Page 3433 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 11 October 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
As agreement had not been reached by all parties regarding this issue and other provisions in the Bill at that time, I wanted further time to speak to all of the parties and seek their views about this legislation. I have done that. Over the last few weeks I have met with representatives of the Insurance Council of Australia, employer organisations, the Trades and Labour Council and government representatives, all of whom have been, or are, members of the Workers Compensation Monitoring Committee or have had a close association with its members. Each of these parties has been further developing and articulating their positions regarding the provisions of the Bill. As recently as this morning, I believe, the Government has been preparing amendments to the Bill based on the various positions of the parties. The Insurance Council, the employers and the Trades and Labour Council have proposed amendments to the Bill. As a final stage in the consultation and discussion process, at the end of last week I proposed that all parties get together, for a final time prior to the passage of the legislation, to talk through the final positions reached by each of the parties and to enable each of the parties to understand the final positions of the others. As I mentioned, Madam Speaker, this meeting took place this morning. Apart from an amendment which the Government proposed for consideration on deemed incapacity, the discussions, I believe, were largely fruitful.
Madam Speaker, if, by delaying the passage of this legislation for several weeks, I have facilitated the process whereby all the major parties affected by this legislation understand each other's position clearly and share an agreed understanding of most, if not all, of the provisions of the legislation, and completely disagree with each other about few, if any, of the provisions of the legislation, then the process has been worth while and the outcome perhaps a happier outcome than it otherwise may have been. I am pleased that agreement has been reached on the rehabilitation protocol. It has been reached only in the last few weeks. This augurs well for the future discussions on what the final scheme should look like.
It is also worth noting at this time that the Commonwealth Government, together with the States, intends to go through a process in relation to workers compensation issues which will seek to achieve greater uniformity among the States with respect to workers compensation legislation. This process has been decided on as a result of the recently published Industry Commission findings in relation to the issue. This issue, like the classification of materials issue which this Assembly debated during the September sittings, will be occupying the close attention of State and Territory jurisdictions and the Commonwealth Government for some years to come. I am pleased, however, that at this time some reforms with regard to workers compensation matters can proceed, for the benefit of workers unfortunate enough to be injured at their workplaces.
I finish my remarks on the Workers' Compensation (Amendment) Bill by pointing out that it has been put to me that the changes may involve a necessary education process to make sure that all the players in the field are actually aware of the changes which will be made to the legislation. If the Government is considering such an education program, I would urge them to do so at the earliest opportunity and to allay the fears that some representatives of the parties have about the level of understanding of and acceptance by the various players in the industry of these very important and complex matters.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .