Page 893 - Week 03 - Thursday, 14 March 1991
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Thursday, 14 March 1991
_______________________
MR SPEAKER (Mr Prowse) took the chair at 10.30 am and read the prayer.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY (AMENDMENT) BILL 1991
MR KAINE (Chief Minister) (10.31): Mr Speaker, I present the Occupational Health and Safety (Amendment) Bill 1991. I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act 1989 has the promotion and improvement of standards for occupational health, safety and welfare as its principal objective. When the Act was enacted it was anticipated that the Commonwealth Government would amend the Industrial Relations Act 1988 to allow a reviewing authority to be established to examine decisions made by the registrar of the Occupational Health and Safety Inspectorate.
This did not occur. As a result the review system referred to in the Act has not been used and there has been no adequate method of appeal from decisions under the Act. This is clearly an undesirable result, as reviewable decisions relate primarily to working conditions which, if not addressed by the mechanism provided under the Act, may be taken up in a more confrontationist manner in the industrial relations arena.
To address this problem the Occupational Health and Safety (Amendment) Bill puts in place a review authority before which appeals may be heard. It establishes the authority, determines its constitution and powers, provides protection for the authority and those who appear before it, determines the method by which parties will be informed of and may join a proceeding, and establishes a method of appeals from it. The Bill provides a reporting mechanism by which the ACT Legislative Assembly will be kept informed of the activities of the review authority. Importantly, the review authority will be constituted by a member of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission appointed by the president of the commission.
Apart from the economies flowing from the formation of a review authority staffed by members of the IRC, this arrangement has the advantage of reposing the function with an existing expert body whose authority is well respected
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