VPRS 10263 Workers Compensation Agreements, Awards and Determinations

Full description

This series comprises workers compensation agreements, awards and determinations files which document the settlement/payment of claims for compensation to workers injured at work.

The series commenced in 1915 with the proclamation of the Workers Compensation Act 1914 (No.2496) and ended in 1992 with the abolition of the Accident Compensation Tribunal.

A worker's compensation file was raised for every settlement of claim by way of agreement between an employer and an employee or by way of arbitration. The agencies responsible for the administration of the function were the County Courts including the Melbourne County Court (VA 686) 1915-1938, the Workers Compensation Board (VA 876) 1938-1985 and the Accident Compensation Tribunal (VA 2778) 1985-1992.

Procedure

If a claim for compensation were not settled by an agreement between an employer and an employee, it was settled by arbitration by a Judge of the County Court or by a police magistrate acting as an arbitrator during the period 1915 to 1938, by the Workers Compensation Board between 1938 and 1985 and by the Accident Compensation Tribunal from 1985 to 1992.

To be legally enforceable every settlement of claim by way of agreement/arbitration was required to be registered in the County Courts during the period 1915-1938 and with the Workers Compensation Board from 1938 to 1985.

The amount of compensation to be paid to a worker was paid by the employer/insurer. However, in cases where the worker had died in an industrial accident or where the worker was crippled, the money was paid to the court (from 1915 to 1938) and to the Board (from 1938 to 1985) for subsequent payment to the worker/dependants.

The files contain documents which included

- the memo of agreement
- affidavits
- correspondence with the claimant
- award pronounced (in the case of a disputed claim)
- payments made to the court by the employer for payment to the worker or his dependants in cases where the worker had been crippled or died in an industrial accident.

The payment record for such cases does not form part of the files created by the Workers Compensation Board (1938-1985). It appears that a separate class of records, Beneficiaries of Funds Ledger Cards (1938-1984) and Managed Fund Files (presumably from 1985) was created to document the payment of compensation money to workers or their dependants in the event of death. The Beneficiaries of Funds Ledger Cards for the period 1958-1984 were authorised for destruction by the Keeper of Public Records in 1987 after being microfilmed.


1915-1938 Files were created under an annual single number system within each County Court.
1938-1992 created under an annual single number system

As part of the recordkeeping system Registers and Indexes were created. The Registers were created to register all claims for compensation and to allocate numbers to files raised for each compensation case.

During the period 1915-1938 each County Court created separate registers.

The registers created by the County Courts and the Workers Compensation Board are in the custody of the County Court (as at 1994).

Index

An alphabetical index by the surname of the worker is in the custody of the Melbourne County Court (as at 1994). The extant volumes presumably provide access to files created from 1950's. If indexes were created prior to 1950's, they have not been located.

Files in Custody

The files in custody as at June 1994 mainly relate to cases which were finalised before 1981. The files relating to completed actions since 1981 have been microfilmed prior to destruction in accordance with the provisions of the PRO standard 89/4, Disposal Schedule for the Accident Compensation Tribunal. See VPRS 8371 for the microfilm copy of cases finalised after 1981.

Permanent Sample to be Retained

Under the provisions of PRO standard 89/4, Disposal Schedule for the Accident Compensation Tribunal: Compensation Files, these files have been sentenced as temporary records eligible for destruction twenty-five years after the finalisation of cases. A permanent sample is to be retained to illustrate and document how the workers compensation settlement scheme was administered.

The former T1 consignment containing 37 boxes has been retained as it represents the early phase of the function. It is now the P1 consignment.

In addition a sample of 5 files per year will be taken from each of the other three consignments prior to their destruction.