Comcare

• Consultation Draft: Guide for Arranging Rehabilitation Assessments and Requiring Examinations

  1st May 2024

• Does this mean public servants will be properly compensated for workplace injuries?

  11th Apr 2024

  John Wilson and Kieran Pender examine February’s landmark judgement, Comcare v Friend, revealing how it removes uncertainty where compensation for workplace injuries intersects with the Comcare scheme – and ensures public servants can be properly compensated.

• Comcare must act to enforce WHS laws in immigration detention

  15th Jul 2020

  Failure to enforce COVID-19 social distancing rules in immigration detention centres, including hotels, is a breach of workplace health and safety laws and Comcare must act immediately to enforce this duty of care, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• ALA demands Comcare prosecute over Nauru

  18th Aug 2016

  With the lid lifted on what the BBC refers to as "Australia's Guantanamo Bay", past abuses and workplace safety incidents on Nauru need to be prosecuted by Comcare, writes Anna Talbot and Greg Barns on behalf of the Australian Lawyers Alliance.

• Comcare must prosecute for Nauru abuses

  10th Aug 2016

  The Nauru files detailing large-scale abuse of detainees in offshore detention camps on Nauru show that Comcare, the Commonwealth workplace regulator, must prosecute for offences, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Imprisoning mentally ill asylum seekers suggests offences committed

  16th Jun 2016

  Reports that a mentally ill detainee on Manus Island was sent to prison instead of receiving medical treatment indicates that workplace health and safety law continues to be flouted in immigration detention.

• Comcare inaction on detention centre abuse shows need for law reform

  8th Jun 2016

  Widespread sexual and physical abuse, self-harm, suicide attempts and deaths in immigration detention are not being adequately investigated, pointing to a need for legislative reform, according to a report released by the ALA this week.

• Immigration detention unsafe workplaces: ALA Report

  6th Jun 2016

  Immigration detention facilities are unsafe workplaces, ALA Report finds.

  The Australian Lawyers Alliance (‘ALA’) is today releasing a ground-breaking 150-page report, Untold damage: workplace health and safety in immigration detention under the Work, Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth), (‘WHS Act’). 

• Failure to provide abortion to rape victim a new low in detainee care

  19th Oct 2015

  The Commonwealth appears to have failed in its duty of care to a 23-year-old detainee rape victim, by neglecting to provide appropriate medical counselling and advice before denying her an abortion, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Labor’s new detainee child-abuse Bill is no solution

  12th Oct 2015

  A new Private Members Bill mandating the reporting of child abuse in all offshore and onshore detention facilities is not an effective remedy, and would not go far enough to monitor or prevent abuse, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• DIBP leaves regulator in dark on appalling Nauru detainee conditions

  28th Aug 2015

  Numerous incidents over the past two years, including allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment and assaults of people held on Nauru, do not appear to have been reported to Comcare by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (‘DIBP’), the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Injuries in detention centres apparently not investigated by Comcare

  1st Jul 2015

  Workplace insurer Comcare appears to have failed to investigate numerous serious incidents and injuries which occurred at Commonwealth detention centres, according to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request made by the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• Employers, unions and ALA fight unfair workers’ compensation Bill

  30th Jun 2015

  The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ), the Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) and the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) have joined forces in fighting proposed amendments to the Federal workers’ compensation scheme, stating the changes are a ‘retrograde step for Queensland’ that will result in higher and volatile premiums for small business and fewer benefits for the State’s 2.1 million workers.

• Govt’s Migration ‘loophole’ Bill incompatible with current law

  30th Jun 2015

  New legislation passed by the Parliament last week to evade High Court litigation regarding the validity of regional processing centres is incompatible with Australia’s obligations at law, which it cannot contract or legislate away, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Lack of unanimity in Senate report highlights Comcare’s faults

  19th Jun 2015

  Injured Australian workers could see their rights and workplace safety severely cut under government plans to slash the federal workers compensation scheme, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• NT case highlights Comcare’s poor record on workplace safety

  28th May 2015

  Comcare’s bungled attempts at legal action over a fatal accident which occurred in the Northern Territory five years ago have further highlighted significant flaws in the agency’s ability to properly manage and respond to workplace deaths, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Court decision shows Comcare’s failure to regulate workplace safety

  21st May 2015

  A recent court decision on workplace safety against a major Comcare licensee is evidence that the federal scheme is failing its core responsibility of regulating workplace safety, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Comcare OK for workers but not good enough for politicians

  13th May 2015

  The Federal Government has admitted the Comcare scheme is not up to scratch by quietly funding its own parliamentary injury compensation scheme in last night’s Budget, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Senator Abetz’s attacks on injured workers do nothing to fix Comcare

  15th Apr 2015

  Comments from Federal Public Service Minister Eric Abetz that seek to minimise the impacts of proposed changes to the nation’s Comcare scheme are not only dishonest, they also serve as a further hit on injured workers, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Proposed changes to Comcare a further attack on injured workers

  25th Mar 2015

  Amendments introduced today by the Federal Government to the national workers’ compensation scheme are a further attack on the rights of the nation’s injured workers, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Comcare changes threaten workers’ rights and workplace safety

  28th Nov 2014

  State and territory-based workers’ compensation schemes are in danger of being abandoned by employers if changes to the Comcare scheme are approved, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Senate should reject proposed changes to Comcare scheme

  24th Jul 2014

  The Senate’s Education and Employment Standing Committee recently released its report dealing with proposed legislative changes to the Comcare workers compensation scheme. The Senate should reject the proposed changes, writes Geoff Wilson.

• Comcare changes to gut state workers’ compensation schemes

  9th Jul 2014

  State and territory-based workers’ compensation schemes risk being gutted as a result of changes to the Comcare scheme which have been examined by a Senate committee report, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Opening Comcare gates will trade off workers' rights

  11th Jun 2014

  The Federal government is planning to trade off the rights of Australian workers via opening the gates to its Comcare scheme, the Australian Lawyers Alliance said today

• Red tape and the injured worker

  7th Apr 2014

  One person’s red tape may be another’s safety regulation when it comes to the Comcare scheme, writes Bill Redpath.

• What 'cutting red tape' will do to injured workers nationwide

  19th Mar 2014

  The Federal government’s proposal to allow employers to shift workers into the Comcare system will take away vital support for injured workers and dilute health and safety protections nationwide, the Australian Lawyers Alliance said today.