South Australian Employment Tribunal

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright) (14:29): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations. Minister, how is the government working to ensure just and timely dispute resolution outcomes for workers compensation matters?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:29): Can I thank the honourable member for her question. This is a very important area, and something that the government has been very keen to make progress on.

On 1 July last year, the South Australian Employment Tribunal opened its doors. This was opened with the objective of providing resolution of disputes through high quality processes, the avoidance of formality and technicality as far as possible and the use of mediation and alternative dispute resolution procedures wherever appropriate.

Consistent with its objectives, the South Australian Employment Tribunal is processing applications and resolving disputes as quickly as it possibly can whilst achieving just outcomes for the parties involved. Since it opened on 1 July last year, the employment tribunal has already resolved 70 per cent of the 3,385 applications it has received. Matters are now referred to conciliation within two business days of an application being lodged, which is very swift indeed compared to other jurisdictions.

A face-to-face initial directions hearing is held within three weeks of lodgement. The mean time for lodgement to resolution at conciliation is just nine weeks, compared to the old workers compensation tribunal's 28 weeks. For matters referred to a full hearing, the mean time from lodgement to decision is 25 weeks, compared to 48 weeks under the old system.

These significant reductions in time are being achieved while maintaining the quality of the processes and the justness of the outcome. I can also report that there has been a positive response from practitioners who were frustrated with the delays in the old tribunal and who are now seeing the benefits—

Ms Chapman: They are all the same people.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I will tell you a little bit more about that. The practitioners who were appearing before the old system are now being very positive about the benefits of the new system. It is true—

Ms Chapman: Same judges!

The Hon. J.R. RAU: —that there are some people who were members of the old tribunal and who are members of the new tribunal. The important thing is the rules of the way the tribunal operates and the whole structure of the employment tribunal are completely different to the old structure, which is why we are seeing—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: It's true. And, in addition to that, we appointed two new deputy presidents—deputy presidents Calligeros and Dolphin—both of whom have done a sensational job in really chewing through the work. These improvements in the system not only provide a positive benefit to workers, they also provide certainty and reduced costs to business. I am very pleased to congratulate all those people at the employment tribunal for their success and their commitment, and I wish them all the best in continuing that in the future.