Seafarers Compensation Scheme Changes in Commonwealth - New Bills Introduced

On 13 October 2016, the Commonwealth House of Representatives introduced a three Bill package of legislative reforms to modernise aspects of the Seacare scheme, aligning work health and safety with the model work health and safety laws, giving effect to recommendations in a review of workers compensation and making the scheme consistent with the government’s cost recovery guidelines.

Seafarers and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016

The Seacare scheme provides workers’ compensation and work health and safety (WHS) protections to a very small defined section of the Australian maritime industry. The scheme is established by the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 (Cth) (Seafarers Act) and the Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993 (Cth) (OHS(MI) Act), as well as two levy Acts. The scheme generally only applies to Australian flagged vessels and foreign flagged vessels with an Australian crew and operator that are engaged in interstate, international or territorial trade or commerce. As of July 2015, the scheme was known to apply to 336 vessels and 6,863 employees (a small portion of approximately 80,000 domestic seafarers in Australia).

The Seacare scheme commenced in 1993 and has not been substantively updated since this time, despite changes in the profile of the Australian maritime industry, including to its employment arrangements, workplaces and working conditions.

The Seafarers and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 (the Bill) will clarify the coverage of the scheme, update the current workers’ compensation and work health and safety arrangements and improve the scheme’s governance. The Bill also gives effect to recent changes to the Maritime Labour Convention and makes minor amendments to broader Commonwealth workers compensation and work health and safety laws.

The Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Bill 2016 (the Levies Bill) and the Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Collection Bill 2016 (the Safety Bill) support this reform package by establishing new cost recovery arrangements to fund the regulatory oversight of the Seacare scheme.

Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Bill 2016

The Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Bill 2016 (the Levies Bill) imposes two levies (an insurance levy and a cost recovery levy) on seafarer berths. The levies will fund two cost components of the Seacare scheme , which is a national work health and safety and workers’ compensation scheme for a very small proportion of employees in the maritime industry .

The seafarers insurance levy will support a safety net fund for seafarers where the employer cannot meet its workers’ compensation obligations because of financial circumstances. This component of the levy is unchanged from the levy collected under the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Levy Act 1992 (Cth). The levy will continue to be calculated on the basis of seafarer berths and will be set at $15 unless changed by regulations. Any increase will be based on the recommendation of an actuarial assessment of the amounts payable from the safety net fund. The cost of the administrative component of maintaining the fund will be based on a recommendation made by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (SRCC). This will be added to the actuarial component which will also be funded from the seafarers insurance levy.

The seafarers cost recovery levy is intended to recover the costs of the SRCC, Comcare and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in performing their respective regulatory functions in relation to the Seacare scheme where these costs are not readily attributable to a specific organisation or individual. The initial levy is set at $0. This levy will be introduced on a staggered basis, with the levy amount set by regulations. The cost recovery levy will also be calculated on the basis of seafarer berths and will be collected in the same way as the insurance levy.

This Bill and the Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Collection Bill 2016 replace the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Levy Act 1992 (Cth) and the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Levy Collection Act 1992 (Cth), respectively.

Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Collection Bill 2016

The Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Collection Bill 2016 (the Safety Bill) provides for the procedures associated with the collection of the levies that will be imposed by the Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Bill 2016 (the Levies Bill).

The Bill requires employers of seafarers to lodge returns relating to the number of seafarer berths aboard a prescribed vessel and to make levy payments quarterly. If the levy is not paid, the Bill provides for a late payment penalty to become payable.

The Bill provides for an employer to give quarterly returns to the SRCC. It also provides for the appointment of authorised persons and the manner in which authorised persons may have access to premises and books for the purpose of examining matters relating to a seafarer’s berth on a prescribed ship on which a levy is, or may be, payable.

The Bill also establishes a standing appropriation of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, so that the Commonwealth can pay the funds raised by the cost recovery levy imposed by the Levies Bill to Comcare. Comcare will then pay a portion of this money to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

All Bills are awaiting Second Reading Debate in the House of Representatives.

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Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Collection Bill 2016 [CTH] and secondary materials as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne

Seafarers Safety and Compensation Levies Bill 2016 [CTH] and secondary materials as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne

Seafarers and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 [CTH] and secondary materials as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne