Page 5486 - Week 14 - Thursday, 30 November 2017
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couple of them briefly. Firstly it updates the list of deemed employment-related diseases. Compared to work-related injuries, it can be difficult to prove that a disease was caused by particular employment. But the list now incorporates the updates developed by Safe Work Australia, based on the latest scientific advice. This is an important improvement. The bill also increases the amount of statutory compensation payable to the dependants of a private sector worker who dies as a result of their work. This no-fault payment avoids the need to pursue common-law damages through the courts, which can be difficult and costly.
Previously statutory death compensation payments for private workers were approximately $200,000, significantly below those available to Comcare workers, which are approximately $530,000. This $216,000 figure available to private workers was, I believe, lower than anywhere else in Australia. Fortunately, this bill increases the statutory amount to the same as the Comcare limit, which is $530,000. In future the amount will be indexed using the wage price index, which is the same index applied to the Comcare payment. A workplace death is of course extremely tragic, and a payment cannot truly compensate. However, it does, hopefully, provide some assistance. The Greens support this increase to bring the payment in line with that of public sector workers.
On this issue, I note that UnionsACT have argued for a further increase in the statutory compensation amount to match the amount in New South Wales, which is $750,000. While I have listened to that position, I have to note that the New South Wales scheme is different to the ACT scheme in various ways, so it does not provide an accurate picture to just compare the statutory compensation amounts. Although it has a lower statutory compensation amount, the ACT scheme provides coverage to a greater number of people. For example, unlike the New South Wales scheme, the ACT scheme allows for common-law damages or coverage for injury sustained by a worker travelling to and from work.
Finally, the bill changes the age limits under which workers can receive compensation. It also introduces a penalty for the situation where an employer does not pay weekly compensation to an employee as required by the Workers Compensation Act. The Greens support these changes. We believe they are all positive improvements that will assist workers in the ACT.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Community Services and Social Inclusion, Minister for Disability, Children and Youth, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (6.42), in reply: In the interests of time I simply wish to acknowledge the contributions of Mr Wall and Minister Rattenbury to this debate and thank them for their support for the bill.
I would also like to acknowledge the work of the scrutiny committee. There is an element of this bill which is retrospective. That was considered, as it should be, by the scrutiny committee, which determined that the retrospective operation of this element of the bill has no prejudicial effect. I thank everyone for their consideration of the bill and commend the bill to the Assembly.
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