{"id":"F2021L01440","name":"Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of ACT Employee – COVID-19 Emergency Response Volunteers) Declaration 2021","slug":"safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-act-employee-covid-19-emergency-response-volunt","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":102133,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2021L01440-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name","content":"#### 1 Name\n\n  This instrument is the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of ACT Employee – COVID-19 Emergency Response Volunteers) Declaration 2021.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"![](image.001.jpeg)\n\nSafety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of ACT Employee – COVID-19 Emergency Response Volunteers) Declaration 2021\n\nI, MICHAELIA CASH, Minister for Industrial Relations, make the following declaration.\n\nDated 11 October 2021\n\nMICHAELIA CASH\n\nMinister for Industrial Relations\n\nContents\n\n1 Name...................................................3\n\n2 Commencement............................................3\n\n3 Authority................................................3\n\n4 Definitions...............................................3\n\n5 Declaration...............................................3\n\n#### 1 Name\n\n  This instrument is the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of ACT Employee – COVID-19 Emergency Response Volunteers) Declaration 2021.\n\n#### 2 Commencement\n\n#### This declaration commences on 12 August 2021.\n\n#### 3 Authority\n\n  This declaration is made under subsection 5(15) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.\n  4 Definitions\n  In this instrument:\n  Act means the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.\n  ACT means the Australian Capital Territory.\n  ACT Chief Health Officer means a person appointed by the Minister under s 7(1) of the Public Health Act 1997 (ACT).\n  5 Declaration\n  I declare that persons identified by the ACT Chief Health Officer in writing to be COVID-19 Response Volunteers who, without receiving any remuneration (other than payment of expenses incurred), and\n\n    at the request or direction, or for the benefit, of the ACT;\n    in accordance with a requirement made by or under an ACT enactment; or\n    at the request or direction, or for the benefit, of an authority or body established by an ACT enactment\n\nassists in the delivery of ACT COVID emergency response services under the control or direction of an ACT Government officer, are taken to be an employee of the ACT for the purposes of the Act, when rendering such assistance.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"This declaration commences on 12 August ","sectionType":"section","heading":"This declaration commences on 12 August 2021.","content":"![](image.001.jpeg)\n\nSafety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of ACT Employee – COVID-19 Emergency Response Volunteers) Declaration 2021\n\nI, MICHAELIA CASH, Minister for Industrial Relations, make the following declaration.\n\nDated 11 October 2021\n\nMICHAELIA CASH\n\nMinister for Industrial Relations\n\nContents\n\n1 Name...................................................3\n\n2 Commencement............................................3\n\n3 Authority................................................3\n\n4 Definitions...............................................3\n\n5 Declaration...............................................3\n\n#### 1 Name\n\n  This instrument is the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of ACT Employee – COVID-19 Emergency Response Volunteers) Declaration 2021.\n\n#### 2 Commencement\n\n#### This declaration commences on 12 August 2021.\n\n#### 3 Authority\n\n  This declaration is made under subsection 5(15) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.\n  4 Definitions\n  In this instrument:\n  Act means the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.\n  ACT means the Australian Capital Territory.\n  ACT Chief Health Officer means a person appointed by the Minister under s 7(1) of the Public Health Act 1997 (ACT).\n  5 Declaration\n  I declare that persons identified by the ACT Chief Health Officer in writing to be COVID-19 Response Volunteers who, without receiving any remuneration (other than payment of expenses incurred), and\n\n    at the request or direction, or for the benefit, of the ACT;\n    in accordance with a requirement made by or under an ACT enactment; or\n    at the request or direction, or for the benefit, of an authority or body established by an ACT enactment\n\nassists in the delivery of ACT COVID emergency response services under the control or direction of an ACT Government officer, are taken to be an employee of the ACT for the purposes of the Act, when rendering such assistance.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Authority","content":"#### 3 Authority\n\n  This declaration is made under subsection 5(15) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.\n  4 Definitions\n  In this instrument:\n  Act means the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.\n  ACT means the Australian Capital Territory.\n  ACT Chief Health Officer means a person appointed by the Minister under s 7(1) of the Public Health Act 1997 (ACT).\n  5 Declaration\n  I declare that persons identified by the ACT Chief Health Officer in writing to be COVID-19 Response Volunteers who, without receiving any remuneration (other than payment of expenses incurred), and\n\n    at the request or direction, or for the benefit, of the ACT;\n    in accordance with a requirement made by or under an ACT enactment; or\n    at the request or direction, or for the benefit, of an authority or body established by an ACT enactment\n\nassists in the delivery of ACT COVID emergency response services under the control or direction of an ACT Government officer, are taken to be an employee of the ACT for the purposes of the Act, when rendering such assistance.","sortOrder":3}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This declaration serves exactly its original purpose: extending workers' compensation coverage to a specific category of pandemic volunteers in the ACT. It is a targeted, time-limited measure using a standard mechanism (deeming volunteers as employees) that has been used in similar contexts. The scope has not expanded beyond the emergency volunteer coverage contemplated by the empowering provision in the SRC Act."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument (approximately 250 words of substantive content)","Only 3 defined terms in section 4","Single operative provision (section 5) with straightforward declaratory language","No cross-references to other legislation beyond the empowering provision (SRC Act s 5(15)) and the ACT Public Health Act","Simple conditional structure: three alternative limbs (request/direction, statutory requirement, or authority request) joined by 'or'","No nested exceptions or complex temporal limitations beyond the 'when rendering such assistance' qualifier"],"plain_english_summary":"This ministerial declaration treats certain ACT COVID-19 volunteers as if they were ACT employees under the Commonwealth Comcare scheme, giving them workers’ compensation protection for injury or illness arising while they are actively volunteering.  \n\nIt applies to written nominees of the ACT Chief Health Officer who work unpaid (aside from expenses) under ACT direction or request; protection only covers them during the period they are rendering assistance."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument does not change the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act itself; instead it expands who counts as an \"employee of the ACT\" for the Act's purposes by declaring specified COVID‑19 Response Volunteers to be ACT employees (made under s 5(15) of the Act; Declaration s 5). Its scope is limited by the written identification by the ACT Chief Health Officer, the unpaid-except-expenses condition, the requirement to assist under control/direction of an ACT Government officer, and it operates from 12 August 2021 (retroactive commencement)."},"complexity_factors":["Short, single-purpose instrument with straightforward effect (declares volunteers to be 'employees' for SR&C Act purposes).","Legal cross-reference to subsection 5(15) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 as authority for the declaration.","Reliance on a factual administrative act: identification in writing by the ACT Chief Health Officer determines coverage (discretionary delegate action).","Multiple conditional limbs defining eligible volunteers (unpaid except expenses; at request/direction/for benefit of ACT; under an ACT enactment; or for an ACT-established authority), increasing interpretive points.","Requirement that assistance be \"under the control or direction of an ACT Government officer\" introduces an operational test for when the declaration applies.","Retroactive commencement date (commences 12 August 2021) creates temporal scope and potential retrospective coverage issues.","Possible overlap or boundary questions with other workers' compensation arrangements or jurisdictions due to functional (control/direction) and statutory (ACT enactment) triggers."],"plain_english_summary":"This declaration treats certain unpaid ACT COVID‑19 Response Volunteers as employees of the Australian Capital Territory for the purposes of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. It covers people the ACT Chief Health Officer identifies in writing who assist ACT COVID response services under the control or direction of an ACT Government officer, acting at the request/direction/benefit of the ACT or under an ACT enactment, and who receive only expense payments. The declaration commences on 12 August 2021."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-act-employee-covid-19-emergency-response-volunt","history":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-act-employee-covid-19-emergency-response-volunt/history","analysis":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-act-employee-covid-19-emergency-response-volunt/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-act-employee-covid-19-emergency-response-volunt/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-act-employee-covid-19-emergency-response-volunt/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-act-employee-covid-19-emergency-response-volunt/documents"}}