EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the
Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988
Section 100
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Licence Eligibility) Notice 2011 (No. 1)
The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (the Act) establishes the Commonwealth workers’ compensation and rehabilitation scheme.
Under Part VIII of the Act, an ‘eligible corporation’ may apply to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (the Commission) for a licence to:
(a) accept liability to pay workers’ compensation in respect of its employees in accordance with the Act; and
(b) manage the claims of its employees in accordance with the Act.
An ‘eligible corporation’ is a corporation that has been declared to be such by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations under section 100 of the Act. Section 100 of the Act provides that if the Minister is satisfied that it would be desirable for the Act to apply to employees of a corporation that:
(a) is, but is about to cease to be, a Commonwealth authority; or
(b) was previously a Commonwealth authority; or
(c) is carrying on business in competition with a Commonwealth authority or with another corporation that was previously a Commonwealth authority;
the Minister may, by notice in writing, declare the corporation to be eligible to be granted a licence under Part VIII.
Australian air Express Pty Ltd, which is already a licensee under the Act, has requested that the Minister declare its newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary Australian air Express Retail Pty Ltd to also be eligible. The request to the Minister from Australian air Express has arisen from restructuring that the corporation is currently undergoing. Allowing Australian air Express Retail to apply for a licence will mean that employees who will transfer to the new corporation from Australian air Express will have the opportunity of retaining benefits under the Act which they currently enjoy.
The application for a declaration under section 100 of the Act was assessed against the following factors:
(a) the likely impact on employees of the applicant;
(b) the likely impact on the applicant;
(c) the likely impact on the operation of the Commonwealth workers’ compensation scheme; and
(d) the likely impact on the operation of the States and Territory schemes.
Australian air Express Retail Pty Ltd (ACN 146 789 979) is a corporation carrying on business in competition with a Commonwealth authority or a former Commonwealth authority.
Australian air Express Pty Ltd has requested that the Minister declare its wholly-owned subsidiary, Australian air Express Retail Pty Ltd, to be an eligible corporation under section 100 of the Act to enable it to self insure its workers’ compensation liabilities under the Act.
Having assessed the applications against the principles, the Minister is satisfied that it would be desirable for the Act to apply to the employees of Australian air Express Retail Pty Ltd.
The notice declares that Australian air Express Retail Pty Ltd is eligible to be granted a licence under Part VIII of the Act.
Wider consultation was not undertaken as this declaration was made at the request of the applicant corporation and it is not likely to have a direct, or substantial indirect, effect on business or restrict competition.
An assessment was made by the Office of Best Practice Regulation which indicated that a Regulation Impact Statement was not required for this declaration.
This Notice is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
This declaration takes effect on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.