Australia Proposes to Reduce New South Wales Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Australia Proposes to Reduce New South Wales Workers' Compensation Benefits
(Sunnyvale, CA)- The Australian government has proposed to drastically revise New South Wales (NSW)
workers' compensation benefits claims. The new legislation, which reduces workers' weekly
compensation and medical benefits, is expected to attract more business investments into the region.
Australia Workers Compensation: Proposed Reforms:
abolish "journey" claims where workers are insured against injuries sustained in case of an accident
while travelling to and from work,
limit medical expenses, reduce weekly payments and cease offering certain employee benefits
after a limited period,
Discontinuance of benefits for nervous shock, which was previously extended to families and
dependents of workers suffering injury or any other causality like death.
Justifying the proposed legislation which got hostile reception from New South Wales workforce,
Australian Government said that the existing provisions may increase work cover (insurance) premiums
by 28% affecting NSW businesses where premiums are already higher by 20 to 60 percent compared to
Victoria and Queensland.
In another development earlier this year, the Australian Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) law
recently underwent a series of changes, violations of which could result in fines of up to $600,000
and/or imprisonment of up to five years for corporate as well as individual executives.
The changes came into effect in January 2012 in New South Wales, Queensland, the Commonwealth,
the Australia Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
For companies expanding into Australia, additional country updates about doing business in Australia
can be viewed at Nair & Co. Country News Alerts - Australia.
For more information on this topic email media@nair-co.com
Get the latest press releases and updates on international tax, HR, Finance, compliance and other legal
news at Nair & Co. Industry Alerts.
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