Overview
The directorate, through Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations, manages the Territory’s workplace relations regulatory frameworks including for work health and safety, workers’ compensation, dangerous substances, workplace privacy, public holidays and portable long service leave.
The directorate also supports the management and prevention of workplace injuries by delivering work safety, workers’ compensation and injury management services for the ACT Government.
Highlights
In 2018-19 the directorate:
- obtained a workers’ compensation self-insurance licence to manage all past and future ACT public sector workers’ compensation claims;
- implemented service delivery and underwriting infrastructure to support the Territory’s workers’ compensation self-insurance arrangements and managed the transition to the new business model;
- contributed to a 13% reduction in the rate of serious workplace injuries in the ACT public sector through WoG injury prevention and management initiatives, including:
- early intervention physiotherapy services for injured workers;
- new and improved work safety strategies and policies; and
- improvements to information technology systems used to prevent and manage work injury;
- managed reforms to government procurement laws that will drive improved employment conditions for workers engaged by businesses contracting with the ACT Government;
- managed reforms to the ACT’s work health and safety laws to enhance health and safety on major constructions projects and minimise the risks to health from exposure to asbestos through training improvements;
- managed the delivery of a young worker advice service for the Territory to provide young workers with access to information about their workplace rights and entitlements; and
- contributed to national work injury management policy projects including the:
- review of nationally harmonised work health and safety laws; and
- development of the Safe Work Australia national return to work strategy.
The directorate met or exceeded four out of six 2018-19 accountability indicators against this output.
The four accountability indicators met or exceeded were:
- Conduct an actuarial review of the ACT private sector worker’s compensation scheme;
- Provide policy advice on issues relating to industrial relations, injury management, work safety, and dangerous substances regulation – which examines the volume of policy advice provided to government, was exceeded by 17%, due to a higher than forecast number of legislative policy matters considered during the year;
- Represent the ACT and coordinate activities arising from national industrial relations, work safety and injury management forums – which examines the number of national policy forums contributed to, was exceeded by 29% due to a higher than forecast range of work safety and workers’ compensation matters considered by Safe Work Australia; and
- Reduce the ACT public sector incidence of serious workplace injury – which measures the number of serious work-related injuries across the public sector. The target for this indicator describes the degree of improvement required for the ACT public sector to meet national work health and safety strategy targets by 2022. The level of improvement achieved was 13% better than required and means the ACT public sector is on track to achieve the national strategy target.
The accountability indicators not met were:
- Maintain consultative work injury management fora within the ACT – which requires that the ACT Work Safety Council meet four times during the financial year. Due to scheduling conflicts only three meetings were held during 2018-19. Items that would otherwise have been considered during the meeting in question were dealt at the following meeting or through out of session engagement with Council members; and
- Achieve a conformance rating of 85% or higher in the annual audit of the ACT Government Rehabilitation Management System – which relates to an annual independent audit of the Territory’s work injury rehabilitation infrastructure, policies and procedures against a Comcare audit tool. In 2018-19 the scope of the audit was expanded in anticipation of the Territory becoming a workers’ compensation self-insurer later in the year. The audit found compliance with 76% of the examined criteria. The areas for rectification related to new functions that would be required if the Territory was to become a self-insurer, all of which were addressed prior to the commencement of self-insurance operations.
Future Direction
In 2019-20 the directorate will continue its work to prevent harm and promote health in ACT workplaces by:
- implementing public sector work injury management strategies, policies and programs targeting areas of heightened risk, including occupational violence and workforce mental health;
- completing the transition to workers’ compensation self-insurance by finalising historic claim liability and asset assessment and transfer arrangements with the Commonwealth Government;
- reviewing the public sector workers’ compensation premium guidelines;
- supporting evidence-based decision making on work injury management matters by producing more accessible, timely and informative reporting about work safety and injury management performance;
- amending workplace relations regulatory frameworks to:
- respond to the recommendations of the 2018 national review of the model work health and safety laws;
- enhance the independence and effectiveness of WorkSafe ACT, the work health and safety regulator;
- improve portable long service leave compliance and enforcement arrangements;
- streamline the regulation of private sector workers’ compensation approved insurers and enhance the regulatory framework applying to self-insurers; and
- designing and implementing a new labour hire licensing regime for the ACT.
Further information can be obtained from
Stephen Miners
Deputy Under Treasurer
Economic, Budget and Industrial Relations
+61 2 6207 5071
Stephen.Miners@act.gov.au
Michael Young
Executive Group Manager
Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations
+61 2 6205 3095
Michael.Young@act.gov.au