(2)(f)(ii)).
"Medical Panel" has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 .