{"id":"F2020L01536","name":"Norfolk Island Employment Rules 2020","slug":"norfolk-island-employment-rules-2020","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":440686,"registerId":"F2020L01536-fast-fetch-1775956236740","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Norfolk Island Employment Rules 2020","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 22.10.0\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nNorfolk Island Employment Rules 2020\n\nI, Nola Marino, Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories and Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, make the following rules.\n\nDated 25 November 2020\n\nNola Marino\n\nAssistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories  Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Definitions\n\n5 Periodical compensation—loss or diminution of capacity to earn\n\n6 Compensation for permanent incapacity\n\n7 References to liability to pay compensation\n\n8 Membership of public scheme\n\n9 Independent medical examinations\n\n10 Record‑keeping and notification requirements\n\n11 Internal review—period for making determination\n\n12 Application—record‑keeping and notification requirements\n\nSchedule 1—Forms\n\nForm 1—Accident report\n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Norfolk Island Employment Rules 2020.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument At the same time as Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Norfolk Island Continued Laws Amendment (Employment) Ordinance 2020 commences.\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under the Employment Act 1988 (Norfolk Island).\n\n4  Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:\n\n(a) Employment Liaison Officer;\n\n(b) permanent incapacity;\n\n(c) public scheme.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Employment Act 1988 (Norfolk Island).\n\n5  Periodical compensation—loss or diminution of capacity to earn\n\n  For the purposes of subparagraph 30(4)(b)(i) of the Act, the amount of $3,000 is prescribed.\n\n6  Compensation for permanent incapacity\n\n  For the purposes of paragraph 32B(2)(b) of the Act, the amount of $300,000 is prescribed.\n\n7  References to liability to pay compensation\n\n  For the purposes of paragraph 37AA(b) of the Act, the amount of $2,000 is prescribed.\n\n8  Membership of public scheme\n\n (1) For the purposes of paragraph 39B(4)(a) of the Act, in deciding whether to grant an application by an employer to become a member of a public scheme, the consideration to which the Employment Liaison Officer must have regard is whether, on account of any or all of the following:\n\n (a) the employer’s accident history;\n\n (b) the employer’s first‑aid facilities;\n\n (c) the employer’s accident prevention awareness;\n\n (d) the employer’s standard of administration;\n\nthe claims for compensation that may arise in respect of the employer’s trade or business would be likely to prejudice the operation of the scheme so as to require higher membership fees for employers.\n\n (2) For the purposes of subsection 39B(5) of the Act, the membership fee for a public scheme for an employer is, for each calendar month in which the employer is a member of the scheme, an amount worked out by multiplying $0.30 by the number of hours worked by each employee of the employer during the month (other than any part of the month for which the employer is not a member of the scheme).\n\n9  Independent medical examinations\n\n  For the purposes of subsection 47A(6) of the Act, an employee must not be required to undergo an examination at more frequent intervals than a fortnight.\n\n10  Record‑keeping and notification requirements\n\n (1) For the purposes of subsection 53(2) of the Act:\n\n (a) the following records are prescribed:\n\n (i) a record of the date on which first‑aid training is given to the employer’s employees and particulars of that training;\n\n (ii) a record of the date and particulars of each injury to an employee of the employer arising out of, or suffered in the course of, employment by the employer, unless subsection 53(3) of the Act applies in relation to the injury;\n\n (iii) a copy of any information provided to the Minister under subsection 53(3) of the Act; and\n\n (b) the employer must keep those records in relation to an employee:\n\n (i) for the duration of the employee’s employment with the employer; and\n\n (ii) if the employee ceases to be employed by the employer—for 3 years beginning on the day the employment ceased.\n\n (2) For the purposes of subsection 53(3) of the Act, Form 1 in Schedule 1 to this instrument is prescribed.\n\n11  Internal review—period for making determination\n\n  For the purposes of subsection 67(1) of the Act, the period of 14 days starting on the day the application is made is prescribed.\n\n12  Application—record‑keeping and notification requirements\n\n  Section 10 applies in relation to:\n\n (a) training given; or\n\n (b) an injury arising out of, or suffered in the course of, employment; or\n\n (c) a copy of information provided;\n\nif the giving of the training, occurrence of the injury or provision of the information occurs:\n\n (d) within 3 years before the commencement of this section; or\n\n (e) after the commencement of this section.\n\nSchedule 1—Forms\n\nNote: See subsection 10(2).\n\nForm 1—Accident report\n\n \n\nThis form must be completed by an employer when an employee suffers death or permanent incapacity arising out of, or in the course of, the employment.\n\n \n\nPlease fill in this form using block capitals. Do not leave any blank spaces. If a question is not applicable, write “N/A” in the answer space.\n\n \n\nThis form must be provided to the Minister within 7 days after the death or permanent incapacity became known to the employer.\n\n \n\n- Form 1—Accident report\n- Item Information required Answer\n- 1 Full name of employerNote: If the employer is a company or other body, please give the full legal name of the body.\n- 2 Postal address of employer\n- 3 Employer’s business telephone number\n- 4 Employee’s name\n- 5 Gender\n- 6 Age\n- 7 Employee’s postal address\n- 8 Employee’s occupation\n- 9 Was the employee engaged in this occupation when the accident occurred? Tick oneYes No \n- 10 If “no”, state exactly what the employee was doing at the time of the accident, and whether the accident occurred during a meal break or other work break.\n- 11 How long has the employee been employed by you?\n- 12 Amount of wages etc. payable to the employee per week at the time of the accident ($)\n- 13 If wages etc. not paid weekly, state the basis of payment\n- 14 Number of days worked per week\n- 15 Number of hours worked per week\n- 16 Is board or lodging provided by the employer? Tick oneYes No \n- 17 If “yes”, state value per week ($)\n- 18 Total of the employee’s earnings in the 12 months prior to the date of the accident or illness ($)Note: Include all payments and non‑cash benefits (eg commissions, board, lodging, etc.)\n- 19 Number of weeks worked by the employee in the 12 months prior to the date of the accident\n- 20 Average earnings per week ($)Note: Include all payments and non‑cash benefits (eg commissions, board, lodging, etc.)\n- 21 Date of the accident\n- 22 Day of the week\n- 23 Time of day\n- 24 Did the employee cease work immediately? Tick oneYes No \n- 25 If “no”, when did the employee cease work?\n- 26 Number of hours not worked on the employee’s last day at work\n- 27 Full address of premises where the accident occurred\n- 28 Did the accident happen during a motor vehicle journey? Tick oneYes No \n- 29 If “yes”, please give full details\n- 30 Did the employee notify you of the accident before leaving the place of employment on the day of the accident? Tick oneYes No \n- 31 If “no”, when was the accident first reported?\n- 32 Did the accident occur while the employee was doing something which was not part of the employment, or at a place where the employee was not required by the employment to be? Tick oneYes No \n- 33 If “yes”, please give details\n- 34 Are you satisfied that the accident happened in the course of employment and in the manner stated by the employee? Tick oneYes No \n- 35 If “no”, state the reasons for your conclusion\n- 36 State the apparent cause of the accidentNote: Give full and particular details. If necessary, continue on another sheet of paper.\n- 37 Give the names of all witnesses to the accident\n- 38 Did the accident result in an injury to, or the death of, the employee? Tick oneInjury Death \n- 39 If the accident resulted in an injury, state the nature and extent of the injury\n- 40 Did the employee receive any ambulance, medical, surgical or hospital treatment? Tick oneYes No \n- 41 If “yes”, give brief details of the treatment\n- 42 DeclarationThe employer named above hereby declares that the information provided above is true. SignatureDate\n- IMPORTANT NOTE: In any case of serious injury where machinery was in use, DO NOT make any repairs or modifications before inspection of the machinery.\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument does not alter the statutory scope of who is covered by the Employment Act; it operates under the Act's authority (section 3) and prescribes amounts, decision factors, recordkeeping obligations and forms to implement existing provisions of the Act (notably via sections 5–12 and Schedule 1). In other words, it specifies mechanisms and thresholds within the Act's framework rather than expanding or narrowing the Act's substantive coverage."},"complexity_factors":["Primarily prescriptive numeric values and simple procedural rules (ss. 5–7, 9, 11).","Cross‑references to the Employment Act 1988 create dependency on the Act's definitions and substantive rules (s. 3 and s. 4 note).","Hourly‑based fee calculation requires aggregation of employee hours each month and correct accounting (s. 8(2)).","Employment Liaison Officer discretion in membership decisions uses qualitative factors without a scoring method (s. 8(1)), introducing administrative judgment.","Recordkeeping rules specify retention periods and types of records, plus a detailed prescribed form with many fields (s. 10; Schedule 1), producing measurable compliance workload.","A limited retrospective application window (3 years) extends record duties to recent past events (s. 12)."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument operationalises parts of the Employment Act 1988 (Norfolk Island) by prescribing the concrete dollar amounts, timelines, decision factors, recordkeeping rules and a standard accident-report form employers and officials must use. It sets fixed compensation thresholds, an hours‑based monthly fee for public‑scheme membership, limits on medical examinations, and a 14‑day internal review deadline.\n\nThat mainly affects employers (fees, reporting and record‑retention burdens), the Employment Liaison Officer (membership decisions) and the Minister (receives Form 1); some notification rules reach back up to three years."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of operationalising the Norfolk Island workers' compensation system. It sets administrative details, monetary thresholds, and procedural requirements that are clearly ancillary to the parent Employment Act 1988. There is no evidence of scope creep or expansion beyond the original intent of supporting the territory's employment injury compensation framework."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument with only 12 substantive sections plus a schedule","Minimal defined terms (only 'Act' defined; relies on parent Act definitions)","Straightforward prescriptive provisions setting dollar amounts and time periods","Single schedule containing one form with 42 fields — detailed but not legally complex","No nested exceptions or conditional logic chains","Limited cross-referencing (primarily back to specific subsections of the parent Employment Act 1988)","Retrospective application provision in section 12 is simple and time-bounded (3 years)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThese rules set out the practical details for how workers' compensation works on Norfolk Island. They fill in the gaps left by the main Employment Act 1988 (Norfolk Island) by specifying dollar amounts, timeframes, and administrative requirements.\n\n**Key things it covers:**\n\n- **Compensation amounts**: Sets specific dollar figures for different types of payments — $3,000 for periodical compensation (ongoing payments when someone can't earn as much due to injury), $300,000 maximum for permanent incapacity (long-term disability), and $2,000 for certain liability references.\n\n- **Public scheme membership**: Explains how employers can join a government-run workers' compensation insurance scheme. The Employment Liaison Officer looks at the employer's safety record, first-aid facilities, accident prevention awareness, and administration standards when deciding whether to let them in. Membership costs 30 cents per employee hour worked each month.\n\n- **Medical examinations**: Injured workers can't be forced to attend independent medical exams more than once a fortnight (every two weeks).\n\n- **Record-keeping**: Employers must keep records of first-aid training and workplace injuries for the duration of employment plus three years after someone leaves. They must also report serious accidents (death or permanent incapacity) using Form 1 within 7 days.\n\n- **Internal reviews**: If someone disputes a decision, the review must be completed within 14 days of applying.\n\n- **Retrospective application**: The record-keeping rules apply to training, injuries, and information provided up to three years before these rules started.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\nEmployers and employees on Norfolk Island. This is a small, remote Australian territory with its own employment law system separate from mainland Australia.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nWithout these rules, the main Employment Act wouldn't work properly — compensation amounts would be unspecified, employers wouldn't know how to join the public insurance scheme, and there would be no standard accident reporting form. These rules make the workers' compensation system operational and predictable."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-employment-rules-2020","history":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-employment-rules-2020/history","analysis":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-employment-rules-2020/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-employment-rules-2020/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-employment-rules-2020/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/norfolk-island-employment-rules-2020/documents"}}