Toll Group proposed move to the Comcare scheme
What is self-insurance in the Comcare scheme?
Many employers (usually large businesses) across Australia can, if eligible, be granted a licence to provide their own workers’ compensation insurance to their workers, instead of going through an agent/insurer. These are called self-insurers. Toll Holdings Pty Limited, including all wholly owned subsidiaries is currently a Self-insurer in Queensland (QLD) New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA) and traditionally insured in Western Australia (WA), Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Northern Territory (NT) and Tasmania (TAS).
Self-insurance in the Comcare scheme provides a streamlined approach to the management of workers' compensation by allowing the company to operate under one piece of national legislation, rather than multiple ones under each state jurisdiction. This provides all employees with a consistent level of benefits, regardless of the state or territory in which they are employed or work. Under a self-insurance arrangement, it is generally accepted that workplace-based return to work management delivers better outcomes for both the injured employee and the employer.
Companies that wish to self-insure in the Comcare scheme must apply for a licence from the Australian Government through Comcare, who assesses the application on behalf of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission who is the decision-maker regarding granting a licence.
Private corporations must first apply for a declaration of eligibility to be granted a licence under section 100(1) (c) of the Safety, Rehabilitation Act, 1988 (SRC Act) from the Minister of Employment, before submitting an application to the SRCC. Toll Transport Pty Ltd (Toll) has been declared eligible.
In considering the application, Comcare will ensure that:
- Toll employees and their representatives have been consulted.
- Toll is viable as a self-insurer.
- Appropriate injury, claims management and work, health and safety systems are implemented and maintained by Toll.
Who is the SRCC?
The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (SRCC) is an 11-member body that administers functions under the SRC Act other than those functions that are the undertaken by Comcare.
The SRCC is the regulator of the self-insured licensees under the Comcare scheme and is the decision-maker in relation to a grant of licence, and any ongoing licence variations or extensions. The SRCC monitors the performance of licensees under the scheme and reports to the responsible Minister.
More information about the SRCC and self-insurance under the Comcare scheme is available through their website below:
Who is Comcare?
Comcare is the national work, health and safety regulator (for those entities covered by the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act 2011), a scheme manager, a claims manager (for premium paying government agencies) and an insurer.
Comcare has responsibility under various Acts of Parliament for workers’ compensation schemes and for improving workplace health and safety.
More information about Comcare, its role, vision and activities is available through the Comcare website below:
Who is currently a self-insurer under the Comcare scheme?
There are currently 40 licensees self-insured under the Comcare scheme across Australia covering approximately 252,301 employees, under the SRC Act [1].
Current self-insured licensees under the SRC Act include Australian Postal Corporation, Linfox Australia Pty Ltd, FedEx Express Australia Pty Ltd, and K&S Freighters Pty Limited.
Information about current licensees is available below:
Will I receive more workers’ compensation under a self-insured model in Comcare than under the current arrangements if I’m injured at work?
Coverage in the Comcare scheme provides workers with a package of benefits and entitlements, which is comparable with other Australian jurisdictions when considered as a whole, and there is no evidence to show that any jurisdiction is definitively superior.
What is the benefit of self-insurance in Comcare for Toll?
The primary objective of self-insurance under the Comcare scheme is to provide equity for our employees in that, irrespective of what state an injury may have occurred in, the same benefits and entitlements will apply. This also drives consistency in outcomes. Self-insurance also encourages businesses to take more control and ownership of safety and, should an employee be injured, to have a strong focus on rehabilitation. Toll believes that self-insurance arrangements in Comcare will drive improved outcomes through early and proactive engagement, ensuring injured workers are effectively supported through rehabilitation, recovery and return to work.
Being a self-insurer allows a business to manage its own claims at the workplace. It is generally accepted that workplace-based return to work management delivers better claim outcomes in terms of the employment relationship and return to work outcomes. This benefits both the injured employee and the employer.
Are the benefits under Comcare better or worse than the State schemes?
Safe Work Australia produces reports comparing work health and safety and workers’ compensation
schemes in Australia and New Zealand. These reports show for example:
- Comcare does not provide cover if you suffer an injury while travelling to and from work (unless you are travelling for work) whereas QLD, ACT, NSW and NT do (with the latter 2 jurisdictions having restrictions).
- Access to common law (damages claims for work injuries) is limited under Comcare (QLD and ACT have unlimited access to Common Law while other states have limited access. NT does not have access).
The full Safe Work Australia reports are available on their website below:
Please find a document that provides a visual of scheme comparisons below:
Who will manage Toll’s claims?
Self-insurers are responsible for the management of their own claims, which is the current position in QLD, NSW and SA.
What happens if I have an existing claim?
There is no impact on claims made before the self-insurance commencement date under Comcare. These will continue to be managed by Toll’s Injury Management Team under existing arrangements with State and Territory insurers / claims agents.
Will Toll employees be covered under the national Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) if the application is successful?
New self-insurers are not automatically covered by the WHS Act. New self-insured licensees will continue to be regulated by the relevant state and territory work health and safety regulators.
Will there still be an obligation to keep an injured workers’ role open and to provide a return-to-work program?
There is no defined statutory obligation as such under the SRC Act to keep an injured employee’s job open for them. However, if an injured employee is incapacitated as a result of a compensable injury, Toll as a SRC Act self-insured licensee would be obliged to make incapacity payments to the employee, and meet the medical costs related to the injury, until the employee is no longer incapacitated. When an employee is undertaking, or has completed a rehabilitation program, Section 40 of the SRC Act imposes a duty on an employer to take all reasonable steps to provide the employee with suitable employment or to assist the employee to find such employment.
There is no time limit on a self-insurer’s obligation to continue to rehabilitate an injured employee back to work. An injured employee who is incapacitated will continue to receive incapacity payments until the employee is fit to engage in suitable employment or reaches retirement age. There is therefore, a compelling and significant incentive for the employer to provide early and effective rehabilitation and suitable employment for the injured employee to enable them to return to work as quickly and as safely as possible.
Do workers’ compensation payments cease at age 65 or the current Government retirement/pension age of 67?
If the injury is two years or more before the pension age, payments cease at the pension age in force at the time, as defined in the Social Security Act 1991 (depending on your year of birth it can currently be up to age 67) or up to 104 weeks following the date of the injury if the pension age has been passed when the injury occurs.
Linking compensation for incapacity with the pension age (rather than the previous age 65), ensures there is no gap between the cessation of compensation for incapacity and eligibility for receipt of the age pension.
Can self-insured employers protect themselves against unpredicted or catastrophic claims?
Yes. While the largest employers have sufficient financial reserves to cover virtually any amount of workers' compensation claim costs, it is a condition of licence that all self-insured employers purchase what is known as excess of loss insurance. This reimburses them for claims above a specified level, normally starting at $1,000,000. Toll Holdings Limited currently purchase excess of loss insurance to support our QLD, NSW and SA self-insurance licenses.
What are the next steps?
- A formal consultation process has commenced with all employees, to seek feedback and to answer any of your questions.
- Subject to the outcome of the consultation process, Toll is considering making an application to Comcare.
- Comcare, on behalf of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission will review the application, which includes assessing Toll’s performance in relation to rehabilitation, claims management and WHS.
- If Comcare is satisfied that Toll meets the criteria to be a self-insurer, they will refer our application to the SRCC who will determine whether to grant Toll a self-insurance licence.
Where can I get more information on the Comcare scheme?
Information is available on the Toll website here and will be updated on a regular basis.
A copy of the Comparison of Workers’ Compensation Arrangements in Australia and New Zealand 2021 28th Edition report is available on the Toll website here.
If you have any questions at any time, email us at [email protected]and we will respond within 24 hours.
Under the new Comcare arrangements, will staff be covered on their lunch breaks?
Injuries sustained while temporarily absent from the workplace during an ordinary recess can be covered under the SRC Act. Ordinary recesses include lunch breaks in normal working hours, and meal breaks during overtime and shift work periods. Injuries that occur during ordinary recesses are likely to be covered unless an exclusion applies e.g. an intentionally self-inflicted injury. Importantly, each event must be considered on its own merits.
Under the current QLD Workers Compensation System, we are covered for the journey to and from home. Can you confirm what the situation is under the Comcare Scheme?
There is no coverage under Comcare for journeys to and from an employee’s usual place of work. In the event Toll is successful in obtaining a Comcare licence, Toll is considering obtaining additional journey coverage for Australia nationally.
Does the Comcare scheme cover employees in New Zealand?
If we are successful in our application to Comcare, coverage under the scheme will only apply to Toll Transport Pty Ltd Australian employees.
Our NZ employee’s workers compensation entitlements will continue to be managed under NZ’s ACC scheme.