Estimates Replies

ReturnToWorkSA

In reply to Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (28 July 2016). (Estimates Committee B)

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): I have been provided the following advice:

Under the Return to Work Act 2014 (‘the Act’) an injured worker is entitled to be compensated for the necessary costs of medical and other services reasonably incurred by them as a result of their work injury.

The amount to be compensated may be either in accordance with a scale of charges I publish as the Minister for Industrial Relations under section 33 of the Act or, if the service is not covered by the scale of charges, to the extent of a reasonable amount for the provision of the service.

The Act also provides that the scale of charges for services provided by a public hospital can be based on the government charges for the relevant service. For 2016-17 I have, upon the recommendation of ReturnToWorkSA, published a separate scale of charges for services provided by public hospitals.

The Minister for Health publishes in the Government Gazette different scales of charges for compensable patients and Medicare patients under the Health Care Act 2008.

It is an offence under subsection 33(16) of the Act for a person who provides a service for an injured worker, knowing the worker to be entitled to compensation for the service under the Act, to charge for the service an amount exceeding the amount allowed under the scale of charges.