Page 3713 - Week 08 - Friday, 24 August 2012
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directorates are responsible for working with Comcare with respect to Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) appeals, whereas the Managing Injury and Illness in the Workplace policy states that AAT matters will be oversighted by the ACTPS Workers’ Compensation Dispute and Review Committee), will CMCD renegotiate the Charter of Partnership to ensure that it is reflective of current government processes.
(7) Does section 11 of the Charter state, “this agreement does not bind the ACT Government to the SRC Act scheme or restrict the ACT Government from pursuing a revocation of the declaration of the ACT to be a Commonwealth Authority for the purposes of the SRC Act in accordance with Section 4a”; if so, what is the purpose of this clause and does this mean that CMCD is giving consideration to exiting the SRC Act scheme.
(8) If CMCD is considering exiting the SRC Act scheme, what (a) modelling has been undertaken with respect to alternatives, (b) are the likely costs that will be incurred with respect to such a strategy and (c) consultation will be undertaken with Government employees.
Ms Gallagher: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
1) The primary focus and objective of the ACTPS workers’ compensation and work safety improvement plan (the Plan) is to improve the health and return to work outcomes of ACTPS injured workers, which will, if successful, also have an impact on future workers’ compensation premium costs. The plan is not a fiscal efficiency measure or cost containment strategy.
Relocation of Directorate based injury management staff to Shared Services was undertaken to:
• centralise expertise from across the service;
• build capacity and capability in case management;
• more effectively match the needs of injured workers with the appropriate skills and expertise of individual case managers; and
• ensure a one service approach to the management of injured workers’ return to work.
As outlined in the Plan, some Directorates were unable to quantify the time some resources were allocated to injury management where performance of this work was integrated with other human resources, people management or corporate functions.
2) As explained in answer to the member’s first question, the primary purpose of the Plan is to improve the health and return to work outcomes of ACTPS injured workers.
The central mechanisms used to evaluate the Plan’s delivery of this objective focus on a reduction in the number of workplace injuries and associated workers’ compensation claims, improved return to work outcomes, a reduction in the time injured workers are absent from the workplace and improved capability and capacity to prevent or manage workplace injuries.
The performance measures embedded in the Plan consist of a number of lead and lag indicators which are monitored and reported to the People and Performance Council on a quarterly basis.
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