South Australian Numbered Acts South Australian Numbered Acts129—Self-insured employers
(1) Subject to this section, an employer or a group of employers may apply to the Corporation for registration as a self-insured employer or as a group of self-insured employers.
(2) An application may not be made under subsection (1) unless—
(a) in the case of an application by an individual employer—
(i) the employer is a body corporate; or
(ii) the employer is an indemnified maritime employer;
(b) in the case of an application by a group—
(i) the members of the group are related bodies corporate or local government corporations; and
(ii) if the members of the group are related bodies corporate—no related body corporate of any member of the group that employs a worker or workers in employment to which this Act applies is not a member of the group.
(a) an application is made under subsection (1); and
(b) the Corporation is satisfied—
(i) that the employer or the employers constituting the group have reached a standard that, in the opinion of the Corporation, must be achieved before conferral of self-insured status can be considered; and
(ii) that in all the circumstances it is appropriate to do so,
the Corporation may register the employer or the group as a self-insured employer or a group of self-insured employers.
(4) Without limiting subsection (3), the Corporation may reject an application under subsection (2)(a) if the employer is a member of a group comprised of related bodies corporate or local government corporations.
(5) A registration under this section—
(a) is subject to—
(i) a condition that the self-insured employer must adopt and apply the service standards set out in Schedule 5 (but these standards do not, in themselves, give rise to substantive rights or liabilities (compared to rights or liabilities established or prescribed under other relevant provisions of this Act)); and
(ii) a condition that the self-insured employer must not exercise any power or discretion delegated to the self-insured employer under this Act unreasonably; and
(iii) such other terms and conditions as the Corporation determines from time to time or as are prescribed by the regulations; and
(b) if the self-insured status was conferred on the ground that the employer is an indemnified maritime employer—is subject to a condition limiting the effect of the conferral to the workers, or a specified class of the workers, to whom the relevant indemnity relates; and
(c) if self-insured status was conferred on a group of related bodies corporate—is subject to the condition that there is at no time a related body corporate to any member of the group that employs a worker or workers in employment to which this Act applies that is not a member of the group; and
(d) is subject to a condition that the self-insured employer will comply with any code of conduct for self-insured employers determined by the Corporation from time to time and published in the Gazette; and
(e) takes effect on a date fixed by the Corporation; and
(f) subject to this section—
(i) has effect for an initial period (not exceeding 3 years) determined by the Corporation; and
(ii) may, on further application to the Corporation, be renewed from time to time for a further period (not exceeding 5 years) determined by the Corporation at the time of the renewal.
(6) The Corporation may, at any time, on the application of 2 or more self-insured employers, amend the registration of each self-insured employer so as to form a group on the ground that they are now related bodies corporate.
(7) The Corporation may, at any time, on application by a self-insured employer or a group of self-insured employers, amend the registration of the group in order to—
(a) add another body corporate to the group (on the ground that the body corporate is now a related body corporate); or
(b) remove a body corporate from the group (on the ground that the body corporate is no longer a related body corporate); or
(c) amalgamate the registration of 2 or more groups (on the ground that all the bodies corporate are now related bodies corporate); or
(d) divide the registration of a group into 2 or more new groups (on the ground that the bodies corporate have separated into 2 or more groups of related bodies corporate).
(8) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b) and (7), a foreign company that is a holding company cannot be a member of a group (and, to the extent that is relevant, will be disregarded when determining the bodies corporate that will be related bodies corporate for the purposes of the grouping provisions of this section (including, if the Corporation thinks fit, so as to exclude also any subsidiary of such a holding company)).
(9) The Corporation may revoke the registration of a self-insured employer or group of self-insured employers, or reduce the period of registration, if the employer, or a member of the group, (as the case requires) breaches or fails to comply with this Act or a term or condition of registration.
(10) The Corporation may revoke the registration of a self-insured employer under an agreement between the Corporation and the employer (which may include terms or conditions that the employer must comply with before the revocation can take effect).
(11) In deciding whether to grant, renew, revoke, or reduce the period of registration as a self-insured employer or group of employers under this section, the Corporation may have regard to such matters as it considers relevant and will have regard to the following:
(a) the number of employees employed by the employer or group;
(b) whether the employer or group is, and is likely to continue to be, able to meet its liabilities;
(c) the resources that the employer or group has for the purpose of administering claims under this Act;
(d) the incidence and severity of work injuries arising from employment by the employer or employers;
(e) the effect, or likely effect, of the working conditions under which workers are employed by the employer, or any of the employers, on the health and safety of those workers;
(f) the record of the employer or employers in relation to the rehabilitation of injured workers and achieving their recovery and return to work;
(g) the record of the employer or employers in providing suitable employment to workers who suffer work injuries;
(h) the views of any industrial association that has, in the opinion of the Corporation, a proper interest in the matter,
but once an employer or group has been registered as self-insured, the Corporation must not, in deciding whether to renew the registration, consider the effect of the registration on the Compensation Fund.
(12) If employers are registered as a group of self-insured employers, 1 of those employers nominated in the application for registration will, for the purposes of this Act, be treated as the employer of all workers employed by the various members of the group.
(13) The Corporation may, on application by a group of self-insured employers, accept the nomination of another member of the group as the relevant employer under subsection (12).
(14) Despite subsection (12), the members of the group are jointly and severally liable to satisfy the liabilities under this Act of the member referred to in subsection (12).
(15) In this section—
"foreign company" has the same meaning as it has under the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth;
"holding company" has the same meaning as it has under the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth;
"indemnified maritime employer" means an employer that has the benefit of an indemnity granted by a member of the International Group of Protection and Indemnity Associations;
"related bodies corporate" means—
(a) in the case of corporations—bodies corporate that are related bodies corporate under section 50 of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth;
(b) in the case of any other kind of bodies corporate—bodies corporate that are associated entities under section 50AAA of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth.