2006 Amendment to the OHS(CE) Act and SRC Act (Coverage Act)
The Australian Government has passed important legislation aimed at improving the health and safety of workers in the Commonwealth jurisdiction, and extending the coverage of the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991 (OHS Act) to organisations licensed under the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act).
The OHS and SRC Legislation Amendment Act 2006:
It is important to note that the amendments do not impose any new duties on employers or employees already covered by the OHS Act. There is no change to an employers’ prime duty of care to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect the health and safety at work of employees, and others at or near the workplace.
The changes will come into effect on 15 March 2007. In preparation for implementation of the changes, Comcare will be undertaking a number of activities to educate organisations. The objective of these activities is to ensure that organisations already covered by the OHS Act, and those joining the jurisdiction, are informed about the changes and the actions they may need to take to comply with the OHS legislation.
Important links
1) Extends coverage of the OHS Act to include self insurers under the SRC Act
These amendments implement the Government’s response to a recommendation of the Productivity Commission in its report—National Workers‘ Compensation and Occupational Health and Safety Frameworks of June 2004. In that report, the Productivity Commission recommended extending coverage under the OHS Act to eligible organisations which are licensed (ie. self insured) under the SRC Act.
At present, former Commonwealth authorities and licensed private sector corporations operate under the Commonwealth workers’ compensation regime, but are covered by state/territory occupational health and safety legislation in the jurisdictions in which they operate. This makes it unnecessarily difficult for many firms to develop a national approach to occupational health and safety and may result in the requirement that they comply with eight separate and quite distinct OHS jurisdictions.
This amendment will ensure more time and resources are devoted to improving health and safety by removing the need for multiple compliance regimes, and reducing uncertainty, duplication of effort, and costs.
2) Changes the name of the Act
The Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991 has been renamed the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 to reflect its extended application beyond Commonwealth employers.
3) Excludes State/Territory OHS legislation from applying to the Commonwealth
Currently, Commonwealth employers and employees can be subject to both Commonwealth, and state/territory OHS laws on the same issue.
This amendment will exempt employers and employees under the OHS Act from the operation of state/territory occupational health and safety laws unless these are specifically prescribed in Commonwealth regulations. This will clarify legislative requirements for employers and employees and will eliminate duplication of occupational health and safety laws which apply to them.
4) Allows charging of a regulatory contribution to certain authorities and validates previous payments
A regulatory contribution, which includes costs for managing the OHS scheme, is levied under section 97D of the SRC Act. A Commonwealth Authority not covered by the SRC Act could therefore not be charged for OHS contributions. The amendments will guarantee that all entities covered by the Commonwealth OHS scheme can be charged a regulatory contribution. Charges are levied at the beginning of each financial year.
Some Commonwealth Authorities not covered by the SRC Act did in fact pay an OHS contribution during the 2002-2003 financial year when they weren’t required to. The amendment will validate these payments.
For further information on the OHS and SRC Legislation Amendment Act 2006 please contact Comcare on the General Enquiry Line 1300 366 979.