Victorian Numbered Acts

ACCIDENT COMPENSATION AMENDMENT ACT 2010 (NO. 9 OF 2010) - SECT 74

    (1)     Insert the following definition in section 5(1) of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 —

""registered optometrist" means an optometrist registered under the Health Professions Registration Act 2005 ;".

    (2)     In the definition of medical question in section 5(1) of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 —

        (a)     after paragraph (aba) insert —

    "(abaa)     a question as to whether a worker, on a particular date or during a particular period, had no current work capacity and if not, what employment would or would not have constituted suitable employment on that date or during that period; or";

        (b)     in paragraph (ac), after "medical" insert
", personal and household or occupational rehabilitation";

        (c)     after paragraph (c) insert —

    "(ca)     a question as to the extent to which any physical or mental condition, including any impairment, results from or is materially contributed to by the injury; or";

        (d)     in paragraph (f), for "injury;" substitute "injury; or";

        (e)     after paragraph (f), insert —

    "(fa)     a question whether a worker's incapacity for work results from or is materially contributed to by an injury or alleged injury; or".

    (3)     For the definition of suitable employment in section 5(1) of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 substitute —

""suitable employment", in relation to a worker, means employment in work for which the worker is currently suited—

        (a)     having regard to—

              (i)     the nature of the worker's incapacity and the details provided in medical information including, but not limited to, the certificate of capacity supplied by the worker; and

              (ii)     the nature of the worker's pre-injury employment; and

              (iii)     the worker's age, education, skills and work experience; and

              (iv)     the worker's place of residence; and

              (v)     any plan or document prepared as part of the return to work planning process; and

              (vi)     any occupational rehabilitation services that are being, or have been, provided to or for the worker; and

        (b)     regardless of whether—

              (i)     the work or the employment is available; and

              (ii)     the work or the employment is of a type or nature that is generally available in the employment market;".

    (4)     After section 5(1C) of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 insert —

    "(1D)     For the purposes of Part VIIB, the definition of suitable employment also includes—

        (a)     employment in respect of which the number of hours each day or week that the worker performs work or the range of duties the worker performs is suitably increased in stages in accordance with return to work planning or otherwise;

        (b)     employment the worker is undertaking or that is offered to the worker regardless of whether the work or the employment is of a type or nature that is generally available in the employment market;

        (c)     suitable training or vocational re-education provided by the employer or under arrangements approved by the employer (whether or not the employer also provides employment involving the performance of work duties), but only if the employer pays an appropriate wage or salary to the worker in respect of the time the worker attends suitable training or vocational re-education.".