Louise Markus (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill, which seeks to address aspects of the existing legislation which cause multistate corporations undue compliance costs. This government accepted a mandate from the Australian people to build a strong and prosperous economy. The coalition has committed itself to stewarding the wealth of this nation responsibly, wisely and in such a way as to create increased employment, greater benefit and greater security for everyday Australians. In short, the coalition is committed to cleaning up Labor's budget mess—a mess of inefficiencies.

When we are dealing with taxpayers' money it is simply unacceptable to see funds wasted on the impediment of unnecessary regulation and poor management. This amendment bill is not about making life more difficult for employees working for multistate corporations or about complicating workers' guarantee of adequate and fair protection in the case of compensation for injuries sustained. It seeks more responsible management and a simplification of a potentially complicated system of workers compensation. This bill seeks to amend the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to expand the eligibility of corporations to self-insure through the Commonwealth's Comcare scheme.

To really grasp what this bill intends, we need to look back at the recent history with regard to this legislation. Employers operating in multiple states have been required to operate according to different workers compensation schemes and work health and safety regulations in each jurisdiction around Australia. This means red tape for employers and confusion, often, for workers subject to different regulations and benefits from their colleagues, depending on which state or territory they are employed in. This House is aware that certain private sector corporations have in the past been able to self-insure for workers compensation coverage through the Commonwealth Comcare scheme. There has been much to-ing and fro-ing over this particular aspect of the bill, when Productivity Commission inquiries and consultation with local state governments have indicated it could be streamlined to the benefit of businesses and employees alike.

The coalition Howard government responded to Productivity Commission inquiry recommendations by allowing eligible private corporations that operated in multiple states to apply for a self-insurance licence with the Comcare scheme. The intention of this action was that costs might be used more effectively to create new jobs, while simultaneously upholding improved safety standards within the enterprise. A moratorium on new corporations entering the Comcare scheme was imposed in 2007 by Labor, despite evidence from the 2004 Productivity Commission inquiry into National workers compensation and occupational health and safety frameworks, which found the compliance costs for multistate employers concerning multiple state workers compensation arrangements were significant. Currently 30 licensed corporations benefit from the reduced costs of having one set of workers compensation arrangements for the national workforce. Among these are former Commonwealth authorities such as Australia Post and Telstra, and private corporations such as Optus, TNT, the National Australia Bank and the John Holland Group. The results speak for themselves. Since joining the Comcare scheme, the work health and safety performance of these companies has almost universal improved in significant proportions. Under the Comcare scheme, companies with reduced bureaucracies are enabled to operate more effectively with their employees in improving work health and safety in their organisations.

Despite the success of Comcare, the previous, Labor government acted to ban multistate companies from joining the scheme. Labor commissioned a review, led by its own Dr Allan Hawke AC, which gave the recommendation to lift this moratorium, given the huge expense and inefficiency of insuring in multiple states and territories. Labor failed to follow its own advice, an oversight largely influenced by pressure from the union bosses. Apparently, neither the employment minister nor the workplace relations minister of the previous government had the wherewithal to fully address the needs of the workforce in this area and ensure the right decisions were made.

It makes sense to place these corporations and employees under one scheme across multiple states so that regulatory costs are kept to a minimum. What might be done with the funds that are spared the black hole of our red-tape-hugging former Labor government? New jobs, improved standards of safety, further economic growth. Accordingly, the coalition government lifted the moratorium in December 2013 in order that multistate employers performing to meet rigorous financial and governance criteria and demonstrating suitable work health and safety performance may apply for a licence to self-insure in the Comcare scheme, as opposed to dealing with multiple schemes. It is good to mention here that this government also intends to allow multistate employers to choose to apply to self-insure for workers compensation arrangement with Comcare to also have one set of work health and safety regulations. Thus the objective of this amendment bill before us today is to assist Australian multistate corporations to operate smarter by expanding their ability to self-insure in a standardised federal scheme, Comcare.

The amendments in the bill before this House are specifically the following: firstly, to remove the requirement that the minister declare eligibility to apply for a self-insurance licence, while maintaining the minister's ability to issue directions to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission—this will streamline the current two-stage approval process by removing the requirement that a corporation must be in competition with a Commonwealth authority or former Commonwealth authority to enter the Comcare scheme—and, secondly, to broaden the range of corporations that are eligible for a licence to self-insure under the scheme.

The first of these amendments, to remove the requirement for the minister to declare eligibility for a corporation to apply for a self-insurance licence, addresses the current, ponderously slow two-stage process. It requires a declaration of eligibility to be granted by the minister before any assessment can be made by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission according to their criteria. Furthermore, it is expensive. Time is always at a premium when it comes to an effective economy; and, since Labor's previous tenure, money is at a higher premium than ever before. Labor's legacy of national debt is costing us $1 billion in interest per month, a burden taxpayers continue to carry, a burden this government is seeking to remove. This amendment will allow the commission to assess applicants' eligibility for a self-insurance licence in one step, while corporations are still exposed to the same stringent financial and governance requirements currently imposed by the commission.

This directly enables the two major amendments I have listed, aimed at ensuring a robust approval process unimpeded by red tape. The withdrawal of the requirement that corporations be in competition with a Commonwealth authority to enter the Comcare scheme and the determination to include national employers—that is, those corporations meeting workers compensation obligations under two or more states—among the cohorts of corporations deemed eligible to self-insure under the scheme carry considerable anticipated savings and increased efficiencies. The recommendations enacted in this bill are expected to result in a total reduction in the regulatory burden, for those Australian businesses that transfer to the Comcare scheme, of $33 million per year over the next 10 years.

I should clarify that these amendments maintain the freedom of eligible employers to continue under multilayered workers compensation and work health and safety regimes or to apply for one set of national arrangements as they choose.

This amendment bill is about refining an essential existing piece of legislation for Australian businesses and employees so that it assists rather than impedes economic growth while maintaining high safety standards. In addition to these amendments, measures towards the better management of corporate groups are being addressed in this bill. Currently, corporations applying to be covered under the Comcare scheme must be assessed individually for eligibility. Business has for some time been seeking the introduction of group licences to the SRC Act.

The amendment bill provides for the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission to grant a licence to an eligible group of corporations owned by the same holding company, in line with the state schemes and the commercial reality of modern multicompany corporate structures. This bill recognises that groups of interrelated corporations often share return-to-work and work health and safety systems, and that each entity forming part of a group does not individually need to meet the definition of a 'national employer'. It is better for business, better for workers and, indeed, better for the economy.

Ongoing standards for the protection of workers remain a key concern of this government. As with current licences, it is a condition upon the issuing of a licence that the SRC Commission's standards are met with regard to work health and safety. The commission has the ability to vary or revoke a licence if it is not satisfied that this licence condition is being met.

This government is doing all it can to ensure that Comcare has the capacity to manage the increased responsibility in relation to workers compensation and work health and safety, and that it is financially viable. With Comcare being the single work health and safety regulator in the federal jurisdiction under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, Comcare inspectors and case managers have the authority necessary to represent the government in their actions, and greater flexibility in regulatory approaches. The costs of meeting regulatory responsibilities are resourced within the scheme. Regulatory contributions by licences, reflecting the cost incurred by the performance of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and Comcare, effectively fund self-insurance under the scheme.

The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill will save on red tape and streamline multistate corporations' compliance with workers compensation schemes by managing one standardised scheme. The bill is about streamlining and refining a national scheme that will work more effectively for multistate corporation employees. Workers moving onto Comcare will benefit from a nationwide workers compensation scheme that delivers the same coverage and benefits for all employees. This means real savings to business that will be more wisely invested in the larger economy and less confusion for multistate corporation employees. The bill is about building a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia. I commend the bill to the House.

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