Workers Compensation Act 1987

An employer shall keep correct records of—

all wages paid to workers employed by the employer,

the trade, occupation or calling of each such worker, and

such other matters relating to those wages (or otherwise relevant to the calculation of premiums payable under policies of insurance) as may be prescribed by the regulations.

An employer shall retain any such record in good order and condition for at least 5 years after the last entry was made in the record.

If the regulations so provide, any such record shall be kept in such manner as may be specified in the regulations.

Any such record may be combined with any record of wages required to be kept by an employer by or under any other Act. However, it is not to be combined in such a manner as would prevent its disclosure under any law.

The Authority may order an employer to do either or both of the following—

to supply to the Authority, within the time specified in the order, a full and correct statement of the information required to be recorded by the employer under subsection (1) during a period so specified (being a period during which the record is required to be kept under this section), or

to make available, at such time and at such place as is specified in the order, for inspection by a specified person authorised by the Authority, the records required to be kept by the employer under this section during a period so specified (being a period during which the record is required to be kept under this section), or

to make available, at such time and at such place as is specified in the order, for inspection by a specified person authorised by the Authority, records of a specified kind in the possession of the employer that are relevant to the calculation of premiums payable under policies of insurance or to the determination of whether the employer or another employer is required to obtain a policy of insurance or has paid the correct premium for a policy of insurance.

The Authority may provide information supplied to the Authority by an employer under subsection (5) (a) to any insurer for the purpose of assisting the insurer to determine whether the correct premium has been paid under a policy of insurance issued by the insurer.

The Authority may, by an order under subsection (5), require information to be supplied to, or made available for inspection by, an insurer who has issued a policy of insurance to the employer and who requests the Authority to make the order for the purpose of determining whether the correct premium has been paid under the policy.

The Authority may order that a person make available, at a time and place specified in the order, for inspection by a person authorised by the Authority or (at the request of the insurer) by an insurer, any records in the person’s possession relating to any contract (however described) under which the person has made payments to any other person (whether or not an individual) for the performance of work by that other person during such period (subject to subsection (6AA), not exceeding 3 years after the work was performed) as is specified in the order. The order need not name or otherwise identify the person to whom those payments have been made.

However, if the Authority is of the opinion that there has been a serious failure to comply with the requirements of this Act by the person to whom the order is to be given, the period specified in the order (or a further order) may be a period not exceeding 5 years after the work concerned was performed.

An order under subsection (6A) may be made only for the purpose of establishing whether a person is required to obtain a policy of insurance under this Act or for the purpose of determining whether the correct premium has been paid under a policy of insurance.

A person authorised under subsection (5) (b), (5) (c), (6) or (6A) may inspect the records in accordance with the terms of the order and make copies of, or take extracts from, those records.

A person on whom an order is served under this section—

must comply with the order, and

must not wilfully obstruct or delay an authorised person when exercising any power under subsection (7).

In this section—

includes salary, overtime, shift and other allowances, over-award payments, bonuses, commissions, payments to working directors (including payments as directors’ fees), payments for public and annual holidays (including loadings), payments for sick leave, value of board and lodging provided by the employer for the worker and any other consideration in money or money’s worth given to the worker under a contract of service or a training contract,

includes payment (whether by way of commission, fee, reward or otherwise) under a contract (whether referred to as a contract, agreement, arrangement or engagement) by reason of which the person paid is deemed by Schedule 1 to the 1998 Act to be a worker, after deducting such amount for costs necessarily incurred by that person in performing that contract as may be agreed on or, in default of agreement, as may be determined by the Authority, and

includes payments for long service leave (including a lump sum payment instead of long service leave and any payment under the Building and Construction Industry Long Service Payments Act 1986, the Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 2024 or the Contract Cleaning Industry (Portable Long Service Leave Scheme) Act 2010), and

includes a payment made in consequence of the retirement from, or termination of, any office or employment of a worker, being—

a lump sum payment paid before or after that retirement or termination in respect of unused annual leave, or unused annual leave and a bonus, loading or other additional payment relating to that leave, or

an amount paid in respect of unused long service leave, or

an amount paid in respect of unused sick leave, and

includes the amount that is the employer’s fringe benefits taxable amount (within the meaning of the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 of the Commonwealth) in respect of fringe benefits payable to the worker, and

includes a superannuation benefit, being money paid or payable by the employer in respect of the worker—

to or as a superannuation fund within the meaning of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 of the Commonwealth, or

as a superannuation guarantee charge within the meaning of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 of the Commonwealth, or

to or as any other form of superannuation, provident or retirement fund or scheme, including a wholly or partly unfunded fund or scheme, and

includes a distribution to a worker as beneficiary under a trust that is required to be included as wages by section 174AA, and

does not include—

(Repealed)

directors’ fees (except to the extent that those fees are payable to working directors and included as wages under paragraph (a)), or

compensation under this Act, or

(Repealed)

any GST component in a payment to a worker.

A reference to the Authority in this section includes a reference to the Nominal Insurer. However, an order by the Nominal Insurer under this section may only require information that is necessary for the Nominal Insurer to deal with a claim.