Page 2630 - Week 12 - Thursday, 16 November 1989
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which are borne out in higher premiums as insurers have to put more money aside to cover those claims.
The fourth point is the establishment of an ACT database of all details of compensation premiums and costs. In previous years the ACT has blindly followed New South Wales to determine premiums and obtain any other information. This situation is totally unacceptable. The ACT and New South Wales cannot be compared, nor can other States, by any means or form in the employment situation which exists in each State.
The 1987 report on workers compensation recommends that the ACT move urgently to establish an adequate database for workers compensation premiums and costs. The ACT has been establishing a database for the past two years. The actuary who wrote the report has suggested that it will be six years before an accurate calculation is made of how premiums will average out. This, nevertheless, is a good move and is fully supported by the Liberal Party.
What can be done, Mr Speaker, to keep premiums at a level which will ensure good benefits for injured workers and also keep the employers' premiums at an acceptable level? Firstly, the retention of private sector insurance must be ensured. Competition is the essence of this happening. Competition between different insurance companies will make premium rates much more realistic.
As I said earlier, the insurance industry simply recommends rates according to the relevant legislation. The ACT legislation in its present form is inadequate and hence the high premiums, the highest in Australia. With sensible new legislation and the retention of private sector insurers, insurance premiums will be better than or at least on par, on average, with all other States. One only has to look at the disastrous WorkCare scheme run by the Victorian Government, which is billions of dollars in debt, to see the benefits of competition in this very important area.
Secondly, the present avenues open for compensation claim cases in the ACT are the Magistrates Court and the Supreme Court. Court costs are a major contributor to the high premiums paid in the ACT, especially when the Supreme Court is involved. There are a number of alternatives to alleviate these costs. One way is to develop a claim settling tribunal which would operate before the courts come into the picture. This body, which would simply involve an independent arbitrator, would in many cases avoid the need for court proceedings, save money and also reduce the workload on the court system.
An alternative is to establish a workers compensation tribunal run through the Magistrates Court. This would obviously need to be looked at very closely to ensure that an effective tribunal was established. This tribunal would also save much time and money and make available a means by which these very important and often complex issues could
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