This is the submission of the Business Council of Australia to the inquiry of the New South Wales Legislative Council Portfolio Committee No 1 Premier and Finance into the Workers Compensation Amendment Bill 2021 (the Bill).

The Bill will repeal amendments that were made to the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (the Act) under emergency COVID-19 legislation passed by the New South Wales Parliament in May 2020.

Whilst the reasons for the amendments during the initial COVID-19 lockdown were understandable, with the passage of time we now have more understanding of the virus. We now know that there is no evidence to suggest that most individuals are more likely to contract the virus in their workplace than elsewhere. As the level of contact tracing is reduced, it will become impossible for employers to prove where an individual contracted the virus.

Read the submission here.