Office of Industrial Relations

Last updated
Office of Industrial Relations
Agency overview
Jurisdiction The State of Queensland
Minister responsible
  • Grace Grace, Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations
Child agencies
  • Workplace Health and Safety Queensland
  • The Workers' Compensation Regulator
  • Electrical Safety Office
Website www.worksafe.qld.gov.au

The Office of Industrial Relations is a Queensland Government agency with responsibility for coordination and regulation of workplace health and safety, electrical safety, and workers' compensation regulation in the state of Queensland, Australia. The agency coordinates administration of the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, The Workers' Compensation Regulator, and the Electrical Safety Office. [1]

Government of Queensland state government of Queensland, Australia

The Government of Queensland, also referred to as the Queensland Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended from time to time. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, Queensland has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, Queensland ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth. Key state government offices are located at 1 William Street in the Brisbane central business district.

A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types. Although usage differs, a government agency is normally distinct both from a department or ministry, and other types of public body established by government. The functions of an agency are normally executive in character, since different types of organizations are most often constituted in an advisory role—this distinction is often blurred in practice however.

Workers compensation insurance for injuries during employment, in exchange for relinquishing the right to sue the employer

Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue their employer for the tort of negligence. The trade-off between assured, limited coverage and lack of recourse outside the worker compensation system is known as "the compensation bargain". One of the problems that the compensation bargain solved is the problem of employers becoming insolvent as a result of high damage awards. The system of collective liability was created to prevent that, and thus to ensure security of compensation to the workers. Individual immunity is the necessary corollary to collective liability.

Contents

The agency is responsible to the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, presently the Hon. Grace Grace.

Grace Grace Australian politician

Ignazia Graziella Grace, usually known as Grace Grace is an Australian politician who represents the electoral district of McConnel in the Queensland Legislative Assembly. She is a member of the Labor Party.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland

Workers' Compensation Regulator

Electrical Safety Office

The Electrical Safety Act 2002 established the Electrical Safety Board, a separate statutory authority, supported by the Electrical Safety Office (ESO). The Board gives advice and makes recommendations to the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations about policies, strategies and legislative arrangements for electrical safety. [2]

A statutory authority is a body set up by law which is authorised to enact legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state. They are typically found in countries which are governed by a British style of parliamentary democracy such as the UK and British Commonwealth countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India. They are also found in Israel and elsewhere. In Britain, many such bodies are termed QUANGOs because of their semi-autonomous nature.

The new legislation had a measurable impact on serious electrical injuries and fatalities from people coming into contact. Queensland's five-year average of electrical fatalities per million of population has declined from 3.6 in 2001 to just 1.24 as at 30 June 2005 — well below Australia's national average.

In the period July 1996 to June 2002, 65 fatalities were reported. In the three years following, there were only ten.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "WorkSafe Queensland". Queensland Government. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "About the Electrical Safety Office". WorkSafe Queensland. Queensland Government. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
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