Page 3881 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The legislation will establish an industrial jurisdiction in the existing ACT Magistrates Court and empower the Chief Magistrate to declare a magistrate to be the industrial magistrate for a period of up to four years. The industrial magistrates court will have jurisdiction over work safety and industrial relations matters, which arise in the ACT under several acts, such as the Dangerous Substances Act, the Workers Compensation Act and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
The matters are limited to claims up to $250,000, which is the current jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court. Claims that are greater than $250,000 can be taken to the Supreme Court.
Limiting the jurisdiction to $250,000 is one of the changes made between exposure draft and the final version of the bill. The exposure draft proposed allowing the new industrial court to hear matters above $250,000. This was a concern of stakeholders such as the Law Society and UnionsACT. I agree that it is appropriate to limit the jurisdiction to $250,000, at least for now. I think it is reasonable to give the new jurisdiction some time to develop before we move new matters into its jurisdiction that would otherwise have proceeded in the Supreme Court. It is also worth noting that the general jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court was only increased from $50,000 to $250,000 in 2012, so I think it is prudent to wait before increasing it further.
The bill differs from the exposure draft in several other ways. The changes reflect concerns of stakeholders, including the Magistrates Court, as well as issues that my office raised in discussions with government officials. I note, for example, that the bill removes a potentially invalid privative clause in section 291W, which purported to limit the options for administrative review of a decision under the act.
The final bill also increases the length of appointment of the industrial magistrate from two to four years. Again I believe this is appropriate, as one of the key merits of this bill is that the industrial magistrate will accumulate knowledge and experience in industrial matters and be able to apply penalties consistently.
I would like to thank the government and JACS officials for their consultative approach on this piece of legislation. I am happy with the changes that have been made between draft and final bill. I note also that the scrutiny of bills committee looked at this bill and had no concerns or comments.
Establishing the specific industrial jurisdiction in the ACT is one part of a suite of initiatives that I hope will see the territory become a safer place to live and work. I would again like to put on record the ACT Greens’ strong support for work safety reforms that have been occurring over the last year.
The establishment of an industrial magistrates court responds to a recommendation of the Getting home safely report, which resulted from a 2012 inquiry into construction industry safety in the ACT. The report was born of a tragic loss of lives and a period of increasingly common workplace injuries in Canberra.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video