Western Australian Numbered Acts

WORKERS COMPENSATION AND INJURY MANAGEMENT ACT 2023 (NO. 21 OF 2023) - SECT 11

11 .         Diseases of firefighters taken to be from employment

        (1)         In this section —

        firefighter disease means a disease that is —

            (a)         listed in column 1 of the Table; or

            (b)         a cancer prescribed by the regulations to be a firefighter disease;

        firefighting employment means employment by or under the Crown in right of the State a substantial part of the duties of which consists of firefighting duties, being employment that is —

            (a)         covered by an industrial instrument, as defined in section 57(1), that applies to firefighting or by an agreement that wholly or partly regulates the terms or conditions of employment as a firefighter; or

            (b)         prescribed by the regulations to be firefighting employment;

        hazardous fire means —

            (a)         a fire in a building; or

            (b)         a fire in a vehicle, whether designed to move under its own power or to be towed and whether or not still movable; or

            (c)         a fire involving non-organic refuse or rubbish created by humans; or

            (d)         a fire that is prescribed by the regulations to be a hazardous fire;

        hazardous firefighting employment , in relation to a worker, means firefighting employment during which the worker —

            (a)         is engaged as a member or officer of a permanent fire brigade, as defined in the Fire Brigades Act 1942 section 4(1); or

            (b)         attends hazardous fires at a rate at least equivalent to the rate of 5 hazardous fires per year;

        qualifying period means —

            (a)         for a disease listed in column 1 of the Table — the qualifying period specified for that disease in column 2 of the Table; and

            (b)         for a cancer prescribed by the regulations to be a firefighter disease — the qualifying period prescribed by the regulations for that cancer.

Table

Item	Column 1 Disease	Column 2 Qualifying period
1.	Primary site brain cancer	5 years
2.	Primary site bladder cancer	15 years
3.	Primary site kidney cancer	15 years
4.	Primary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma	15 years
5.	Primary leukaemia	5 years
6.	Primary site breast cancer	10 years
7.	Primary site testicular cancer	10 years
8.	Multiple myeloma	15 years
9.	Primary site prostate cancer	15 years
10.	Primary site ureter cancer	15 years
11.	Primary site colorectal cancer	15 years
12.	Primary site oesophageal cancer	15 years

        (2)         An injury by a firefighter disease suffered by a worker is taken to be from firefighting employment in which the worker was engaged if all of the requirements for the application of this section to the injury as specified in subsection (3) are satisfied, unless the employer proves that the injury was not from that employment.

        Note for this subsection:

                Section 6 determines whether an injury by a disease is from employment. An employer can prove that the injury was not from employment by proving that —

            (a)         it was not suffered in the course of the employment; or

            (b)         the employment did not contribute to a significant degree to the injury.

        (3)         The requirements for the application of this section to an injury by a firefighter disease suffered by a worker are as follows —

            (a)         when the injury is suffered the worker (whether or not still in firefighting employment) has been in firefighting employment for at least a period of, or periods in aggregate amounting to, the qualifying period for the disease;

            (b)         the employer is satisfied that when the injury is suffered the worker has been in hazardous firefighting employment for at least a period of, or periods in aggregate amounting to, the lesser of the following —

                  (i)         5 years;

                  (ii)         the qualifying period for the disease.

        (4)         In the case of a cancer prescribed by the regulations to be a firefighter disease for the purposes of this section —

            (a)         this section does not apply to an injury by the firefighter disease suffered by a worker before the day specified in the regulations as the day on and after which this section applies to the injury; and

            (b)         the regulations may impose other conditions or limitations on the operation of this section.

        (5)         The day on which a worker’s injury by a firefighter disease is taken to have been suffered is the earlier of the following —

            (a)         the day on which the worker becomes totally or partially incapacitated for work by reason of the injury;

            (b)         the day on which the injury is first diagnosed by a medical practitioner.