Industry News

Work Safe Australia has released the online version 22of the 2012 edition of the Comparison of Workers’ Compensation Arrangements in Australia and New Zealand report.

The Comparison of Workers’ Compensation Arrangements in Australia and New Zealand provides information on the operation of workers’ compensation schemes in each of the jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand.

This edition of the Comparison report has been substantially revised and reformatted to improve comparability and readability.

The Comparison provides background to the evolution of workers’ compensation arrangements in Australia and New Zealand, and discusses the way that each scheme deals with key aspects such as the size and nature of the schemes, coverage, benefits, return to work provisions, self-insurance, common law, dispute resolution and cross-border arrangements.

The majority of Tables contained in this report provide a snapshot of workers’ compensation arrangements as at 30 September 2011. However, because each jurisdiction may vary its arrangements from time to time, and because there may be some exceptions to the arrangements described in this edition, more up to date information should be obtained from the relevant authority.

The report is available here.

New data, released by the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia to mark Spinal Health Week (May 21 – 27), shows Australia is a nation of ‘sitters’ and it’s taking a major toll on our health.

Australian office workers face a back pain epidemic and risk developing chronic diseases by sitting for almost 16 hours a day with more than half never taking conscious breaks to stand and move around, according to new research from the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia.

The research found that not only is a dangerous amount of time spent sitting, but nearly 70 per cent of office workers are sitting incorrectly in a slumped or collapsed position and 60 per cent say they already experience regular or occasional lower back pain.

Women  aged 18-34 years have the worst posture and are most at risk of spinal damage.

Alarmingly, office workers have only 73 minutes left in a day to stand or be active, after eliminating time spent sitting and sleeping.

According to the statistics, office workers are spending longer in front of a computer (almost nine hours a day) than sleeping (approximately seven hours a day), sit for almost one and half hours while commuting to and from work, and watch TV for more than two hours.

They are also sitting for up to three hours at a time without getting up.

CAA spokesperson Dr Billy Chow said the results were extremely worrying and were reinforced by an independent Australian study in 20111 which found that people who sit down for more than ten hours a day and don’t exercise had almost double the risk of dying sooner than those with active lifestyles.

“It’s critical we get off our backsides and move more because sitting for too long and in the wrong position can have a detrimental effect on our spine and on our overall health.

“If we’re spending a lot of time sitting down with the same posture, it will cause spinal degeneration and joint inflammation that sends messages to the brain to tell it the body is stressed,” he said.

Dr Chow said chiropractors are seeing a much larger number of office workers with sitting related injuries.

“Sitting is having a major impact on the way we function and our stress levels and is causing weight gain and lower energy levels.

“The problem we face in modern society and with modern technology is that we’re going from a sedentary workplace to a sedentary home so it’s essential we sit less and be more active.

“Getting up to walk around or stretch regularly just for a minute or two is a great way of releasing some stress. This resets your posture and gives your body a break,” Dr Chow said.

With 75 per cent of Australian workers having no clear workplace guidelines regarding sitting correctly and taking breaks from desks or computers, Dr Chow said employers need to start prioritising the health of their workers.

“If workplaces address what is a very serious situation, it will increase the health and wellbeing of their employees which means they’ll be happier and more productive,” he said.

To alleviate health problems associated with sitting incorrectly or for extended amounts of time, Dr Chow recommends taking regular breaks at least every hour and referring to the CAA’s Sit Right checklist.

To encourage Australians to take regular breaks from sitting, the CAA has launched a Sit Right desktop widget that is programmed to pop up on computer screens regularly to provide different break suggestions, as well as a range of stretching exercises people can do at their desks.

The widget and the Sit Right checklist can be downloaded at www.SitRight.com.au

The 2012 WorkCover NSW SafeWorks Awards are now open for nominations, with the agency inviting organisations and individuals who have ‘gone the extra mile to make their workplaces safer’ to apply for awards.

The Awards are an annual event that are designed to reward and promote high standards of workplace health and safety in workplaces around New South Wales.

Entry is open to any NSW business, organisation, individual or not-for-profit operation. There are four categories available, including:

• Best workplace health and safety management system
• Best solution to an identified workplace health and safety issue
• Best workplace health and safety practices in a small business
• Best individual contribution to workplace health and safety

Entries can be made at WorkCover NSW here

Gold mining company Newcrest Mining has been nominated as Australia's most attractive employer for 2012 at the second annual awards of international recruitment firm Randstad.

National broadcaster ABC took second position in the Randstad Awards, while third place went to 2011 winner, Virgin Australia .

The awards were made to companies that were voted the most attractive by more than 7,000 Australians of working age.

Newcrest Mining also took top honours in the mining and natural resources category and Westpac winning the banking and financial services category award.

In addition to being recognised as Australia's second most attractive employer, the ABC also received special recognition for offering the best work-life balance  opportunities, and BHP Billiton was given special acknowledgement for having the strongest leadership and management in the country, according to the 7,000 participants.

Randstad CEO, Fred van der Tang, commended the winning companies on their victories, paying special tribute to Newcrest Mining, which performed particularly well when it came to people looking for a competitive salary and employee benefits, interesting job content, long-term job security, excellent training and development and career progression opportunities.

"With the mining boom in full swing in Australia and companies all searching for people in the same talent pool, it's clearly a competitive environment. Being the country's largest gold producer, a global top 10 gold mining company, and having a strong employer brand,  working for Newcrest Mining is definitely seen as a very appealing and attractive employment option for many Aussies," says van der Tang.

"Over the last two years we've run the Randstad Awards and employer branding research in Australia, companies in the mining and travel industries have consistently performed well and are being perceived as attractive places to work. Testament to their perceived attractiveness, a quarter of the Top 20 most attractive employers in this year's results findings are mining and resources companies with two travel companies also featuring," said Mr van der Tang.

The Queensland Government has announced it will move to scrap the proposed expansion of the Abbot Point multi-cargo facility (MCF) after it has become ‘abundantly apparent’ that industry does not support the move.

“As a government we have a responsibility to ensure that any plans for the port at Abbot Point take into consideration the short and long-term needs of industry,” State Minister for State Development Jeff Seeney said.

The Government has announced it will instead focus on  the development of the T2 and T3 terminals and the extension of the existing T1 facility.

“We consider that expansion at Abbot Point should be incremental. We will proceed with T2 and T3 and will discuss with industry what additional capacity is needed as that expansion is underway,” Mr Seeney said.

Mr Seeney said the recent Federal Government decision to push the approval process for Abbot Point back to the end of 2012 indicated that the T4-T9 and MCF proposals might never pass the regulatory approval process.
 
“The significant scale, complexity and potential impacts of the proposed infrastructure are extensive and it would be many years before the whole of the planned additional capacity would realistically be warranted.”
 
“Our focus on T2 and T3 is a more practical and efficient approach to expansion of infrastructure at Abbot Point,” Mr Seeney said.

The Queensland Coordinator-General has declared the $2.2 billion coal terminal at Yarwun in the Port of Gladstone a ‘significant project’, meaning the project will now undergo an environmental assessment.

State Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Jeff Seeney, has called for the public to submit comments on the project’s draft terms of reference that will form part of its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

Mr Seeney said, that if approved, the project will provide significant benefits for the region and the state as a whole.

“The proposed terminal, to be delivered by Tenement to Terminal Limited (3TL), could export up to 50 million tonnes of coal per year, adding to Gladstone’s planned coal terminal capacity, such as Wiggins Island, Stage 1 of which is now fully committed,” Mr Seeney said.

“If this project goes ahead, it will help facilitate the efficient transport and export of coal, hauling in more dollars for Queensland’s economy.” 

The Tenement to Terminal (3TL) project will include:

• a 14-kilometre dual gauge rail line 
• a balloon loop and coal unloading facilities 
• a coal stockyard 
• two new berths 
• an out-loading wharf, jetty facilities and associated infrastructure. 

The draft terms of reference can be viewed on-line at www.projects.industry.qld.gov.au, or at the following locations from Monday 28 May to close of business on Monday 25 June 2012: 

• Gladstone Regional Council, 101 Goondoon Street, Gladstone 
• Gladstone Regional Library, 39 Goondoon Street, Gladstone 
• Mount Larcom Library, Raglan Street, Mount Larcom 
• National Library, Parkes Place, Canberra 
• State Library of Queensland, Cultural Centre, Stanley Place, South Bank, Brisbane. 

All public submissions should be made in writing and received by the Coordinator-General by 5pm on Monday 25 June 2012. 

Post: The Coordinator-General 
c/- EIS project manager – Yarwun Coal Terminal project 
Significant Projects Coordination 
Office of the Coordinator-General 
PO Box 15517 
City East QLD 4002 

The Victorian Government has announced an agreement that will stop the last discharge of industrial wastewater into the Yarra River.

State Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Ryan Smith, said that Mobil Oil Australia will comply with an EPA Pollution Abatement Notice which requires the petroleum producer to halt its discharges into the Yarra River at Spotswood to the sewer system by June next year.

Mobil has held an EPA license that permitted the company to discharge wastewater produced at Spotswood into the Yarra River since 1973, which allowed the company to discharge 2.5 megalitres of wastewater per day.

"To allow Mobil to continue to discharge into the Yarra River is inconsistent with community expectations and is inconsistent with Victoria's environment protection policies," Mr Smith said.

The EPA has formed part of a new Ministerial taskforce charged with better management of the Yarra River. Other taskforce members include DSE, Melbourne Water, Parks Victoria, Port Phillip and Corangamite CMAs and the Port of Melbourne.

Recent figures published by WorkSafe Victoria show that more than 20 tradespeople are injured on Victorian construction sites per week, costing the industry around $17 million per year in medical costs, wages and other expenses.

Those figures might be significantly higher, according to WorkSafe Inspector Steve Thornely, as sole traders do not make claims under WorkSafe’s injury insurance scheme.

“Housing sites are constantly changing with different trades on site for short periods over the life of a project. As a result workers can face a continual and changing variety of hazards that require continual management,” Mr Thornely said.

“While not all incidents result in injury, we want to highlight the importance of workplace safety on construction sites by encouraging tradies in the domestic construction sector to take part in a competition using their smartphones.”

Mr Thornely said inspectors had addressed more than 1,250 safety breaches on housing constructions sites over the past year. Most were the result of inadequate planning, poor housekeeping and a lack of supervision.

“While many incidents can be easily prevented, serious injuries continue to happen on housing sites, and they often lead to work being stopped,” he said.

“Keeping a construction site safe is everyone’s responsibility. People working in this industry must stay on top of safety issues and not be afraid to speak up if something is unsafe.”

The release of the figures come after WorkSafe launched a new initiative to promote safety on site by getting tradespeople to talk about workplace safety and to do more to look after their employees, themselves and their colleagues.

The Top Tradie initiative will quiz participants on 10 sports and safety related questions, with weekly prizes including adrenalin sports packages, footy tickets and vouchers with the overall winning team getting four tickets to one of Victoria’s premier motorcycle events.

To find out more about the competition and to register for the Top Tradie quiz, visit:www.toptradie.com.au. To be eligible for prizes, entrants must have a Construction Induction Card (or equivalent) and work in housing construction in Victoria.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has urged Fair Work Australia to rule in favour of a proposed increase to the minimum wage.

The workforce tribunal is currently deliberating on a proposed $26 per week increase to minimum wage, which would equate to a 68c increase per hour in the minimum wage from $15.51 to $16.19 an hour.

“The Panel needs to remember that its priority must be to provide and maintain a fair safety net for the one in six workers who are dependent on award wages,” ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver said.

“It must reject any applications by employer groups that would cut the real wages of the low-paid to maximise business profits.”

Despite Government moves to protect those in the lowest income bracket, including moving the tax-free threshold to $18,000, minimum wages have continued to fall behind overall wages growth.

The Victorian Government has released modelling that it says shows that the health of the Murray River can be secured using significantly less water for environmental flow.

State Water Minister Peter Walsh said data provided by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority showed that environmental damage would be minimal if consumptive water use was reduced by 2100 gigalitres instead of the proposed 2750 gigalitres.

"The modelling shows very little environmental gain is achieved by the extra cuts to consumptive water," Mr Walsh said.

"The health of the Murray, including the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth can be secured by using less water than what has been proposed by the draft Basin Plan.

"This would leave more water for food production and provide a future for the hundreds of communities that rely on the Murray for their livelihoods.

"It would give the Commonwealth an extra $1.3 billion which could be invested in infrastructure works to improve the management of environmental flows.”
 

"This modelling is clear evidence that the money the Commonwealth plans to use to purchase more water to make up the 2750 gigalitres should instead be invested in works to improve the river's management," Mr Walsh said.

The ACT Greens have released the results of their ACT Workplace Bullying Survey, finding that workplace bullying is rife in most workplaces.

The key findings of the survey are:

• 75% of the 135 respondents said they had experienced workplace bullying and 63% of these incidents occurred in the last 12 months;
• 79% of respondents said they had witnessed bullying in the workplace;
• Almost half of all incidents went unreported;
•  85% of people who reported bullying incidents said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the response they received.

“The survey results not only show that bullying remains a real problem in ACT workplaces, but that bullying incidents commonly go unreported. People who do report bulling incidents are frequently dissatisfied with the response they receive,” said Greens Industrial Relations spokesperson, Amanda Bresnan.

The report found that 82 per cent of all respondents want WorkSafe ACT to employ inspectors who specialise in workplace bullying.

“Bullying is an issue that is seriously affecting people’s health and wellbeing, and costing billions of dollars a year in lost productivity. We’ll continue to pursue this issue because we know there are significant positive gains to be made,” Ms Bresnan concluded.

John Holland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leighton, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Isaac Plains Coal Management group to extend its existing mining services contract.

The agreement, estimated to be worth around $200 million, will include clearing, topsoil stripping, drill and blast, truck excavator waste removal, coal mining, rejects haulage, dump profiling and rehabilitation work. Approximately 3.6 million ROM tonnes of coal will be moved and pass through the mine over the next 12 months.

Leighton Holdings’ CEO, Hamish Tyrwhitt, said that the MoU reflects the positive outlook the company has on its mining business.

“Contract mining offers stable earnings and opportunities for growth, fuelled by continued high demand from Asia for coal and other minerals,” said Mr Tyrwhitt.

The new contract will be finalised in the coming months.

Qantas has announced it has completed a review of its heavy aircraft maintenance and engineering operations in Australia, concluding it will consolidate all heavy maintenance work into Brisbane and Avalon, with all such work finishing at Tullamarine by August.

The announcement is expected to see over 500 positions cut as a result of the company’s restructure, with 422 positions lost at Tullamarine, and 113 positions at Avalon.

“Like the manufacturing industry, aviation maintenance is a labour and capital intensive sector. Our cost base in heavy maintenance is 30 per cent per cent higher than that of our competitors – we must close this gap to secure Qantas’ future viability and success,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said.

“Qantas has invested heavily over the past 10 years in new aircraft that are more advanced, more efficient, attractive to our customers and require less maintenance, less often. But we cannot take advantage of this new generation of aircraft if we continue to do heavy maintenance in the same way we did 10 years ago.”

The airline defended its decision to cut down its operations, saying that there is not currently enough heavy maintenance work to necessitate three separate facilities, and that new technology and modern aircraft has contributed to a further 60 per cent reduction in maintenance requirements over the next seven years.

As a result of the restructure, heavy maintenance on Boeing 737 aircraft will move from Tullamarine and be maintained in Brisbane along with B767 aircraft and Airbus A330s. The base at Avalon will continue to maintain Boeing 747s. It will also conduct some work on B737s and B767s, some aircraft reconfiguration work and remain available for one-off maintenace tasks.

The airline anticipates the costs of the restructure, as well as redundancies, will cost an estimated $50 million. 

Recent data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has found that the gender pay disparity continues to persist in Australia, with women, on average, earning 17.4 per cent less than their male counterparts.

The pay gap has remained almost unchained for two decades, with Western Australia having the dubious honour of possessing the largest inequality in pay of 25.8 per cent.

The average weekly earnings of full-time women in the workforce is $1,186.90 per week, $250.50 per week less than their male counterparts who were recorded an average wage of $1,437.40 per week. Over the course of a year, this discrepancy adds up to an average $13,036 per year.

"The lack of progress in closing the gender pay gap means the case for concerted action on pay equity is clear. It is intolerable to think that the career and financial prospects of a girl born today will be less than those of a boy,” Director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) Helen Conway said.

"When we consider the impact of the gender pay gap on women's superannuation, it is little wonder that women are two and a half times more likely to live in poverty in their old age than men."

Ms Conway said the disparity is a powerful disincentive for women in the workforce, and that if it persists; the Australian economy will be deprived of valuable skill sets. Ms Conway urged industries to rectify the issue to ensure productivity levels remain high and the skills shortage is offset.

"Organisations can start by doing a payroll analysis to determine if they have a gender pay gap. They can ask themselves whether working flexibly in their organisation limits a person's career. They can also examine whether their workplaces contain stereotypes and embedded bias in job design, evaluation and remuneration processes," Ms Conway said.

The full set of statistics can be found here

The Federal Government has announced an extra $37 million in funding for Victorian government schools to further develop access and classroom support for students with disabilities.

Funded under the Government’s More Support for Students with Disabilities program, the announcement brings the total funding under the program to $48.7 million.

“This funding, part of our overall $200 million national initiative, will provide much-needed specialised support and assistance to thousands of students in government schools across Victoria,” Parliamentary Secretary for School Education Senator Jacinta Collins said.

Under the More Support for Students with Disabilities initiative, Victorian government schools will receive:

• $2.7 million to provide assistive technology to students with visual impairments, as well as deaf captioning technology to improve access to programs for students with hearing impairments;
• $2 million to develop support centres which provide professional expertise, support and targeted consultation for teachers of students with hearing impairments, autism and Down syndrome;
• $17.5 million to provide professional learning programs, including a program for specialist school leadership to help schools better support the needs of students with extreme and challenging behaviour;
• $7.9 million to support teachers better meet the needs of students with disability, including Autism teacher coaches to provide professional support to schools with high numbers of students with autism.

The Federal Government has announced $99.1 million over two years to ensure training placement numbers are maintained.

The funding, announced by Training and Workforce Development Minister Peter Collier, comes as the State faces a looming skills shortage of up to 76,000 workers by 2015.

“The Government’s primary priority to address looming skills shortages is training West Australians. In 2012-13 we will roll out a range of initiatives to ensure West Australians continue to have the opportunity to benefit from the State’s ongoing economic growth,” Mr Collier said.

Mr Collier also announced an additional $10million would be provided to upgrade metropolitan State Training Provider campuses to provide essential upgrades to electrical, mechanical and hydraulic services as well as building improvements.

The State Government has also instigated a series of complementary initiatives to address skills shortages, including:

• changes to market testing requirements for the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme, making it easier for employers to fill persistent job vacancies through streamlined migration arrangements 
• setting up a dedicated web portal promoting WA as a destination of choice for potential skilled migrants and their families
• establishing Aboriginal Workforce Development Centres in Broome, Geraldton, Bunbury, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Perth.

The Federal Government has announced it will hold bilateral meetings with the United States to develop a ‘prioritised’ work program’ to further cyber security cooporation.

“The new and emerging challenges of a digital economy were the subject of recent talks in Canberra between myself and Secretary Napolitano. And yesterday in Washington we built upon those discussions,” Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said.

“Countries everywhere are increasingly reliant on critical infrastructure such as telecommunications, which enables ‘online’ activities that contribute to global commerce and trade and play an increasingly important role in national security.

“Both Australia and United States recognise the considerable benefits delivered by these activities, but also the challenges of managing cyber security and resilience to counter malicious activity.

“This statement will lead to increased collaboration between the two countries on critical infrastructure, particularly digital control systems.”

Ms Roxon outlined the following initiatives and objectives:

• Enhanced situational awareness and information sharing on operational cyber security issues between, and among national cyber incident response teams.
• Collaborating and exchanging cyber security best practices for information technology and industrial control systems.
• The creation of opportunities for training and education, and further cooperation in cyber exercises.

The Federal Government has announced that seven Regional Development Australia (RDA) committees have received funding to assist in the development of strategies for the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in their communities.

$200,000 has been awarded to the committees for Stage One and Stage Two of the rollout to conduct development and implementation strategy studies.

"One of the greatest enablers of regional economic diversification, growth and service delivery is the NBN," Regional Development Australia Minister Simon Crean said.

"It will transform the way regional businesses operate, how health services are delivered and how regional students access educational and career opportunities.

"That is why when I visit the regions, people aren't asking why we're investing in the NBN - they're asking when and how they can access it."

The seven RDA committees to be awarded funding are:

• RDA Mid West Gascoyne (WA) - $30,000 to develop a regional digital plan and connected implementation strategies and projects.
• RDA Sydney (NSW) - $17,500 to conduct a Community e-Care Workshop.
• RDA Northern Inland (NSW) - $33,000 to conduct regional information sessions, and develop stakeholder implementation strategies and an integrated digital regional plan.
• RDA Northern Melbourne (VIC) - $33,500 to conduct a project on the present use of ICT by small-to-medium sized businesses.
• RDA Darling Downs and South West (QLD) - $31,000 to establish a local NBN demonstration booth and develop a local government NBN awareness and preparedness project.
• RDA Ipswich and West Moreton (QLD) - $30,000 to support a regional digital economy forum and the development of a 10 year digital economy strategy.
• RDA Brisbane City (QLD) - $25,000 to conduct a survey of not-for-profit organisations, organise a digital expo and publish findings.

The Northern Territory Government has announced construction has started on the $34 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

Expected to create over 4,000 jobs, the project is the combined effort of Japanese company INPEX and French energy giant Total.

 “The first contract awarded by JKC went to locally based companies Macmahon and John Holland - the $340 million site development civil works contract is the biggest contract awarded in the Territory’s history to date,” Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson said.

“From this massive contract alone, the greatest proportion of work by Macmahon and John Holland will be undertaken through their local supply chain - this means opportunities for smaller local business and more jobs for Territorians.”

“The project will help establish Darwin as the gas capital of northern Australia - we offer investors unique opportunities including our Marine Supply Base, proximity to Asia, deep sea port, our skilled and flexible workforce and capital city facilities.”

Optus has announced it has signed a $15 million five-year contract with the New South Wales Government’s Department of Education and Communities to deliver an enhanced satellite service to improve long distance learning for the state’s most remote students.

The service will provide improved internet access and support a range of new services, such as two-way video conferencing and interactive media applications.

As part of the deal, Optus will significantly upgrade the existing satellite technology to double the amount of satellite bandwidth available to remote schools.

“The introduction of the enhanced satellite service will provide our most isolated schools and students with opportunities to connect and collaborate like never before. It will give them a chance to share in the educational benefits of contemporary web-based tools and give us a chance to close the gap that currently exists between the city and the bush,” NSW Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli said.

Paul Sheridan, Director of Optus Satellite said, “We’re proud of our role in helping to make a difference to the learning experience of students in the most remote communities across Australia via our satellite capabilities.