AGY-6832 | SafeWork NSW

Full description

SafeWork NSW was established on 1 September 2015 by the State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015 (Act No.19, 2015), assuming a number of functions exercised by the WorkCover Authority, which was abolished under the Act. (1)

The changes to the workers compensation system arose from the Government's desire to improve the scheme’s financial position and remove perceived conflicts of interest by separating its regulatory and operational functions. (2) This need for structural separation had previously been identified in a review of the functions of the WorkCover Authority by the Legislative Council's Standing Committee on Law and Justice. (3) SafeWork NSW was one of three organisations constituted under the Act to assume the regulatory and insurance functions of the WorkCover Authority (4), taking on regulatory functions exercised under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Act No.10, 2011), the Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Act 2008 (Act No.95, 2008), the Explosives Act 2003 Act No.39, 2003) and the Rural Workers Accommodation Act 1969 (Act No.34, 1969). (5)

As the state's workplace health and safety regulator, the functions of SafeWork NSW under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 included:
- advising and making recommendations to the Minister and reporting on the operation and effectiveness of the Act,
- monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Act,
- providing advice and information on work health and safety to duty holders under the Act and to the community,
- collecting, analysing and publishing statistics relating to work health and safety,
- fostering a co-operative, consultative relationship between duty holders and the persons to whom they owe duties and their representatives in relation to work health and safety matters,
- promoting and supporting education and training on matters relating to work health and safety,
- engaging in, promoting and co-ordinating the sharing of information to achieve the object of the Act, including the sharing of information with a corresponding regulator, and
- conducting and defending proceedings under the Act before a court or tribunal. (6)

SafeWork was a division of the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, contained within the functional area of Better Regulation. (7)

When the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation was abolished on 1 July 2019 Safework NSW was transferred to the new Department of Customer Service. (8)

Endnotes
1. Schedule 14 of the State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015 amended the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. Under Schedule 2 of the amended Act, the Secretary of the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation was, as the regulator under the Act, to be known as SafeWork NSW.
2. Media Release: "$1bn Insurance Reform Package Puts the Customer at the Centre", Minister for Finance, Services and Property, 4 August 2015 http://www.maa.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/30377/20150804-Med-Rel-Insurance-Reform.pdf (accessed 9 December 2015).
3. NSW Legislative Council - Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Review of the exercise of the functions of the WorkCover Authority, 17 September 2014 http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/b1ca15445d2e3779ca257d560003d91b/$FILE/Final%20Report%20-%20Report%20No.%2054%20-%2017%20September.pdf (accessed 9 December 2015).
4. WorkCover NSW, About us http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/about-us/about-workcover (accessed 9 December 2015).
5. State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015, Sch.4, s.3 (b) (c).
6. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Act No.10, 2011), s.152.
7. Finance Services and Innovation, Structure and Functions https://www.finance.nsw.gov.au/about-us/our-structure-and-functions (accessed 11 December 2015).
8. Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Public Service Agencies) Order 2019 (2019 No 159), cl. 7; NSW Legislation Website 2 April 2019.