Updating the accident compensation legislation

Victoria's Accident Compensation Act will be updated to enhance support for injured workers, announced the Minister for Finance, WorkCover and the Transport Accident Commission, Tim Holding.

"The Accident Compensation Act 1985 has been in operation for over 20 years and is the basis of a workers compensation scheme that has provided support to hundreds of thousands of injured workers," Holding said.

"While the underlying principles of the Act remain sound, incremental changes over the years have made it unwieldy and unnecessarily complex." Holding said the legislation was being independently reviewed to ensure appropriate support continued to be provided to injured workers.

"We are committed to ensuring that the current system is fair, workable and operating effectively," he said.

The review will examine the operation of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 and associated legislation, focusing on:

• the benefit and premium regime when compared with other jurisdictions;
• ways to ensure the best possible support is provided to injured workers;
• ways to reduce the administrative and regulatory burden on Victorian business;
• the removal of inoperative, irrelevant and superfluous legislative provisions; and
• improving understanding of the accident compensation regime.

Holding said there would also be some scope to consider alignment, where appropriate, with schemes in other jurisdictions.

A stakeholder reference group will be appointed to assist the review and public submissions will be invited.