EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Employment
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988
Subsection 5(6)
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of Employee – AIATSIS Volunteers) Notice 2014
The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (‘the Act’) establishes the Commonwealth workers’ compensation and rehabilitation scheme for employees of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth authorities and licensed corporations.
Section 5 defines ‘employee’ for the purposes of the Act. Under subsection 5(6) of that definition, the Minister can declare that persons, being persons who engage in activities or perform acts at the request or direction, or for the benefit of a Commonwealth authority, are taken to be employed by that Commonwealth authority for the purposes of the Act.
In this notice, the Minister has declared that volunteers of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (‘AIATSIS’) are taken to be employed by AIATSIS for the purposes of the Act when they perform acts in connection with the rendering of assistance to AIATSIS. This has the effect that the Act will apply to these volunteers.
AIATSIS is a not-for-profit organisation that is administered within the Australian Government Education portfolio and established by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989. It is the national research and collecting institution for information and research about the cultures and lifestyles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is a Commonwealth authority for the purposes of the Act.
Assistance provided to AIATSIS by volunteers will be to contribute to the work of AIATSIS by supporting AIATSIS’s collections, research and public education functions. The role of the volunteers will be to enhance, support and complement AIATSIS’s role of promoting national and international understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
This declaration was made in consultation with the Department of Education and AIATSIS.
The Office of Best Practice Regulation was consulted regarding this declaration and indicated that a Regulation Impact Statement was not required for this declaration (OBPR ID 17748).
This notice is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
The instrument will take effect from the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of Employee – AIATSIS Volunteers)
Notice 2014
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (‘the Act’) establishes the Commonwealth workers’ compensation and rehabilitation scheme for employees of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth authorities and licensed corporations.
The Act provides that persons may be declared by the Minister to be employees of the Commonwealth, a Commonwealth authority or a licensed corporation for the purposes of the Act. This has the effect that the specified persons will be covered by the Act.
In this notice, volunteers of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (‘AIATSIS’) are declared to be employees for the purposes of the Act.
Human rights implications
Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides for the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance. General Comment 19 by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights elaborates on Article 9, stating that ‘State parties should … ensure the protection of workers who are injured in the course of employment or other productive work’.[1]
The Act provides support for employees who have been injured at work by way of weekly compensation payments, payment of medical expenses, permanent impairment benefits as well as other benefits. This declaration positively engages the right to social security by extending the coverage of the Act (and therefore access to workers’ compensation) to AIATSIS volunteers who would not be otherwise covered by the Act.
Conclusion
The Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights because it advances the protection of human rights by extending coverage of the Act, and therefore workers’ compensation coverage, to AIATSIS volunteers who would not otherwise be covered by the Act.
Senator the Hon. Eric Abetz
Minister for Employment
[1] Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 19: The Right to Social Security (art. 9), U.N. Doc E/C.12/GC/19 (2008), [17].