New bill to impact firefighters, gig workers, injured employees
Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace on Wednesday introduced a new bill seeking to expand Queensland's workers' compensation scheme.
The Workers' Compensation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 seeks to amend Queensland's Industrial Relations Act 2016, the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017, the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, and the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2014.
One significant aspect of the bill is the addition of 10 cancers to the current list of 12 that are presumed to be work-related for Queensland firefighters.
"I am particularly proud of the expanded list of presumptive cancers which will give certainty to Queensland's firefighters that they will get the care and support they need," Grace said in a statement.
Compensation payments, gig workers
The bill also grants injured workers faster access to weekly compensation payments through default payments upon claim acceptance.
The legislation also addresses the challenges faced by gig workers, aiming to provide them with access to the workers' compensation scheme once their status is regulated under new Fair Work Commission powers.
Grace said gig workers currently operate outside regulation, leaving them without access to the scheme when they experience workplace injury.
"This bill provides flexibility for our government to regulate the status of gig workers under workers' compensation laws, once the matter has been determined under new Fair Work Commission powers to regulate workers and businesses in the gig economy," she said.
Meanwhile, other changes to be introduced in the bill include:
- A requirement that a return-to-work plan be developed immediately following claim acceptance
- Requiring insurers take all reasonable steps to minimise the chance of a worker developing a secondary psychological injury
- Empowering workers to actively participate in the rehabilitation process by allowing them to choose their workplace rehabilitation provider and treating doctors
- Requiring employers to provide a regular statement of rights to their workers
- Requiring insurers to provide workers and employers a statement of their rights and obligations under the scheme
- Amending the Industrial Relations Act 2016 to ensure national consistency when it comes to accessing parental leave
- Changes to ensure a more streamlined appeals process in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission
The bill's introduction came after an independent review carried out by former QIRC Commissioner Glenys Fisher and Emeritus Professor of Employment Relations at Griffith University Professor David Peetz.
