Released 28/10/2025
The ACT Legislative Assembly has passed the Workplace Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (No 3), introducing the nation’s first statutory immediate crisis payment scheme for workplace fatalities.
Minister for Skills, Training and Industrial Relations Michael Pettersson said the reform is a common sense amendment designed to support families in their time of need.
“While thankfully rare in the ACT, we know that workplace deaths significantly impact the lives of loved ones left behind,” Minister Pettersson said. “By requiring immediate payment, we can ensure that families and dependants are supported in the tragic event of a worker who dies because of their work.”
The reforms provide $10,000 to a domestic partner, and $5000 for other family members who lived with the worker prior to their death.
The payments are designed to be made by the relevant insurer within 7 days of claiming, ensuring that families are provided support in the short term.
“The last thing a grieving family should be concerned about are their finances.” Minister Pettersson said.
The Bill passed today also includes amendment across several laws in the Territory that:
- clarifies existing incident notification provisions under the ACT’s work health and safety laws in line with nationally agreed technical clarifications;
- enhances compliance and enforcement tools to ensure that workers receive their long service leave entitlements in a timely manner and provides certainty for both workers and their employers;
- allows flexibility in the payment of portable long service leave entitlements and ensure the administration of the portable long service scheme for the services sector operate as intended;
- provides improved approaches to supporting initiatives across the ACT public sector that prevent and reduce the risk of injury to ACT public sector staff;
- removes outdated and discriminatory provisions limiting the circumstances in which someone can access workers compensation; and
- builds on reforms recently passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly that amend the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1991 to apply protections to complainants in workplace proceedings where a work health and safety breach involves alleged or suspected sexual assault or harassment.
- Statement ends -
Michael Pettersson, MLA | Media Releases