The Productivity Commission has released its eagerly awaited interim report on a national framework for Australia’s splintered workers’ compensation and occupational health and safety regimes. There are few surprises – it says there is a “strong case” for national frameworks – but the insurer and broker associations will be thinking very carefully about their responses.

Of niggling concern will be the finding that large employers working in many states should be able to join a single scheme initially based on self-insurance under the Commonwealth Government’s Comcare system.

That suggestion has the potential to further cripple the state-based schemes, which would find as much as 25% of their major business “clients” switching to the federal scheme, forcing smaller (and usually less efficient) employers to carry a much larger share of the burden. Rather than help privatisation, it could make it financially impossible for the industry to take over.

The interim report finds that multi-state firms employ more than a quarter of the workforce and face significant compliance costs from having to deal with multiple workers’ compensation schemes and OH&S regimes. “Mobile workers are also affected due to differences in compliance requirements and gaps in coverage.”

“Differences in the schemes across jurisdictions include the degree of access to common law, the definition of employee, the level of benefits and coverage for journeys to and from work,” the commission says.

The single workers’ compensation scheme would operate alongside existing state and territory schemes, Presiding Commissioner Mike Woods said.

“In addition to a parallel national scheme, more formal arrangements for national co-operation could assist jurisdictions to improve performance and, over time, increase the level of national consistency in workers’ compensation.”

The report says there are no compelling arguments against uniform OH&S regimes, and proposes that the existing co-operative national institutional structure centred on the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission should be strengthened to drive national uniformity.

The interim report will form the basis for submissions, with the final report due to be presented to the Federal Government next March.