{"id":"F2009B00115","name":"Commonwealth Employees' Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 - Notice of Declaration under subsection 5(6)","slug":"f2009b00115","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":326802,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2009B00115-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-08","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commonwealth Employees' Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 - Notice of Declaration under subsection 5(6)","content":"I, Peter Francis Salmon Cook, Minister of State for Industrial Relations, hereby declare under subsection 5 (6) of the Commonwealth Employees’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 –\n\n(a) that a person who is included in a class of persons specified in the first column of the following table, being a class of persons who engage in activities or perform acts at the request or direction, or for the benefit, of the Commonwealth, shall for the purposes of the Act, be taken to be employed by the Commonwealth; and\n\n(b) that the employment of the person shall, for the purposes of the Act, be taken to be constituted by the performance by the person of an act or acts included in the class of acts specified in the second column of that table opposite to the reference to that class of persons.\n\n| FIRST COLUMN                                                                                                                                                                        | SECOND COLUMN                                                         |\n| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| CLASS OF PERSONS                                                                                                                                                                    | CLASS OF ACTS                                                         |\n| Persons who, under the control or direction of an officer of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, render assistance in activities relating to Australia’s national interest. | Acts performed in connection with the carrying out of the activities. |\n\n(signed)\n\nPeter Cook\n\nMinister of State for Industrial Relations\n\n21 February 1991","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a discrete administrative instrument operating exactly as intended by the parent Act. Section 5(6) of the 1988 Act specifically authorises the Minister to make such declarations for persons performing acts at the Commonwealth's request or direction. The instrument uses this power precisely as designed—extending coverage to covert intelligence assets—without expanding beyond the statutory framework."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision with straightforward declaratory structure","Only two substantive paragraphs (a) and (b) creating the deemed employment relationship","Single-row table with minimal defined classes","No cross-references to other legislation beyond the parent Act citation","No conditional logic, exceptions, or sunset clauses","Total length under 200 words of substantive text"],"plain_english_summary":"A 1991 ministerial declaration treats certain covert helpers of ASIS as if they were Commonwealth employees for the purposes of the Commonwealth Employees’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. It covers informants, assets, contractors or other non-payroll personnel who assist ASIS on national‑interest operations.\n\nThat means if they are injured, killed, or suffer psychological harm while acting under ASIS direction, they (or their families) can claim workers’ compensation benefits otherwise unavailable to non‑employees."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The declaration expands the Act’s coverage by deeming specified persons assisting ASIS operations to be Commonwealth employees for the purposes of the Act, and by treating the acts they perform in those operations as constituting that employment (declaration under subsection 5(6) and table). This formally brings those persons and those acts within the rehabilitation and compensation regime, altering who can make claims and who bears liability."},"complexity_factors":["Deeming provision: non‑employees are legally treated as Commonwealth employees for the Act (declaration table).","Broad, undefined scope: the phrase \"activities relating to Australia’s national interest\" lacks statutory definition and is open to interpretation (declaration table).","Operational fact‑finding: whether a person acted “under the control or direction” of an ASIS officer is a factual question that will affect eligibility (declaration table).","Source of power: the declaration is made under subsection 5(6) of the Act, so its validity and limits depend on that statutory power (text heading).","Administrative and fiscal impact: deeming creates potential new claimants the Commonwealth must assess and potentially pay (mechanical effect of deeming).","Evidence and confidentiality issues: involvement of ASIS may complicate claim adjudication and evidence disclosure in practice (inferred from ASIS reference in table)."],"plain_english_summary":"Under subsection 5(6) of the Commonwealth Employees’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, the Minister declares that people who, while under the control or direction of an Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) officer, assist in activities “relating to Australia’s national interest” are to be treated as Commonwealth employees for the Act, and that their employment is constituted by the acts they perform. This brings those people into the Commonwealth’s rehabilitation and compensation scheme, making the Commonwealth responsible for assessing and meeting claims linked to those acts."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/f2009b00115","history":"/api/acts/f2009b00115/history","analysis":"/api/acts/f2009b00115/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/f2009b00115/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/f2009b00115/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/f2009b00115/documents"}}