WORKCOVER CORPORATION

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:04): I seek leave to make an explanation prior to directing a question to the Leader of the Government on the subject of WorkCover.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: In response to an earlier question, the minister outlined the training program Certificate IV in Personal Injury Management (Claims Management) for personal injury claims management for which WorkCover has recently paid for 25 employees, including 15 employees from Employers Mutual. On Tuesday, during debate on the training skills bill, I asked the minister: where does a consumer or student go to find out who is an accredited provider to provide a particular course? The minister said:

...it would certainly be the view of the government that they should satisfy themselves that the provider they are being educated or trained by is properly accredited and registered. The principal way in which they can do that easily is through the National Training System—

which is a government endorsed and sponsored website. I then went on and asked: if a particular provider says it is providing a particular qualification and it is not accredited under the NTIS, is that an offence? The minister said that, under section 43 of the current act, it would be an offence and that the penalties for those offences would increase under clause 19 of the proposed amending act.

I followed the minister's advice and went to the government endorsed website, NTIS, to look at the Certificate IV in Personal Injury Management (Claims Management) course. What that shows is that Deakin Prime is not an accredited provider of the certificate IV claims management course. In fact, in the minister's own words when you go to this government endorsed website, it indicates that there is only currently one accredited provider of that particular course in South Australia, and that provider is not Deakin Prime.

The information provided to me is that WorkCover has paid up to $100,000 for these 25 people to undertake the Certificate IV in Personal Injury Management (Claims Management) qualification from this interstate registered training organisation. My questions are:

1. Can the minister confirm exactly how much WorkCover has paid for this course?

2. Given that 15 of those 25 employees were employed by EML, and given that EML has been paid up to $44 million in claims management fees in the last year, why did WorkCover pay for the cost of the training of EML employees, not EML?

3. Given the minister's statements in this house on Tuesday of this week, how do the minister and WorkCover justify spending up to $100,000 on a training course from an unaccredited provider of that course?

4. Does this mean that the 25 employees who were working hard for up to a six to nine-month period for that qualification from this unaccredited provider will, at the end of that period, not have a qualification recognised by the NTIS and the registered training authorities in South Australia and interstate?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (15:07): I thank the Hon. Mr Lucas for his question. I am not aware of the details of funding for the participants in this course. I did say that WorkCover had facilitated the introduction of the certificate, so whether it has indeed paid for all the participants going, I do not know, but I can find out that information.

I am advised that the certificate IV is a nationally recognised qualification based on agreed national industry standards. The company undertaking the delivery of the training has been involved in doing it in New South Wales and Victoria and is involved in the pilot program in South Australia. Whether or not this provider (or whoever it is under whose auspices the training is offered) appeared on the NTIS website I do not know, but I am happy to find out and bring back the information to the honourable member.