Page 1130 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 March 1991
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It has always been the intent for the Act to provide for the notification of workplace deaths, injuries and disease to the statutory authority administering the Act. The Government has been advised that, as the Act currently stands, injury and diseases such as noise-induced hearing loss and occupational overuse syndrome may not be notifiable, given that an accident per se has not necessarily taken place. The Bill amends this situation so that such incidents will be notifiable. A notification system is paramount to the effective implementation of the Act, and to an efficient government service.
Once the base of data on injuries and diseases has been established, government resources can be targeted to the high risk and high incidence areas. This should give the Territory better value from the government dollar and an agency that is far more responsive to industry needs. It is expected that the death, injury and dangerous occurrence regulations will be presented to the Assembly in the near future, so that an accurate picture of workplace health and safety can be obtained, and preventative strategies developed accordingly. The amendments proposed in this Bill will allow the development and implementation of the occupational health and safety system as originally envisaged. The Bill will allow the necessary regulations to be put in place to reduce the crippling cost of workplace injuries and disease in the ACT.
MR MOORE (10.49): Mr Speaker, I take this opportunity to comment on the very positive amendment to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. One of the first tasks that I had in this Assembly was as a member of the Select Committee on Occupational Health and Safety. We spent many hours - and a tremendous learning exercise it was - looking at that particular legislation. I am very pleased that the Alliance Government has looked at that Act, found an area where there is room for improvement and taken action to improve it.
I do have a problem with the limited amount of time. In this case, where I do not have particular problems with the Bill, it has not caused any problems. But, in principle, we need more time to look at the Bills that are presented before the house, and I think that applies both to private members, as I think Mr Humphries drew attention to a minute ago, and to the Government. If we are going to have an opportunity to adequately look at Bills and the ramifications of Bills, and to be able to consult with the members of the community when we do, then we certainly need more time. However, that aside, congratulations to the Government on presenting the opportunity through this Bill to ensure that decisions can be reviewed, and reviewed in an appropriate forum.
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