AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ORDINANCE 1951

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

No. 2 of 1951

	The Ordinance provides that workmen’s compensation for private enterprise employees shall be payable under similar conditions and of the amounts as now provided, for employees of the Commonwealth by the Commonwealth Employees’ Compensation Act, 1930‑1948, and which are more favourable to the workers.

	Remuneration eligibility is raised from £750 to £1,250 per year, a member of the employer’s family employed by him may by arrangement be eligible for benefit, a de facto wife of a workman will for benefit be included as a member of the workman’s family, and compensation in respect of death or incapacity is payable in respect of any disease caused by employment and is not, as previously, restricted to certain specified diseases.

	An added condition is that compensation is not payable in respect of intentional self-inflicted injury.

	The present maximum payment of £1,000 for other than cases of death or permanent or total disablement is increased to £1,250, and in all cases the amounts of weekly payments already made are not to be deducted from amounts prescribed or determined as an appropriate lump sum payment.

	An additional provision is that the maximum rates which may be charged for insurance premiums may be fixed by Regulations to be made under the Ordinance.

	Weekly rates of payment are raised from £3 to £4, the allowance for a wife is increased from £1 to 25/- and for dependent children from 8/6d. to 10/- each.

	Where death results from the injury the maximum amount of compensation payable has been increased from £800 to £1,000 plus an increase from £25 to £50 for each dependent child, and in addition a new provision is that amounts payable each week to the time of death shall not be a set off to the total of the lump sum payment.

	In exceptional circumstances, payment for medical expenses may be in excess of the present £100 limit, and the whole of such payments would be additional to any other payments under the Ordinance.

	The amount of lump sum payments for specified injuries are increased in each case, the previous highest rate of £800 being raised to £1,250.