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2002
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WORKPLACE
RELATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2002
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for
Employment and Workplace Relations,
the Honourable Tony Abbott
MP)
OUTLINE
The Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment Bill
2002 proposes minor and technical amendments to the Safety, Rehabilitation
and Compensation Act 1988 (the SRC Act), the Seafarers Rehabilitation and
Compensation Act 1992 (the Seafarers Act) and the Seafarers
Rehabilitation and Compensation Levy Collection Act 1992 (the Levy
Collection Act). The principal amendments are proposed to effect the transfer
of the operational responsibility for the Seafarers Safety, Rehabilitation and
Compensation Authority (the Seacare Authority) from the Department of Employment
and Workplace Relations to Comcare.
The Seacare Authority is responsible for the seafarers rehabilitation,
compensation and occupational health and safety schemes, established under the
Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 (the Seafarers Act)
and the Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993. The
Seacare Authority does not have its own staff. Administrative support for the
Seacare Authority is currently the responsibility of the Department of
Employment and Workplace Relations following its transfer from the Department of
Transport and Regional Services in November 1997.
Comcare is a
statutory authority responsible for workplace safety, rehabilitation and
compensation in the Commonwealth jurisdiction. It is proposed that the
operational responsibility for the Seacare Authority be transferred from the
Department to Comcare. This is proposed because Comcare is the most suitable
body to support the Seacare Authority in the exercise of its functions and
powers.
The proposed amendments to the SRC Act will require Comcare to
give the Seacare Authority secretarial and other assistance and resources that
the Seacare Authority may reasonably require to perform its functions and
exercise its powers. The proposed amendments to the Seafarers Act will ensure
that the Seacare Authority can delegate its powers and functions to officers of
Comcare. These can currently only be delegated to officers of the Department.
Amendments to the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Levy
Collection Act 1992 are proposed consequential to the transfer of the
operational responsibility of the Seacare Authority from the Department to
Comcare.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
The proposals
contained in this Bill will be budget neutral.
The appropriation for the
administration of the Seafarers Act in the Department’s portfolio budget
statements 2002-03 is $202,000. From the date that the proposed amendments come
into effect the appropriation will be transferred to Comcare.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 – Short
title
1. The Bill, when passed, will be known as the Workplace
Relations Legislation Amendment Act 2002.
2. Clause 2 provides for commencement.
3. Subclause (1) provides
that items to reinstate section 41A(2) and repeal section 94 of the SRC Act will
commence on the day on which the Act receives the Royal Assent. The items that
will effect the transfer of the administrative support function for the Seacare
Authority from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to Comcare
will commence on a single day to be fixed by Proclamation.
4. Subclause
(2) is a technical provision which provides that any additional information
included in Column 3 of the table will not form part of the
Act.
5. Subclause (3) provides that if a provision covered by item 3 of
the table does not commence within a period of 6 months after the Act receives
the Royal Assent it commences on the first day after the end of that period.
5. This clause provides that an Act that is specified in a Schedule is
amended or repealed as set out in that Schedule, and other items have effect
according to their terms.
1.1 This item contains an amendment which will reinsert into the Act
subsection 41A(2) to allow the Chief of the Defence Force to delegate his or her
powers and functions as a Rehabilitation Authority in relation to members of the
Defence Force to an employee or employees of the Commonwealth. Due to an
oversight, item 37 of Schedule 2 to the Safety, Rehabilitation and
Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2001 (the SRCOLA Act),
which commenced on 1 April 2002, inadvertently repealed subsection 41A(2) of the
SRC Act that had been inserted by item 88 of Schedule 2 to the SRCOLA Act, which
commenced earlier on 1 October 2001.
1.2 This item will impose a duty on Comcare to assist the Seacare
Authority with secretarial and other assistance and to make available the
services of Comcare staff and such other resources as the Seacare Authority
reasonably requires to perform its functions or exercise its powers.
Item 3 – Section 94
1.3 This item repeals section 94 of the SRC Act which requires Comcare to gain approval from the Minister to enter into a contract involving the payment or receipt by Comcare of an amount exceeding $500,000.
Item 4 – Section 104 (note)
1.4 The functions of the Seacare Authority are provided by section 104.
Item 4 will number the note contained in section 104 as note 1. Item 5 will
insert a second note at the end of section 104 drawing attention to the proposed
provision in the SRC Act which will impose a duty on Comcare to assist the
Authority in performing its functions and exercising its powers.
Item 7 – Subsections 125(2) and (3)
1.5 These items will
amend section 125 to enable the Seacare Authority to delegate its functions and
powers to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Comcare to facilitate Comcare
performing necessary functions and powers for the Seacare Authority.
1.6 Item 8 will add a new subsection (5) to section 125 to allow the
subdelegation by the CEO of Comcare to the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of
Comcare or a member of Comcare’s staff. This enables the delegation of
powers and functions of the Seacare Authority to appropriate officers within
Comcare so that the majority of day-to-day administrative matters, being of a
relatively minor nature, can be dealt with at the appropriate level. The
delegation power is consistent with the scheme of the Safety, Rehabilitation and
Compensation Commission (SRCC) delegation to Comcare under the SRC Act. This
will ensure that the Seacare Authority and the SRCC are similarly serviced by
Comcare.
Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Levy
Collection Act 1992
Item 9 – Section 3
1.7 This
item contains a definition for Comcare.
Item 10 – Section
6
1.8 This item substitutes a reference to ‘the
Secretary’ with a reference to ‘the Chief Executive Officer of
Comcare’. This amendment is consequential to the transfer of the
operational responsibility of the Seacare Authority from the Department of
Employment and Workplace Relations to Comcare.
Item 11 –
Section 11
1.9 This amendment is consequential to the transfer of
the operational responsibility of the Seacare Authority from the Department of
Employment and Workplace Relations to Comcare. The amendment will allow the CEO
of Comcare to authorise the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Comcare and senior
public servants of Comcare to exercise certain powers under the
Act.
Item 12 – Subsection 14(1)
Item 13 –
Paragraph 14(2)(b)
Item 14 – Subsection
14(4)
1.10 These items substitute references to ‘the
Secretary’ with references to ‘the Chief Executive Officer of
Comcare’. The amendments will allow the CEO of Comcare to issue identity
cards to persons authorised under section 11 of the Act.
Item 15
– Subsection 15(1)
Item 16 – Subsection
15(2)
1.11 These items will amend the current delegation power in
section 15. A revised delegation power will be inserted which will allow the
CEO of Comcare to delegate his or her functions and powers under the Act to the
Deputy CEO or a member of Comcare’s staff without specifying the level of
the officer to whom a delegation may be made. The present restriction, that the
power to delegate does not extend to powers under section 11, will be retained.
The proposed amendments to the delegation power will make the power similar to
that proposed in items 6, 7 and 8 amending the Seafarers Act. It will make the
delegation powers consistent with the delegation powers presently in the SRC Act
(see notes on these items, above).
Item 17 – Transitional
regulations
1.12 This item will provide for regulations, as
appropriate, to be made in relation to the relocation of the operational
responsibilities of the Seacare Authority from the Department of Employment and
Workplace Relations to Comcare.