Workers’ Compensation (Dust Diseases) Act 1942

In this section prescribed engagement means engagement (whether before or after the commencement of Part 2 of the Workers’ Compensation (Dust Diseases) Amendment Act 1967) in an occupation—

as an employee within the meaning of the Commonwealth Employees Compensation Act 1930 of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, as amended by subsequent Acts of that Parliament, or

under a contract of service or apprenticeship outside New South Wales.

This subsection applies to any person who has received or is receiving compensation under any Act or ordinance of the Commonwealth of Australia or any State (other than New South Wales) or Territory of the Commonwealth of Australia or under any law of any country outside the Commonwealth of Australia in respect of—

the person’s disablement for work from a dust disease contracted in the course of a prescribed engagement, or

the death of another person from a dust disease contracted in the course of a prescribed engagement.

Subject to this section, but notwithstanding anything elsewhere contained in this Act, no person to whom this subsection applies shall, if the person or, as the case may be, the person in respect of whose death the person has received or is receiving compensation as aforesaid was not after the cessation of the person’s prescribed engagement engaged as a worker in an occupation to the nature of which the disease was due, be entitled to compensation from the Fund for that part of the person’s disablement in respect of which the person has so received or is so receiving compensation, or for the death from the disease of that other person, as the case may be.

Every person in receipt of or claiming compensation from the Fund in respect of his or her total or partial disablement for work from a dust disease or the death of another person from a dust disease shall, on receiving any compensation under an Act (other than this Act), ordinance or other law referred to in subsection (2) in respect of his or her total or partial disablement for work from the disease or the death from the disease of that other person, as the case may be, or on being notified of his or her entitlement to any compensation in respect of such disablement or death by the person, authority or body who or which would be liable under such Act, ordinance or law to pay the same, inform the Authority of such receipt or notification within 7 days thereafter and if the person does not do so shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and be liable to a penalty not exceeding 1 penalty unit.

The Authority may, if it is of the opinion that any person (in this subsection called the claimant) claiming or receiving compensation from the Fund in respect of the person’s total or partial disablement for work from a dust disease is or may be entitled to other compensation in respect of that disablement or death, as the case may be, require the claimant to take all appropriate and reasonable steps to claim and recover such other compensation and may, if it is satisfied that the claimant having been so required has not complied with such requirement, make an order reducing any compensation payable to the person from the Fund in respect of such disablement or death by such amount or weekly amounts as the Authority may in its discretion determine, not exceeding the amount or amounts the person’s entitlement to which would in the opinion of the Authority be divested by subsection (2) if the person had received or were receiving that other compensation, and may at any time rescind any such order. While any such order remains in force the compensation payable to the claimant in respect of such disablement or death, as the case may be, shall, subject to this section but notwithstanding anything elsewhere contained in this Act, be reduced by the amount or amounts specified in the order.

No person shall be liable by virtue of any provisions of this section to repay any money paid from the Fund.