Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
2010-2011
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
SENATE
SAFETY, REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION AMENDMENT
(FAIR PROTECTION FOR FIREFIGHTERS) BILL 2011
REVISED EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and
Workplace Relations, Senator Chris Evans)
THIS MEMORANDUM TAKES ACCOUNT OF AMENDMENTS MADE BY THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE BILL AS INTRODUCED
Outline
__________________________________________________________________________________________
SAFETY, REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION AMENDMENT
(FAIR PROTECTION FOR FIREFIGHTERS) BILL 2011
OUTLINE
The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Fair Protection for Firefighters)
Bill 2011 (the Firefighters Bill) seeks to amend the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation
Act 1988 (the SRC Act) to simplify workers' compensation claims by firefighters who have
contracted a range of prescribed cancers, and who have been employed for a certain period,
by establishing a rebuttable presumption that the cancers are work-related.
Under this presumption, if a firefighter is diagnosed with one of the twelve cancers listed in
the Bill, and has served as a firefighter for the relevant qualifying period, it will be presumed
that the cancer is an occupational disease and is therefore compensable.
For each of the specified cancers, the Bill also includes a minimum length of service for
which a firefighter must have been engaged in order to access workers' compensation under
the presumption. The specific cancer types and the associated minimum qualifying service
periods are listed below.
Cancer Type Qualifying Period of Service
Primary site brain cancer 5 years
Primary site bladder cancer 15 years
Primary site kidney cancer 15 years
Primary non-Hodgkins lymphoma 15 years
Primary leukemia 5 years
Primary site breast cancer 10 years
Primary site testicular cancer 10 years
Multiple myeloma 15 years
Primary site prostate cancer 15 years
Primary site ureter cancer 15 years
Primary site colorectal cancer 15 years
Primary site oesophageal cancer 25 years
The presumption proposed by the Bill would be accessible only by firefighters that are
covered by the SRC Act.
Senate 1 Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation
(Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011
Outline
__________________________________________________________________________________________
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
Comcare estimates that it will add an extra $3.2 million per annum to the workers'
compensation claims costs. This represents a 1.1 per cent increase in the premium pool for
the Commonwealth and a 2.7 per cent increase in the premium pool for the ACT Government.
Senate 2 Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation
(Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011
Notes on Clauses
__________________________________________________________________________________________
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1-Short Title
This is a formal provision specifying the short title of the Act.
Clause 2-Commencement
This provides for the commencement of the Act. It provides that the Act will commence on
the day after the Act receives the Royal Assent.
Clause 3-Schedule(s)
This clause provides for the effect of Schedule 1.
Senate 3 Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation
(Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011
Notes on Clauses
__________________________________________________________________________________________
SCHEDULE 1 - AMENDMENTS
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988
Item 1 - After subsection 7(7)
This item inserts provisions into the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988
(SRC Act) relating to cancers contracted by firefighters.
A new subsection 7(8) provides that, should a firefighter sustain one of twelve primary site
cancers after a specified number of years of being employed as a firefighter (with a different
qualifying period for each cancer type as determined in the table), the employment is taken to
have contributed to a significant degree to the contraction of the cancer, unless the contrary is
established.
The creation of this legal presumption is designed to simplify access to workers'
compensation for those who qualify.
The new subsection 7(8) will also allow additional cancers and qualifying periods to be
prescribed, and allow additional conditions to be prescribed for any new cancers that are
prescribed.
A new subsection 7(9) provides that the firefighter must have been involved in firefighting
duties as a substantial portion of his or her duties in order for subsection 7 (8) to apply. It also
allows firefighters who have been employed for two or more periods that add up to the
qualifying period to have been taken to be employed for the qualifying period. Subsection
7(9) also makes clear that an employee is taken to have been employed as a firefighter only if
he or she was employed by the Commonwealth, a Commonwealth authority or a licensed
corporations, but that volunteer firefighters who are taken to be `employed' for the purposes
of the SRC Act by virtue of a Ministerial declaration made under subsection 5(15) of that Act
are not covered by these provisions.
The fact that volunteers are excluded is a reflection of the current state of scientific
knowledge. However, it may be that in the future bushfire firefighters (including volunteers)
would want to present new evidence (should it emerge) including through the proposed
legislative review (see item 2).
A new subsection 7(10) would make clear that the Bill does not limit an employee's right to
have their claim assessed under other provisions in the SRC Act. For example, subsection
7(1) of the SRC Act is a presumptive subsection also, and therefore it would be important that
the rights of an employee who is taken to be employed as a firefighter are not curtailed by, for
example, not being able to access the provisions in subsection 7(1).
Senate 4 Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation
(Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011
Notes on Clauses
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Item 2 - Review of amendment
This amendment would require the Minister to have an independent review undertaken of the
amendments made by Item 1, and for the review to be completed by 31 December 2013. The
reviewer must give the Minister a written report and the report must be published on the
Departmental website so that the public may access it.
Item 3 - Application
This item would clarify that these new provisions will apply to a disease `sustained' - within
the meaning of subsection 7(4) of the SRC Act - on or after 4 July 2011, the date that the Bill
was introduced into the House of Representatives. This would mean that:
· a disease `sustained' on or after 4 July 2011 would be covered, even if the qualifying
period occurred before commencement;
· a disease `sustained' prior to 4 July 2011 would not be covered by the new provisions;
however the firefighter would still be able to lodge a claim and have it assessed against the
current provisions of the SRC Act.
Senate 5 Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation
(Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011
Index]
[Search]
[Download]
[Bill]
[Help]