Hon Sue Ellery questions the Minister for Commerce regarding the potential impact of the Commonwealth Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 on Western Australian workers' compensation, particularly concerning potential disadvantages under Comcare.

AnsweredQoN 752Legislative Council
Asked
12 August 2014
Portfolio
Commerce

QuestionView source ↗

SAFETY,
REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2014 — WORKERS'
COMPENSATION
752. Hon SUE ELLERY to the
Minister for Commerce:
My question without notice of which some notice is given is
in the name of Hon Kate Doust who is out of the chamber on urgent parliamentary
business.
I refer to the commonwealth Safety,
Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 that was read
into the Parliament of Australia on 19 March 2014.
(1) Is the
minister aware of the proposed changes to the commonwealth workers'
compensation legislation contained in the Safety, Rehabilitation and
Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2014, and, if passed, the potential
impact on Western Australian workers?
(2) Does the Western Australian
government support this bill; and, if not, why not?
(3) Can the
Western Australian government or the minister assure this Parliament and
guarantee that no Western Australian worker will be worse off if this bill
passes the commonwealth Parliament, given the inferior workers'
compensation arrangements under Comcare?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of this question.
(1) Yes.
(2) Access to self-insurance within
the Comcare scheme is a matter for the commonwealth government.
(3) The
government is not in a position to give any assurances regarding the impact on
individual workers. However, workers' compensation entitlements under
Comcare are generally comparable to those available under the Western
Australian workers' compensation scheme.

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