Mr HENDERSON - 2001-03-01
Territory businesses are facing rapidly escalating costs for workers’ compensation premiums. Local businesses have reported increases in premiums of up to 300% between one year and the next despite having no claims.
You conducted a review of workers’ compensation arrangements two years ago but nothing has happened. When are you going to address the very real concerns of Territory businesses about workers’ compensation? When are you going to start negotiating solutions so that employers have an incentive to improve work safety and take on new employees, or are you going to sit on the report forever and do nothing?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, that is a very good question and I am glad it has been raised here. When industry came to government 18 months ago and said there was a problem with workers’ compensation insurance in the industry – and they were damn right about that and those premium hikes have been continuing – it was this government, through myself, that put together a review committee made up of predominantly industry members from all sectors across the Territory. It also included, I might add, union representatives, medical representatives, insurance representatives - a very comprehensive committee. I based that model of that review committee on one that I put together for the procurement review that has turned out to be very successful in making changes to the procurement policy of the Northern Territory government. Those changes, which have now been implemented and are working very successfully, have had good support from the industry sector.
That committee put together a report and that report was made available to me. From that report we were given some recommendations that looked at ways that the Work Health Act in the Northern Territory might be changed. The report recognises that it is not the Work Health Act that is administered by the Northern Territory that brings rise to these premiums in the private sector for workers’ compensation. It is a combination of a lot of things, including the amalgamations that are going on in the insurance industry. The actuarial evidence suggests the premiums that have been charged in the past have been somewhat subsided by private competition in that market and now with the …
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr BALDWIN: I know that the Leader of the Opposition is not interested in what we do in supporting the business sector of the Northern Territory.
All of those points have been recognised and that report will be actioned by the government in the very near future. If there are legislative changes that need to be brought about within the Work Health Act then this parliament will be the place to debate those changes, and it will be very interesting to see what position the Labor Party takes on that matter.
You conducted a review of workers’ compensation arrangements two years ago but nothing has happened. When are you going to address the very real concerns of Territory businesses about workers’ compensation? When are you going to start negotiating solutions so that employers have an incentive to improve work safety and take on new employees, or are you going to sit on the report forever and do nothing?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, that is a very good question and I am glad it has been raised here. When industry came to government 18 months ago and said there was a problem with workers’ compensation insurance in the industry – and they were damn right about that and those premium hikes have been continuing – it was this government, through myself, that put together a review committee made up of predominantly industry members from all sectors across the Territory. It also included, I might add, union representatives, medical representatives, insurance representatives - a very comprehensive committee. I based that model of that review committee on one that I put together for the procurement review that has turned out to be very successful in making changes to the procurement policy of the Northern Territory government. Those changes, which have now been implemented and are working very successfully, have had good support from the industry sector.
That committee put together a report and that report was made available to me. From that report we were given some recommendations that looked at ways that the Work Health Act in the Northern Territory might be changed. The report recognises that it is not the Work Health Act that is administered by the Northern Territory that brings rise to these premiums in the private sector for workers’ compensation. It is a combination of a lot of things, including the amalgamations that are going on in the insurance industry. The actuarial evidence suggests the premiums that have been charged in the past have been somewhat subsided by private competition in that market and now with the …
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr BALDWIN: I know that the Leader of the Opposition is not interested in what we do in supporting the business sector of the Northern Territory.
All of those points have been recognised and that report will be actioned by the government in the very near future. If there are legislative changes that need to be brought about within the Work Health Act then this parliament will be the place to debate those changes, and it will be very interesting to see what position the Labor Party takes on that matter.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016