{"id":"F2009B00132","name":"Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 - Notice of Declaration (Notice No. 4 of 1999)","slug":"safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-act-1988-notice-of-declaration-notice-no-4-of-1999","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":121457,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2009B00132-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 - Notice of Declaration (Notice No. 4 of 1999)","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 20.2\ntitle: COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\nCOMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA\n\n \n\nSAFETY, REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION ACT 1988\n\n \n\nNOTICE OF DECLARATION\n\n \n\nNotice No. 4 of 1999\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nI, PETER KEASTON REITH, Minister for Workplace Relations and Small Business, under subsection 5(6) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 declare that person who:\n\n \n\n(i)                 under the control or direction of any officer of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority (the Authority) and without receiving remuneration (with the exception of expenses);\n\n(ii)               provide fire fighting, search and rescue and first aid services, attend environmental incidents and take part in training exercises for the Authority\n\n \n\nare to be taken to be employed by the Authority in respect of the acts specified at paragraph (ii).\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nPeter Reith\n\nMinister for Workplace Relations and Small Business\n\n \n\nDated 4th day of May 1999\n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This declaration alters the application of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 for the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority by treating certain unpaid persons who act under an Authority officer's control as \"employed\" by the Authority for the specified activities (firefighting, search and rescue, first aid, environmental incident response and training). The instrument narrows its change to those activities and to persons who do not receive remuneration except expenses, thereby changing the Act's coverage in that specific operational context. (Notice No. 4 of 1999; subsection 5(6))."},"complexity_factors":["Short, single-declaration instrument with a single operative clause (low textual complexity).","Relies on statutory power identified as subsection 5(6) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (dependency on external statute for full effect).","Operative criteria use factual terms that require administrative interpretation: \"under the control or direction of any officer\" and \"without receiving remuneration (with the exception of expenses)\" (potential for implementation ambiguity).","Scope is tightly limited to specific activities (firefighting, search and rescue, first aid, environmental incidents, training), reducing breadth but requiring activity-level factual determinations.","No definitions or procedural detail in the notice about how coverage is to be evidenced or recorded (practical application requires administrative steps)."],"plain_english_summary":"The Minister declares that certain unpaid people who, under the control or direction of an officer of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority, perform firefighting, search and rescue, first aid, environmental-incident response or related training are to be treated as employed by the Authority for those acts under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. This changes legal status for that narrow group without creating pay obligations beyond expenses."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This notice performs exactly the function intended by subsection 5(6) of the SRC Act, which expressly empowers the Minister to declare that certain persons are taken to be employed by a Commonwealth authority for workers' compensation purposes. The scope remains tightly confined to the specific volunteer activities and the single authority named."},"complexity_factors":["Single substantive provision with straightforward conditional logic (two criteria: control/direction + no remuneration except expenses)","Only 4 defined/referenced entities: the Minister, the Act, the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority, and the specific volunteer activities","No cross-references to other sections beyond the enabling power (subsection 5(6))","No nested exceptions or conditional clauses","Extremely short document (approximately 150 words of operative text)","Clear causal structure: IF [conditions] THEN [legal consequence]"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short legal notice made by the Minister for Workplace Relations in 1999 under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.\n\n**What it does:**\nThe notice extends workers' compensation coverage to certain volunteers who help the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority (the government body that runs the Snowy Mountains Scheme).\n\n**Who it affects:**\nSpecifically, it covers people who:\n- Are under the control or direction of an officer of the Authority\n- Are **not paid** (except for having their expenses covered)\n- Provide **fire fighting, search and rescue, first aid services**, attend **environmental incidents**, or take part in **training exercises** for the Authority\n\n**Why it matters:**\nNormally, volunteers aren't covered by workers' compensation because they're not technically \"employees.\" This notice **deems** (legally treats) these volunteers as if they were employed by the Authority **only for the specific activities listed above**. This means if they're injured while fighting fires, doing rescue work, or attending environmental incidents for the Authority, they can claim workers' compensation benefits just like paid employees.\n\n**Key limitation:** The coverage only applies to the specific acts listed—fire fighting, search and rescue, first aid, environmental incidents, and training. It doesn't make these volunteers employees for all purposes, just for workers' compensation coverage during those specific activities."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-act-1988-notice-of-declaration-notice-no-4-of-1999","history":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-act-1988-notice-of-declaration-notice-no-4-of-1999/history","analysis":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-act-1988-notice-of-declaration-notice-no-4-of-1999/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-act-1988-notice-of-declaration-notice-no-4-of-1999/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-act-1988-notice-of-declaration-notice-no-4-of-1999/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-act-1988-notice-of-declaration-notice-no-4-of-1999/documents"}}