Reviewing 'The Act':
Following the announcement by The Minister for WorkCover, Tim Holding, that the 20 year old Accident Compensation Act is to be independently reviewed, submissions to the review recently closed on May 2.
When the review was announced, the Minister underlined that while the principles of accident compensation laws remains sound, they are now unnecessarily complex. A sentiment most insurers and legal panel firms would agree with.
The review undertaken by Peter Hanks QC includes:
- the benefit and premium regime in relation to other State and Territory jurisdictions
- ways to reduce the administrative and regulatory burden
- the removal of inoperative, irrelevant and superfluous legislative provisions
The review received around a hundred public submissions by the closing date and the review will now begin in earnest. Since the Act affects the daily lives of everyone working in WorkCover, it will be very interesting to see which submissions make it through the review and what changes will be made to the Act.
Further detailed information is available from the Compensation Review website.