1905–1990
Queensland’s first workers’ compensation legislation was the Workers’ Compensation Act 1905. This limited scheme was repealed and replaced by the Workers’ Compensation Act 1916, which became the foundation for workers’ compensation until 1990. In the 1970s benefits were increased and a new Workers’ Compensation Board was created.
1990
By the late 1980s the legislation in Queensland had become outdated and a review resulted in the Workers’ Compensation Act 1990. Key features included increased and additional benefits for workers, rehabilitation initiatives, increased employer and worker representation on the Workers’ Compensation Board, increased penalties for fraud and failure of employers to insure and streamlined administrative arrangements.
1996
In 1996 a further inquiry was held to address financial, regulatory and operational difficulties resulting in the WorkCover Queensland Act 1996. It repealed the 1990 Act and ‘effected a total rewrite of the workers’ compensation legislation’.
2003
Following a review under National Competition Policy, the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 repealed the 1996 Act and introduced separate delivery and regulation of the workers’ compensation scheme.
2010
Legislative amendments capping damages and increasing the onus on plaintiffs to prove negligence (in line with aspects of civil liability legislation) were passed in June 2010.
2013
Legislative amendments were passed in response to the Inquiry into the Operation of Queensland’s Workers’ Compensation Scheme by the Queensland Parliament’s Finance and Administration Committee. A greater than 5% degree of permanent impairment threshold was introduced for injured workers seeking damages. Regulatory functions were merged into the then Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
2015
The common law threshold was removed effective 31 January 2015 and deeming provisions for firefighters with prescribed diseases were introduced.
2016
The National Injury Insurance Scheme for workplace accidents connected with Queensland was introduced to provide eligible seriously injured workers with a statutory entitlement to lifetime treatment, care and support payments (from 1 July 2016).
2017
New entitlements for current and former workers with Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis or other Coal Mine Dust Lung Diseases introduced.
2018
The second 5-yearly review of the operation of the Queensland workers’ compensation scheme required under section 584A of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 was completed. The report of the review made 57 recommendations.
2019
Legislative amendments included:
- a mandatory requirement to refer an injured worker to an accredited rehabilitation and return to work program if the worker is receiving compensation and makes a request, or the worker’s entitlement to compensation has ceased and the worker has not returned to work because of the injury
- requiring self-insured employers to notify their insurer when a worker sustains an injury for which compensation may be payable
- clarifying that insurers have a discretion to accept claims submitted more than 6 months after the injury is diagnosed, if the injured worker has lodged a claim within 20 days of developing an incapacity for work from their injury
- deeming unpaid interns as workers entitled to access workers’ compensation benefits
- amending the meaning of psychiatric or psychological injury to remove ‘the major’ as a qualifier for employment’s ‘significant contributing factor’ to the injury, and
- requiring insurers to take all reasonable steps to provide claimants with psychiatric or psychological injuries access to reasonable support services relating to their injury during claim determination.
2021
Presumptive workers’ compensation laws for first responders and eligible employees diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commenced. The presumption applies to workers or relevant volunteers who are first responders responding to time-critical, often life-threatening incidents (e.g. police officers, paramedics, firefighters) and eligible employees in certain first responder departments who experience repeated or extreme exposure to graphic details of traumatic incidents.
2022
Legislative protections were introduced to shield the workers’ compensation scheme and injured workers from “claim farming” practices. The amendments prohibit:
- approaching or contacting another person to solicit or induce them to make a claim; and
- giving or receiving financial incentives for referring claims or potential claims.
Amendments also confirmed the policy intent for when an entitlement to terminal workers’ compensation benefits arises by inserting an explicit 5-year timeframe into the definition of ‘terminal condition’.
2023
The report of the 2023 review of the operation of the Queensland workers’ compensation scheme was tabled in Queensland Parliament. The report made 54 recommendations of both legislative and administrative character.
2024
The Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 amended the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 and the former Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2014 to give effect to the accepted legislative recommendations of the 2023 Review of the operation of the Queensland workers’ compensation scheme. The Act included amendments to:
- provide greater support for firefighters by expanding the diseases presumed to be work-related from 12 to 23;
- provide for more immediate cash flow for injured workers with an accepted claim through a basic weekly payment while their weekly compensation payments are calculated;
- increase early intervention for physical injury claims to prevent the development of a secondary psychological injury;
- improve rehabilitation and return to work (RRTW) outcomes by empowering injured workers to choose an alternative workplace rehabilitation provider, requiring host employers to cooperate with labour hire providers to fulfil their RRTW obligations, and introducing a timeframe for the preparation of a RRTW plan by an insurer;
- expand the compliance and enforcement tools available to the Workers’ Compensation Regulator; and
- assist workers and employers to understand their rights and responsibilities under workers’ compensation legislation through mandatory information statements.