Comprehensive Review of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth)
19 December 2024
The ALA has made a submission to the Independent Panel conducting the comprehensive review of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth).
In our submission, the ALA has urged the Independent Panel to closely and centrally consider the experiences of injured workers and their representatives as part of this review, in order to improve the Comcare scheme (scheme).
We have addressed a number of matters in our submission, including: best practice in workers’ compensation scheme design; employees’ experiences of the scheme; the need for common law access for injured workers; the ALA’s opposition to a broader national workers’ compensation scheme; how Comcare’s regulations concerning injured workers accessing superannuation payments operate inequitably; and the need for changes to the way disputes are resolved in the scheme.
Thank you to the large group of ALA members across Australia involved in the development of this submission! Additionally, thank you to Katie Hrobelko, Richard Faulks and Shane Butcher, who represented the ALA at a consultation roundtable hosted by the Independent Panel on Monday 25 November 2024.
The Independent Panel released its final report in December 2025.
ALA submission
Final report