Table 4.8: Workers’ compensation arrangements for government employers | Safe Work Australia

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	Legislation	Self-insurance	Claims managers	Premiums
NSW	Workers Compensation Act 1987 Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 The amendments introduced in the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Act 2012 do not apply to certain categories of workers including police officers, paramedics and firefighters. These workers are referred to as exempt workers. Claims by exempt workers are mainly managed as though the June 2012 amendments never occurred.	Several different types of cover are available to NSW public sector employers: NSW Self-Insurance Corporation (SICorp) manages and administers the Treasury Managed Fund (TMF). This is a NSW Government self-insurance scheme providing coverage for general state government sector agencies. Some state-owned corporations have elected to join. Several government agencies and state-owned corporations are licensed self-insurers. Specialised Insurers are licensed in similar fashion to self-insurers but organised on an industry basis. Some local councils are insured through StateCover Mutual, a specialised insurer in NSW.	All claims under the TMF are handled by claim agents, which are contracted to SICorp. The claims of self-insured agencies are managed by the licensed self-insurer organisations. Some claims of local councils in NSW are managed by the licensed specialised insurer StateCover Mutual.	TMF (SICorp): Deposit contributions are based on a weighting between an Agency’s own claims experience and an appropriate external premium measure. StateCover Mutual determines annual contributions in accordance with its published premium rating methodology.
Vic	Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013	Body corporates and the Municipal Association of Victoria can apply to become self-insurers — s376. Government agencies are neither and cannot become self-insurers.	Each government agency chooses an agent appointed by WorkSafe Victoria to manage their claims. All employers may change agents once per year if they believe another agent will provide better service.	Administration of WorkCover Insurance and the calculation of premium uses the same methodology as for private sector employers.
Qld	Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003	State government departments and statutory bodies cannot apply for self-insurance. Local governments can apply for self-insurance under a pre-1998 arrangement. Most local governments have self-insurance arrangements.	For State government departments, all claims are handled by WorkCover Queensland.	All employers must pay a premium for a workers’ compensation policy.
WA	Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023	Public authorities are insured by the Insurance Commission of Western Australia (ICWA) -a licensed insurer with a specialised insurer condition that limits it to insuring public authorities.	All public authority claims are handled by ICWA.	All public authorities must have workers’ compensation coverage with ICWA. Premiums are paid direct to ICWA. WorkCover WA’s recommended premium rates do not apply to public authorities insured by ICWA.
SA	Return to Work Act 2014	The Crown and any agency or instrumentality of the Crown is taken to be registered as self-insured employers under s130 and must meet the costs associated with claims. The Local Government Association is not considered an agency or instrument of the Crown and is registered as a private self-insured employer.	Crown agencies (and private self-insured employers) assume responsibility for the management of workers’ compensation claims.	Crown agencies must pay a fee each year as a contribution towards the costs associated with scheme administration.
Tas	Workers’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988	The Crown and any agency or instrumentality of the Crown is deemed to be an exempt employer under s 97(9) and s 114(5) and is not obliged to maintain a policy of insurance or hold a permit to self-insure. The Tasmanian Risk Management Fund is a whole-of-government self-insurance arrangement for funding and managing the insurable liabilities of participants. The Fund is administered by the Department of Treasury and Finance.	Claims administration is undertaken by a Fund Administration Agent, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Pty Ltd, who is engaged under contract.	The Fund operates on a cost recovery basis with contributions set to ensure adequate financial provision for the cost of risk now and into the future. The level of Agencies’ contributions is determined by an independent actuary to reflect their risk exposure, claims experience and nominated excess amount.
ACT	Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth)	All ACT Government workers are covered under the Comcare scheme. The ACT is a licensed self-insurer under the Comcare scheme.	All government claims are handled by Employers Mutual Limited.	ACT Government workers’ are self-insured under the SRC Act from 1 March 2019.
NT	Return to Work Act 1986	The insurance provisions of the legislation do not apply to the NT Government. Local Government and some statutory agencies are insured with approved insurers.	Most NT Public Servants are covered by the Government’s self-insurance arrangement. Claims management is contracted to Gallagher Bassett. Some agencies are insured commercially and the insurer manages these claims.	Government has introduced an internal “premium” model to create a fund for claim payments. This will develop into an experience-based model.
Comcare	Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cth)	The Commonwealth and most Commonwealth Authorities are premium payers to the Comcare scheme. Commonwealth Authorities and eligible corporations may be granted a licence to self-insure. This may include self- management of claims.	Commonwealth Government claims are managed by Comcare. Claims by licensed Commonwealth authorities are managed in-house by those authorities or through authorised third party claims managers.	Commonwealth entities, other than licensed Commonwealth authorities, pay experience based premiums to Comcare annually.
Seacare	Seafarers’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 (Cth)	N/A	N/A	N/A
DVA	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
NZ	Accident Compensation Act 2001	N/A	All government claims except those covered by Accredited Employers are managed by ACC. Claims by Accredited Employers are managed by those employers, either in-house or by a contracted third-party administrator.	Government employers pay levies to ACC like all other employers unless they are Accredited Employers where a discount is applicable. Refer to Chapter 7 of this document for Self-insurer arrangements.