Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table a revised explanatory memorandum relating to the bill and move:

That this bill be now read a second time

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

The Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation ( Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011 seeks to amend section 7 of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (the SRC Act) to ‘fast-track’ workers’ compensation claims by firefighters covered by the Commonwealth’s Comcare Scheme who have contracted a range of occupational cancers.

The presumption proposed by the Bill would be accessible only by firefighters that are covered by the SRC Act.

The Bill includes a new subsection 7(8) which provides that, should a firefighter be diagnosed with one of twelve primary site cancers after a set number of years of being employed as a firefighter (with a specified qualifying period for each cancer type), the employment is taken to have contributed to a significant degree to the contraction of the cancer, unless the contrary is established. If the latter occurs, the particular firefighter’s claim will be assessed under the normal provisions in the SRC Act.

The creation of this legal presumption is designed to simplify access to workers’ compensation for those who qualify.

International research, mainly from the United States and Canada, has indicated that the twelve cancers listed in the Bill have been found to occur at a significantly higher incidence and at an earlier time in life for firefighters than for the general population. Similar legislation has been enacted over the last decade in nine out of the twelve Canadian provinces, and in twenty-two states in the United States of America.

The Government also introduced several technical amendments into the Bill which ensure that the Bill will operate in a fair and sustainable way and that is consistent with the requirements under the rest of the Act.

The Government amendments were the subject of consultation with the ACT Government, which is a major of employer of firefighters covered by this Bill,

as well as the United Firefighters Union.

The Bill also includes a new subsection 7 (9), which provides that the firefighter must have been involved in firefighting duties as a substantial portion of his or her duties, in order for subsection 7 (8) to apply. It also allows firefighters who have been employed for several periods that add up to the qualifying period to have been taken to be employed for the qualifying period. This will avoid the risk of not covering firefighters who have accrued two rather than “several” periods of employment as the original Bill prescribed.

For the purposes of establishing the date of injury of a disease, subsection 7(4) of the SRC Act provides that an injury is ‘sustained’ at the earlier of the following:

The date of injury for these cancers will be the date a cancer is ‘sustained’ as provided in subsection 7(4).

A new paragraph 7(8)(d) will enable additional conditions to be attached to cancers which might be added over time by way of regulation.

Subject to passage of the Bill, the Government intends to prescribe primary site lung cancer. This is consistent with the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee’s recommendation and North American firefighters’ legislation.

However, also in line with North American firefighters’ legislation, the addition of primary site lung cancer will be limited to non-smokers. The proposed amendment will allow that condition to be included, which the Government intends to develop in consultation with experts and key stakeholders.

The Government has replaced the phrase “dominant cause” in the previous Bill with “significant degree”, which is the terminology currently used throughout the Act.

A new subsection at the end of subsection 7(9) further defines ‘firefighter’. The subsection will limit the provisions of the Bill to a firefighter employed by the Commonwealth, a Commonwealth authority or a corporation licensed under the SRC Act.

The effect of this provision would generally be to limit the Bill to career firefighters who are mainly involved in fighting structural fires. This reflects the current state of scientific knowledge about the links between cancer and firefighting work.

However, should new evidence emerge suggesting a link between bush firefighting (including for volunteer firefighters) and cancer then this could be considered, including as part of any legislative review of the amendments.

The Bill does not limit an employee’s right to have their claim assessed under other provisions of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.

The Bill also requires an independent review of the amendments to be conducted by 31 December 2013. This is consistent with best practice regulation and will require that a written report be provided to the Minister and published on the Departmental website.

Finally, the Bill sets an operative date for these new provisions for firefighters and will apply to diseases ‘sustained’ on or after 4 July 2011 the date the Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives.

Every day firefighters risk their health and safety to protect the lives and property of other people. Their contribution to the community cannot be underestimated.

The Government believes that the Bill will simplify the processing of claims for a specific sector of the workforce engaged in particularly hazardous work.

Ordered that further consideration of the second reading of this bill be adjourned to the first sitting day of the next period of sittings, in accordance with standing order 111.