Western Australian Numbered Acts

WORKERS COMPENSATION AND INJURY MANAGEMENT ACT 2023 (NO. 21 OF 2023) - SECT 268

268 .         Payment of compensation for dust disease or prescribed disease when insurer unknown or has ceased operation

        (1)         In this section —

        prescribed disease means a disease that is a prescribed disease under section 10(1).

        (2)         If a worker is entitled to compensation from an employer in respect of an injury by disease that is a dust disease or prescribed disease but the identity of the employer’s insurer, if any, is not known or the employer’s insurer has ceased to operate in Australia, an arbitrator may order WorkCover WA to pay compensation to the worker from the DI Fund.

        (3)         The amount of compensation payable to the worker must be paid within 30 days after the employer has accepted (or is taken to have accepted) or an arbitrator has determined that the employer is liable to pay the compensation.

        (4)         If the identity of the insurer is ascertained after payment has been made under this section, WorkCover WA may sue for and recover the amount paid from the insurer as a debt to the extent that the insured employer could have sued for and recovered that amount under the insurance policy.

        (5)         This section does not apply to an entitlement to compensation from an employer in respect of an injury that is a liability in respect of employment when the employer was a self-insurer.