Page 3353 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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It is important that all ACT workers have appropriate workers compensation insurance coverage. The national approach now being adopted into legislation by the ACT will ensure that there is a clearer direction for other states and territory employers, and issuers of insurance policies, to determine where a worker must be insured.
Each and every one of us has a responsibility to make worker safety a number one priority, especially as members of the Legislative Assembly. This bill is just one way we can do this. It is also an example of this government making it easier for employers to do business in the ACT whilst ensuring better support for workers if they are hurt as a result of doing their job.
These changes aim to reduce the number of claims where a worker was thought to usually work, or usually be based, in another jurisdiction and it was later found that the state connection is the ACT. The costs of these claims, and often their determination by the courts, are funded by all ACT businesses and met by the default insurance fund. Therefore the impact of these amendments will have a financial benefit for ACT employers.
The toll of workplace injuries on workers and their families is huge enough. This bill will ensure a more consistent application of our cross-border rules and that workers in the ACT are covered by appropriate workers compensation insurance. This bill demonstrates the government’s commitment to reducing regulatory costs for ACT businesses and at the same time ensures that all ACT employers have the appropriate workers compensation insurance for their workers. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning, Minister for Community Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations, Minister for Children and Young People and Minister for Ageing) (11.41), in reply: I thank members for their comments and support today and I thank Mr Smyth for his compressed response.
The Workers Compensation (Cross-border Workers) Amendment Bill 2014 amends provisions in the Workers Compensation Act 1951 which cover workers who perform duties in more than one state or territory, known as cross-border workers. It recognises how common it is for Canberra workers to cross in and out of the ACT for work.
The government is introducing this reform to provide greater certainty for these workers, their employers and decision-makers in the workers compensation system. The amendments provide clearer direction to assist employers, workers, insurers, insurance brokers and the courts to determine the state or territory in which the worker must be insured for the purposes of workers compensation, also known as the worker’s state or territory of connection.
The bill also addresses another problem for the territory. The ACT default insurance fund must meet the cost of compensation to an injured worker if the ACT is found to
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