Possibilities and pitfalls involved in expanding Australia’s national workers’ compensation scheme

The purpose of workers’ compensation schemes is to intervene early in the life cycle of workplace injury and to maximise the opportunity for a worker to return to employment. At present there is no unified national workers’ compensation scheme. Over time, Australia has developed a myriad of workers’ compensation schemes: in each of the states and territories, and also at the national level. Problems arise from the lack of uniformity between workers’ compensation schemes in Australia. This inequity has created several problems, including varied premiums faced by employers with identical risk profiles in the same jurisdiction, rising ‘competitive premiums’ as states and territories seek to entice employers to operate in their state, and ‘cost-shifting’ between states and territories. This article considers four independent reports which have each advocated for the expansion of the national workers’ compensation scheme. In light of these reports, this article examines a number of challenges, legislative reforms, and regulatory gaps arising from the most recent legislative effort to expand the national workers’ compensation system: the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 (Cth).Joanna How