
Issue No 32		24 September 1999

Letters to the Editor

WorkCover Inspectors: Shaw Replies

The Government takes the issue of employers not having correct workers compensation insurance very seriously. Employers who do not hold correct workers' compensation insurance reduce the effectiveness of the workers' compensation system and endanger its financial viability.

In addition, those employers who do take out correct workers compensation insurance bear the burden of uninsured or under-insured employers avoiding their premium obligations. This is inequitable and unacceptable.

WorkCover NSW regularly undertakes strategies, both specific and as part of occupational health and safety education and enforcement programs, to address compliance with workers' compensation insurance requirements.

From July 1998 to June 1999 WorkCover NSW successfully prosecuted 176 cases of non-insurance and other breaches of employer obligations under workers' compensation legislation.

WorkCover also undertakes wage audits of employers suspected of underinsurance, which increases the financial burden on those employers who pay the correct premium for the amount of wages paid. During 1998-99, WorkCover conducted specific wage audit programs for the building, cleaning, and clothing manufacturing industries.

In addition to WorkCover-initiated wage audits, licensed insurers are required, under the WorkCover Scheme, to undertake an annual program of wage audits to identify underinsurance and collect premiums owed by employers to the Scheme.

WorkCover is introducing a program to develop a new workers compensation compliance improvement function. As part of the project, WorkCover is developing additional information sources to assist employers to comply with their workers' compensation obligations.

WorkCover currently provides a range of information on all aspects of workers compensation (including employers' obligations under the legislation) and occupational health and safety. The WorkCover Information Centre can be reached on 13 10 50. WorkCover publications can be obtained from the Publications Hotline on 1800 658 134.

The regulatory framework for occupational health and safety in New South Wales is increasingly performance based, which requires employers to identify workplace hazards, assess their risks and implement appropriate controls. WorkCover provides practical guidance and assistance to industry to enable them to carry out their occupational health and safety responsibilities. WorkCover achieves compliance with occupational health and safety legislation through advice, education, consultation, technical assistance and the issue of permits, licences and accreditation. However, WorkCover employs enforcement measures if employers fail to comply with their responsibilities. These measures include the issuing of improvement notices, prohibition notices, penalty notices (on-the-spot fines), and prosecution.

In addition, Industry Reference Groups are a key feature of the Government's workers' compensation reforms. The aim of the thirteen groups is to develop industry-specific solutions for significant workplace occupational health and safety problems, so as to reduce the frequency and severity of workplace accidents and reduce the cost of workers' compensation. They comprise union and employer representatives with particular industry experience working together in a cooperative way to develop strategies, specific to their industry, to improve injury prevention, injury management and workers compensation outcomes. The establishment of the groups has been a major development over the past twelve months in WorkCover's approach to improving workers compensation and occupational health and safety outcomes in New South Wales.

Jeff Shaw

NSW Industrial Relations Minister

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Issue 32 contents

Interview: His Daily Fix
Graham Richardson talks of his transition from national politics to talkback radio and his ongoing jobs as a fixer.

Politics: Requiem to the Third Way
The swing to Labor in Victoria shows clearly that once again Australian voters have rejected economic rationalism. The result, and the reasons for it, should worry John Howard.

International: A Common Struggle for Freedom
It may not get the headlines, but Western Sahara has some chilling similarities with East Timor.

Unions: Woolscour Workers say No to Peter Reith
Workers at Canobolas Wooltopping - a woolscour plant near Orange, in central west New South Wales, have just sent a message to Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith: thanks, but no thanks.

Legal: Outlawed Acts of Consicence
The recent boycotts in support of East Timorese indepndence highlights the extremism of Reith's second wave.

History: Was Manning Clark A True Believer
A Canberra history conference shines the spotlight on Australia's most famous historian.

Review: Paranoid Echoes
The calls to examine the Australian�Soviet documents in the Moscow Literary archives have grown in volume over the past year.

Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
The latest issue of Labour Review - a resource for officals and students.

Satire: Kennett Boosts Chances: Two More Independents Dead
Caretaker Premier Jeff Kennett today admitted that voters perceived him as arrogant and out of touch, but insisted that they were wrong.

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» Off the Rails - Workers Gagged

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» Academics Fail Non-Union Deal

» Nike in Indonesia: Military Employed to Intimidate Workers

» The Laugh�s On Barry