Return to Work Scheme

The Hon. L.A. HENDERSON (15:23): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations regarding return to work. Can the minister, in this tough current economic environment, rule out any changes to ReturnToWorkSA legislation, operation of the scheme, that would result in an increase in cost to business?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:24): I thank the honourable member for her question. What I can say is that we have a commitment that was made in this chamber a number of times to look at reforming the way particularly section 18 of the Return to Work Act works. That is something we have been consulting on a lot with both employee and employer groups.

The Return to Work scheme is designed to return people to work. In particular, section 18 of the act is the operative section that provides a mechanism to return workers to work, and we have been undergoing consultation, we will continue that, and we will have something in this chamber to try to make that better for both those people who represent workers and those who represent businesses. In this area there are things that can be done that can help both out, and returning people to work in a better, more efficient manner would be in the interests of both, so we will continue with that process.