Recent Amendments to NSW Legislation

The Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Act 2010 was recently passed by NSW
Parliament and comes into effect on 1 February 2010. This Act provides amendments to various sections of the Workers Compensation Act1987.

Although there are a number of amendments, the following table provides a brief summary of some of the amendments that are more likely to affect employers.

Change	Affect on Workers Compensation Act*198*7	Current Legislation	Legislation as of 1 February 2011
Make-up Pay	Section 40 amended	The maximum statutory cap applies to the total amount of make-up pay received by the worker, including wagespaid by the employer.	The maximum statutory cap applies to the make-uppay component only.
Future Medical Treatment	Section 60 (5) created	The Workers Compensation Commission (WCC) is currently not able tomake awards for future treatment.	The WCC can will be able to make awards for future treatment when it is reasonable and necessary.
Retirement Age	Section 151IA amended	The male retirement age is 65 years. The female retirement age is gradually increasing as per the Social Security Act 1991.	The male retirement age has been amended to reflect the retirement age in the Social Security Act 1991. This will not come into affect 2017.
Workplace Rehabilitation Service	Sections 9A, 38A, 59, 60 of the 1987 Act amended	The term “Occupational Rehabilitation Service” is currently used to describe any service provided as a workplace rehabilitation service by, or on behalf of, a provider of rehabilitation services approved under section 52 of the 1998 Act.	“Occupational Rehabilitation Service” has been deleted and replaced with “Workplace Rehabilitation Service”.
Approved rehabilitation providers	Section 23 of the WIMS Act 1998 amended	The term “Accredited rehabilitation providers”is currently used.	“Accredited rehabilitation providers” has been deleted and replaced with “Approved rehabilitation providers”. Accordingly, a rehabilitation provider only has to be approved instead of accredited.