{"id":"F2005L00002","name":"Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of Employee) Notice 2005","slug":"safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-employee-notice-2005","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":33282,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2005L00002-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of Employee) Notice 2005","content":"![](image.001.png)\n\nSafety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of Employee) Notice 2005\n\nNotice No. 1 of 2005.\n\nI, KEVIN JAMES ANDREWS, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, make this Notice under subsection 5(6) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.\n\nDated 5 January 2005\n\nKevin Andrews\n\nMinister for Employment and Workplace Relations\n\n1 Name of Notice\n\nThis Notice is the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Definition of Employee) Notice 2005.\n\n2 Commencement\n\nThis Notice commences on 5 January 2005.\n\n3 Declaration\n\nFor subsection 5(6) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (the Act), I declare that the class of persons referred to in Schedule 1, being persons who engage in activities or perform acts at the request or direction of the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority or licensed corporation, shall be taken to be employed by the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth authority or a licensed corporation as the case may be, and the employment of such persons shall, for those purposes, be taken to be constituted by the performance by such persons of the acts or activities referred to in Schedule 1.\n\n  \n\nSchedule 1 Definition of Employee\n\n| Item | Class of Persons                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Acts or Activities                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |\n| ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |\n| 1    | Persons who, for the benefit of the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority or a licensed corporation, at the direct or indirect request of, or at the direction of, the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth authority or licensed corporation, participate in relief missions in relation to areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004. | Acts performed in Australia and overseas, pursuant to arrangements made with the Commonwealth, a Commonwealth authority or a licensed corporation, for which those persons in Schedule 1 are not covered by an alternative workers’ compensation scheme to the scheme established by the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. |","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This notice serves its original narrow purpose: extending workers' compensation coverage specifically for tsunami relief volunteers in early 2005. It has not grown beyond this original intent; it is a time-bound, event-specific instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument (3 operative sections plus a schedule table)","Only 1 defined class of persons in Schedule 1","Single triggering event (Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004)","No nested exceptions or conditional logic beyond the basic 'not covered by alternative scheme' qualifier","No cross-references to other legislation beyond the empowering provision (s 5(6) of the SRC Act)","Straightforward deeming provision ('shall be taken to be employed')"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short legal notice from 2005 that expands workers' compensation coverage for people helping with the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster response.\n\n**What it does:**\nNormally, the *Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988* (Comcare) only covers direct employees of the Commonwealth government and certain authorities. This notice temporarily extends that coverage to **volunteers and relief workers** who weren't formally employed by the government but were helping with tsunami relief efforts.\n\n**Who it covers:**\nPeople participating in relief missions for areas hit by the **26 December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami**, provided they were acting at the request or direction of the Commonwealth government, a Commonwealth authority, or a licensed corporation (a company approved to operate under the Comcare scheme).\n\n**Key condition:**\nThis only applies if these workers **aren't already covered** by another workers' compensation scheme (like state-based workers' comp or private insurance).\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this notice, volunteers and contractors helping with the massive international disaster response could have been left without injury coverage. This ensures that if someone was injured or killed while doing tsunami relief work for the Australian government, they (or their family) could claim compensation under the federal Comcare scheme, even though they weren't technically government employees."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This notice is a narrowly targeted extension of the Act's coverage to a specific class of tsunami relief workers. It does not broaden the Act's general purpose or create a continuing, wide-ranging new category of employees; instead it temporarily and specifically brings certain relief-mission participants within the existing compensation scheme where no alternative cover exists. In that sense it supplements the Act to address a particular event rather than changing the Act's overall scope."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument: one declaration clause and a single-schedule table (Schedule 1, Item 1).","Single statutory power relied on: subsection 5(6) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.","One conditional exclusion: applies only where persons are not covered by an alternative workers' compensation scheme.","Some ambiguous factual tests: phrases such as \"direct or indirect request\", \"at the direction of\", and \"arrangements made with\" require factual interpretation.","Extraterritorial application (\"in Australia and overseas\") increases practical complexity for claims handling despite simple textual structure.","Minimal cross-references to other legislation, but practical operation depends on interaction with the broader Act and any other workers' compensation schemes."],"plain_english_summary":"This ministerial notice (from 5 Jan 2005) treats certain people who, at the request or direction of the Commonwealth, a Commonwealth authority or a licensed corporation, took part in 26 Dec 2004 tsunami relief missions as employees for the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988—but only if they lack other workers’ compensation cover. That brings them within the Commonwealth scheme for claims and rehabilitation, shifting liability to the declared employer (and ultimately public finances) and reducing legal uncertainty for relief participants."},"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"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-employee-notice-2005","history":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-employee-notice-2005/history","analysis":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-employee-notice-2005/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-employee-notice-2005/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-employee-notice-2005/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-definition-of-employee-notice-2005/documents"}}