Cabinet negotiations secret of workers' compensation system success

Cabinet negotiations secret of workers' compensation system success

Negotiations leading to the establishment of an Australian workers' compensation system were the secret of its success, according to a University of Queensland researcher.

Jean Sherrell-Alexander, Comcare Australia Queensland state manager from 1988 until 1996, is conducting the first study of the Hawke Cabinet and Government-ACTU negotiations leading to the legislation establishing Comcare Australia in 1988.

"The secret of the legislation's success was that continuous negotiations took place before it went to Parliament. Most problems relating to implementation had been ironed out. These negotiations set important precedents for the development of future legislation in Australia," Mrs Sherrell-Alexander said.

Comcare Australia manages workers' compensation claims for Commonwealth Government employees working in the public service, statutory authorities such as Australia Post and Telstra.

Mrs Sherrell-Alexander, a researcher with the University's Centre for Public Administration, is also examining the later creation and implementation of new occupational health and safety legislation.

"There is very little written on setting up workers' compensation systems. Most systems are developed on the basis of amending existing, work-related legislation. The groundbreaking aspect of Comcare Australia was the fact that it was new legislation," she said.

"Many countries throughout the world are interested in establishing similar systems. For example, countries once part of the Soviet Union have no workers' compensation systems in place nor do many Asian nations."

Mrs Sherrell-Alexander, who is also co-chair of an international sub-committee developing occupational standards for disability management for workplaces, will also conduct a comparative study between Comcare Australia and its Canadian and New Zealand counterparts.

She was national manager for rehabilitation for the Accident Rehabilitation Insurance Corporation of New Zealand from 1996 until the end of 1998 and is currently on the board of the National Institute for Disability Management and Research in Canada. She is also leading a new US$9000 project at the University gathering case studies for a new International Labour Office (ILO) code of practice on disability management in the workplace.

"Comcare Australia has been so successful because of its emphasis on early intervention and getting people back to work. In the past, workers' compensation tended to be run along a medical model rather than a rehabilitation model. People would be sent home to recover and lose their jobs in the meantime," she said.

For more information, contact Jean Sherrell-Alexander (telephone 07 3365 7337).