Page 2672 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
included so that, when we review the operation of the new provisions in a year's time, we are all arguing from the same set of facts; not arguing on what some of the unions may suggest is a lopsided view of some of the insurers, nor relying on what some of the insurers regard as a lopsided view of some of the unions. So what we have put into place in this initiative, I believe, will suit injured workers in the ACT, employers and the insurance companies themselves by being able to test the validity of assumptions that are being made about workers compensation.
Personally, I regard the most significant initiative within this Bill to be the establishment of an occupational rehabilitation scheme in the ACT - something which is long overdue and something which is supported by employers, trade unions and insurers. A properly constructed, administered and implemented occupational rehabilitation scheme will provide that the skills of injured workers, which are greatly missed by employers, will be able to be availed of sooner if an injured worker is rehabilitated to work in a shorter period. The Bill provides a framework for that to occur. It is an initiative that Mr De Domenico most certainly has supported for at least the last 15 years. So I am pleased that that principle, at least, within the Bill should receive wide support in this Assembly.
Madam Speaker, given my background, I have had to think long and hard about the decision to provide a Bill which, essentially, within the first 12 months of workers compensation payments commencing, will do away with the Barbaro principle. It has been the guiding principle by which workers compensation payments have been made and terminated in the ACT since 1978 or 1979. I stand to be corrected on the exact year; but it is my understanding that that was about the time of the Barbaro decision. The unions believe that there should be no diminution of the principles outlined in that court case. However, given that this Bill is predicated on a speedy return to work of injured workers, I believe that it is reasonable, in a controlled framework, to allow that matter to be tested, and this Bill provides an adequate framework for the matter to be tested.
There is an unequivocal commitment by the Government to review the operation of this legislation after a year. There is an unequivocal commitment, as well, to not wishing to see an injured worker who is covered by the current provisions of the Workers Compensation Act in the ACT treated under the new Bill. In other words, we do not wish to legislate away an existing right of an injured worker. So this Bill will apply only to workers who are injured from the date on which it is implemented. I believe that that also is a fundamental principle which this Assembly should endorse. Madam Speaker, I present an explanatory memorandum to the Bill.
Debate (on motion by Mr De Domenico) adjourned.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .