AMA submission to Comcare on the draft guide for rehabilitation assessments and requiring examinations
The draft Guide for rehabilitation assessments and requiring examinations was developed following media reports critical of Comcare’s decision making in relation to rehabilitation assessments and requiring examinations. Once the guide is approved by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, rehabilitation providers governed by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act) will be required to comply with it.
The objective of the guide, as stated under subsection 57A(2) of the SRC Act, is to ‘support ethical, transparent and accountable decision making’ under subsections 36(1), 36(3) and 57(1) of that Act, ‘including appropriate consideration of the employee’s personal circumstances’.
The AMA’s submission on the draft guide argues that to meet its stated purpose, some sections of the guide require modification or the inclusion of additional provisions before it is approved by the Minister.
Amongst the many recommendations made in this submission, key changes requested by the AMA include:
- Providing the employee (claimant) with more time to put forward his or her views on appropriate rehabilitation assessors or medical examiners before the rehabilitation authority makes a decision on who is to conduct the relevant assessment or examination
- Providing the employee’s treating medical practitioner with more time to provide the rehabilitation authority a written opinion about the employee’s capacity to undergo a rehabilitation program, or a report on the employee’s medical condition and personal circumstances, before the rehabilitation authority decides whether to appoint its own rehabilitation assessors or medical examiners to provide such opinions/reports.
