{"id":"C2004A04524","name":"Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1992","slug":"seafarers-rehabilitation-and-compensation-transitional-provisions-and-consequential-amendments-act-1","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"233 of 1992","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436177,"registerId":"C2004A04524-fast-fetch-1775953432702","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1992","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nSeafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1992\n\n \n\nNo. 233 of 1992\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to enact transitional provisions, and to repeal an Act and amend others, because of the enactment of the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n[Part 1—Preliminary](#_Toc426036746)\n\n[1 Short title](#_Toc426036747)\n\n[2 Commencement](#_Toc426036748)\n\n[3 Interpretation](#_Toc426036749)\n\n[Part 2—Transitional provisions](#_Toc426036750)\n\n[4 Purpose of this Part](#_Toc426036751)\n\n[5 Application](#_Toc426036752)\n\n[6 Application of Principal Act to pre-existing injuries etc.](#_Toc426036753)\n\n[7 Entitlement to compensation](#_Toc426036754)\n\n[8 Payments under the repealed Act](#_Toc426036755)\n\n[9 Notices, claims etc. under the repealed Act](#_Toc426036756)\n\n[10 Settlements and determinations under the repealed Act](#_Toc426036757)\n\n[11 Employer may reconsider determination made under the repealed Act](#_Toc426036758)\n\n[12 Liability under the repealed Act](#_Toc426036759)\n\n[13 Employee to have right to bring action for damages against employer etc. in certain circumstances](#_Toc426036760)\n\n[14 Money and investments held under the repealed Act](#_Toc426036761)\n\n[Part 3—Consequential amendments](#_Toc426036762)\n\n[15 Consequential amendments](#_Toc426036763)\n\n[Part 4—Repeal](#_Toc426036764)\n\n[16 Repeal of Act](#_Toc426036765)\n\n[Schedule 1—Consequential amendments](#_Toc426036766)\n\n[Schedule 2—Consequential amendment](#_Toc426036767)\n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nSeafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1992\n\nNo. 233 of 1992\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to enact transitional provisions, and to repeal an Act and amend others, because of the enactment of the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992\n\n[Assented to 24 December 1992]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n## Part 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n##### 1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1992.\n\n##### 2  Commencement\n\n (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act commences on the day on which Part 2 of the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 commences.\n\n (2) Subsection 15(2) commences on the day on which Part 2 of the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 commences, or on 1 January 1993, whichever is later.\n\n##### 3  Interpretation\n\n (1) Unless the contrary intention appears, an expression used in this Act has the same meaning as in the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992.\n\n (2) In this Act:\n\ncommencing day means the day on which Part 2 commences.\n\nPrincipal Act means the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992.\n\nrepealed Act means the Seamen’s Compensation Act 1911.\n\n\n\n\n## Part 2—Transitional provisions\n\n \n\n##### 4  Purpose of this Part\n\n  This Part deals with injuries etc. that happened before the commencing day. It converts rights under the repealed Act into corresponding rights under the Principal Act, subject to the limitations imposed by the repealed Act.\n\n##### 5  Application\n\n  This Part has effect despite anything contained in the Principal Act.\n\n##### 6  Application of Principal Act to pre-existing injuries etc.\n\n  Subject to this Part, the Principal Act applies in relation to an injury, loss or damage suffered by an employee, whether before or after the commencing day.\n\n##### 7  Entitlement to compensation\n\n (1) A person is not entitled to compensation under the Principal Act in respect of an injury, loss or damage suffered before the commencing day if compensation was not payable in respect of that injury, loss or damage under the repealed Act.\n\n (2) A person is not entitled to compensation under section 39 or 40 of the Principal Act in respect of a permanent impairment, or under section 29 of the Principal Act in respect of the death of an employee, being an impairment or death that occurred before the commencing day, if the person received compensation of a lump sum in respect of that impairment or death under the repealed Act.\n\n (3) The amount of compensation (if any) that a person is entitled to receive under section 39 or 40 of the Principal Act in respect of a permanent impairment, or under section 29 of the Principal Act in respect of the death of an employee, being an impairment or death that occurred before the commencing day, is the same as the amount of compensation that would have been payable to that person under the repealed Act, if the Principal Act had not been enacted.\n\n (4) A person is not entitled to compensation under section 43 of the Principal Act in respect of any period that occurred before the commencing day.\n\n (5) A person is not entitled to compensation under subsection 29(5) of the Principal Act in respect of the death of an employee, or under section 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 or 45 of the Principal Act in respect of an incapacity, if the compensation relates to a period occurring before the commencing day and:\n\n (a) the person received weekly payments of compensation in respect of that death or incapacity in relation to that period under the repealed Act; or\n\n (b) the person was not entitled to receive weekly payments of compensation in respect of that death or incapacity in relation to that period under the repealed Act.\n\n (6) The rate of compensation (if any) that a person is entitled to receive under subsection 29(5) of the Principal Act in respect of the death of an employee, or under section 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 or 45 of the Principal Act in respect of an incapacity, if the compensation relates to a period occurring before the commencing day, is the same as the rate of compensation that would have been payable to that person in relation to that period under the repealed Act if the Principal Act had not been enacted.\n\n (7) A person is not entitled to compensation under subsection 28(1) or (6) or section 30 of the Principal Act in respect of any cost or expenditure, if the liability to pay the cost arose before the commencing day, or the expenditure was incurred before that day, and:\n\n (a) an amount was paid in respect of that cost or expenditure under the repealed Act; or\n\n (b) an amount was not payable in respect of that cost or expenditure under the repealed Act.\n\n (8) The amount of the compensation (if any) that is, because of this section, payable under subsection 28(1) or (6) or section 30 of the Principal Act in respect of any cost or expenditure, where the liability to pay the cost arose before the commencing day, or the expenditure was incurred before that day, is the same as the amount that would have been payable in respect of that cost or expenditure under the repealed Act if the Principal Act had not been enacted.\n\n (9) If proceedings for the recovery of compensation under the repealed Act in respect of an injury were not maintainable by a person because of section 6 of the repealed Act, that person is not entitled to compensation under the Principal Act in respect of that injury.\n\n##### 8  Payments under the repealed Act\n\n (1) A payment made before the commencing day in respect of a liability of an employer under the repealed Act for an injury suffered by an employee is, on and after that day, taken to have been made by the employer in respect of the corresponding liability under the Principal Act.\n\n (2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), any such payment that had effect as a redemption of a liability of an employer referred to in that subsection, has effect under section 44 of the Principal Act as a redemption of the corresponding liability.\n\n##### 9  Notices, claims etc. under the repealed Act\n\n (1) A notice duly served before the commencing day under section 6 of the repealed Act has effect on and after the commencing day as a notice duly given to the employee’s employer under section 62 of the Principal Act.\n\n (2) A claim for compensation duly made before the commencing day under the repealed Act is taken to be a claim for compensation duly made to the employer under the Principal Act.\n\n (3) If an employee was required to be examined by a medical referee or legally qualified medical practitioner for the purposes of the repealed Act but the examination had not been completed before the commencing day, the requirement continues to have effect as if it had been made by the employer under subsection 66(1) of the Principal Act and the medical referee or legally qualified medical practitioner were a medical practitioner nominated under that subsection.\n\n (4) If an employee was receiving benefits under an award and compensation because of the application of paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 of the repealed Act, the benefits cease on the commencing day unless the employee makes an election within 30 days after the commencing day under section 61 of the Principal Act.\n\n (5) An election made under subsection (4) is taken to have been made on the commencing day.\n\n##### 10  Settlements and determinations under the repealed Act\n\n (1) A settlement (whether by agreement, arbitration or judicial decision) under the repealed Act and in force immediately before the commencing day, being a settlement of the liability of an employer to pay compensation or make any other payment under that Act in respect of an injury is, on and after that day, taken to be a determination made by the employer under the Principal Act in respect of the corresponding liability under the Principal Act, but Part 6 of the Principal Act does not apply in relation to that settlement.\n\n (2) A decision or action by an employer in respect of the repealed Act and having effect immediately before the commencing day, being a decision or action in respect of the liability of an employer to pay compensation or make any other payment to a person under the repealed Act, is taken to be a determination made by the employer under the Principal Act in respect of the corresponding liability under the Principal Act.\n\n (3) If a decision or action referred to in subsection (2) is, or has been, varied by a court, a committee of arbitration or an arbitrator, subsection (2) has effect in relation to that decision or action as so varied.\n\n##### 11  Employer may reconsider determination made under the repealed Act\n\n (1) An employer may on the employer’s own initiative, reconsider a decision in respect of the repealed Act having effect immediately before the commencing day and, for that purpose, section 78 of the Principal Act applies as if:\n\n (a) the person in respect of whom the decision was made were a claimant under the Principal Act; and\n\n (b) the decision were a determination by the employer within the meaning of Part 6 of the Principal Act.\n\n (2) Part 6 of the Principal Act applies to a decision by the employer on a reconsideration of a decision mentioned in subsection (1) as if the decision were a reviewable decision by the employer within the meaning of that Part.\n\n##### 12  Liability under the repealed Act\n\n  A liability of an employer to pay compensation or make any other payment under any provision of the repealed Act, to the extent that it had not been discharged before the commencing day, is taken to have been incurred by the employer on that day under the corresponding provision of the Principal Act.\n\n##### 13  Employee to have right to bring action for damages against employer etc. in certain circumstances\n\n  Despite section 54 of the Principal Act, an employee has the right to bring, within 6 months after the commencing day, an action or other proceeding against his or her employer, or an employee of the employer, in respect of:\n\n (a) an injury sustained before the commencing day by the employee in the course of his or her employment, being an injury in respect of which the employer would, apart from this subsection, be liable (whether vicariously or otherwise) for damages; or\n\n (b) the loss of, or damage to, property used by an employee resulting from such an injury.\n\n##### 14  Money and investments held under the repealed Act\n\n  All money and investments held immediately before the commencing day for the benefit of a person or persons by a prescribed authority under the repealed Act are, by force of this section, vested in the Authority and are to be held by the Authority for the benefit of that person or those persons, as the case may be.\n\n\n\n\n## Part 3—Consequential amendments\n\n \n\n##### 15  Consequential amendments\n\n (1) The Acts specified in Schedule 1 are amended as set out in that Schedule.\n\n (2) The Act specified in Schedule 2 is amended as set out in that Schedule.\n\n\n\n\n## Part 4—Repeal\n\n \n\n##### 16  Repeal of Act\n\n  The Seamen’s Compensation Act 1911 is repealed.\n\n# Schedule 1—Consequential amendments\n\nSubsection 15(1)\n\nCommonwealth Employees’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988\n\nParagraph 5(8)(d)\n\nOmit ‘Seamen’s Compensation Act 1911’, substitute ‘Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992’.\n\nNavigation Act 1912\n\nParagraph 127(1)(a):\n\nOmit ‘, in the service of the ship’.\n\nSubsection 127(1):\n\nOmit ‘, subject to subsection (4),’.\n\nSubsection 127(3):\n\nOmit ‘, subject to subsection (4),’.\n\nSubsection 127(4):\n\nOmit the subsection.\n\nParagraph 132(1)(a):\n\nOmit the paragraph, substitute:\n\n ‘(a) on the day of his or her recovery; or’.\n\nParagraph 132(6)(d):\n\nOmit the paragraph, substitute:\n\n ‘(d) was not knowingly concealed by the seaman from the person who employed or engaged the seaman at the time the seaman was employed or engaged.’.\n\n# Schedule 2—Consequential amendment\n\nSubsection 15(2)\n\nSocial Security Act 1991\n\nSection 1069 (Family Payment Rate Calculator—paragraph 1069-D21(b)):\n\nOmit the paragraph, substitute:\n\n ‘(b) section 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 or 45 of the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992’.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act replaces and repeals the Seamen’s Compensation Act 1911 and carries over existing rights, liabilities, settlements and payments into the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992, but constrains pre-commencement entitlements to the amounts and eligibility that applied under the repealed Act (s4, s7, s12). It also creates limited new procedural features compared with simply continuing the old law: a 6-month window for employees to sue employers for pre-commencement injuries (s13); vesting of previously held funds in the new Authority (s14); and specified elections and administrative transitions (s9). Those elements expand the transitional regime’s scope beyond a purely mechanical name-change by adding litigation, vesting and review mechanics tied to the new institutional structure."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross-references between the new (Principal) Act and the repealed Act requiring interpretation of which provisions carry over (s3, s4, s6, s7).","Detailed, provision-by-provision limits for pre-commencement entitlements (s7 contains numerous specific exceptions and equivalence rules).","Procedural carry-overs (notices, claims, unfinished medical examinations) that must be mapped into new procedural sections (s9(1)–(3)).","Conversion of prior settlements and decisions into employer determinations under the new Act, with follow-on review mechanics if employers reopen determinations (s10–s11).","Time-limited litigation window (6 months) that creates immediate but temporary changes in claimant incentives (s13).","Asset-transfer and vesting of funds from prescribed authorities to the new Authority requiring administrative and fiscal action (s14).","Consequential amendments to other Commonwealth statutes requiring coordinated statutory and administrative updates (s15 and Schedules)."],"plain_english_summary":"### What this law does (mechanically)\n\n- Replaces the Seamen’s Compensation Act 1911 with the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 and sets rules to move existing cases, payments and records over to the new scheme (see sections 16, 4 and 3).  \n- For injuries, deaths and related claims that happened before the new law starts (the \"commencing day\"), it converts existing rights under the repealed Act into corresponding rights under the new Act, but only to the extent and subject to the limits that applied under the old law (s4, s6, s7).  \n- Payments already made under the old law are treated as payments under the new law (s8). Notices, claims and unfinished medical examinations begun under the old law continue and are treated as if made under the new Act (s9).  \n- Settlements, arbitrations or court decisions in force immediately before the commencing day are carried over and treated as employer determinations under the new Act (s10). Employers may voluntarily reopen or reconsider pre-existing determinations and, if they do, the new Act’s review rules apply (s11).  \n- Any unpaid employer liabilities under the old Act are taken to be liabilities under the new Act from the commencing day (s12).  \n- Despite a general bar in the new Act on suing employers, employees get a time-limited right (6 months from the commencing day) to bring an action for damages for injuries sustained before the commencing day (s13).  \n- Money and investments that were held for beneficiaries under the old Act are vested in the new Authority and must be held for the same beneficiaries (s14).  \n- The Act also makes targeted amendments to other Commonwealth laws to reflect the new Act (s15 and Schedules 1–2).\n\n### Who it affects\n\n- Employees/seafarers with injuries, death claims or related losses that arose before the new Act took effect (primary affected group) — their rights are preserved but constrained to what the repealed Act allowed (s4, s7).  \n- Employers — they continue to carry liability for pre-existing claims (s8, s12), may be treated as having made determinations under the new Act (s10), and may be required to reconsider prior decisions (s11).  \n- The statutory Authority under the new Act — it receives and holds money and investments formerly held by prescribed authorities under the old Act (s14).  \n- Administrators of other Commonwealth laws (for example, Navigation Act and Social Security Act) — these are amended to refer to the new Act (s15, Schedules).\n\n### Why it matters (purpose statements and practical consequences)\n\n- The Act’s explicit purpose is to provide transitional arrangements so existing claims and financial arrangements under the Seamen’s Compensation Act 1911 continue to operate without interruption under the new Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 (s4).  \n\nHow that purpose maps to costs, incentives and trade-offs (source-grounded):\n\n- Continuity vs. change: The Act preserves existing entitlements and past payments (s7, s8, s10, s14). That reduces legal uncertainty for claimants and employers by keeping amounts and eligibility that applied under the old law. The trade-off is that pre-existing claimants do not automatically gain any additional rights or higher payments created by the new Act (s7(1)–(3)).  \n\n- Who pays and who benefits: Employers remain the party financially liable for pre-commencement claims (s8, s12). Beneficiaries who already received lump sums under the old Act are prevented from obtaining duplicate lump sums under the new Act for the same event (s7(2)). Funds held for claimants are transferred to the new Authority to be managed for those claimants (s14).  \n\n- Administrative and compliance burden: Administrators and employers must map old records, preserve past settlements as employer determinations (s10), manage the transfer of funds to the Authority (s14), and administer new procedural steps (for example, elections by beneficiaries within 30 days under s9(4)–(5)). These are discrete but potentially numerous tasks across many existing claims.  \n\n- Legal and litigation incentives: The Act largely preserves pre-existing limits on entitlement (s7), which constrains claimant upside. However, it creates a short, explicit window (6 months after the commencing day) for employees to sue their employer in respect of pre-commencement injuries despite the Principal Act’s usual bar (s13). That temporary window changes incentives for litigation and settlement in the immediate transitional period.  \n\n- Bureaucratic discretion and review: Pre-existing settlements and employer actions are treated as employer determinations under the new Act (s10). Employers may reconsider those determinations on their own initiative, and such reconsiderations are subject to the new Act’s review procedures (s11). This preserves employer-facing decision-making while bringing those decisions within the new Act’s review architecture.  \n\n- Interaction with other laws: The Act amends cross-references in other Commonwealth statutes so they point to the new Act (s15 and Schedules). That requires coordinated administrative updates across agencies that rely on those references.\n\n### Key timings, limits and procedural points (practical takeaways)\n\n- Commencement is linked to the day Part 2 of the Principal Act starts; one consequential amendment (s15(2)) may commence on a later date or 1 January 1993, whichever is later (s2).  \n- Entitlements for pre-commencement events are limited to what the repealed Act provided; rates and lump sums for such events are fixed to what the repealed Act would have paid (s7(2)–(3), s7(6), s7(8)).  \n- Payments made before the commencing day count as payments under the new Act (s8).  \n- Employees receiving benefits under an award who are affected by the transition must elect within 30 days after the commencing day to maintain some benefits (s9(4)–(5)).  \n- Employees have a 6-month window after the commencing day to commence actions for damages relating to pre-commencement injuries (s13).  \n\n### Concrete legal mechanics cited\n\n- Conversion/preservation of rights and limits: s4, s6, s7.  \n- Treatment of past payments: s8.  \n- Continuation of notices, claims and medical examinations: s9(1)–(3).  \n- Carry-over of settlements and decisions as employer determinations: s10.  \n- Employer reconsideration and application of review procedures: s11.  \n- Transfer of unpaid liabilities: s12.  \n- Time-limited right to sue: s13.  \n- Vesting of money and investments in the Authority: s14.  \n- Consequential amendments and repeal: s15, s16, Schedules 1–2.\n\nOverall, the Act operates as a transitional and housekeeping instrument: it keeps existing entitlements, payments and proceedings moving into the new Seafarers rehabilitation and compensation framework while imposing specific limits (tied to the repealed Act), preserving employer liabilities, vesting prior funds in the new Authority and allowing a short litigation window for pre-existing claims."},"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"source":"grok-batch-everything"},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act has not grown beyond its original intent. It remains strictly a bridging statute whose sole functions are to convert pre-commencement rights and liabilities, preserve the repealed Act’s limitations, effect necessary updates to related legislation, and repeal the Seamen’s Compensation Act 1911."},"complexity_factors":["Detailed conditional rules in s.7 with nine subsections creating different carve-outs and rate-matching requirements for permanent impairment (ss.39–40), death benefits (s.29), incapacity payments (ss.31–37, 45) and medical costs (ss.28, 30)","Heavy cross-referencing to 15+ specific sections of the Principal Act (Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992) and the repealed Seamen’s Compensation Act 1911","Transitional mapping provisions for notices (s.9), settlements (s.10), reconsiderations (s.11), and liabilities (s.12) that require readers to compare old and new procedures","Interaction between the savings rule in s.5 ('despite anything in the Principal Act') and the purpose clause in s.4 that preserves limitations from the repealed Act","Two schedules containing targeted amendments to three other statutes"],"plain_english_summary":"**This law smooths the switch from an old compensation system for seafarers to a new one.**\n\nIt was created alongside the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 (the main new law). The old system was the Seamen’s Compensation Act 1911. The new law updates how injured seafarers (or their families) get payments for injuries, lost wages, medical costs, or death.\n\nThis transitional Act makes sure nothing falls through the cracks during the changeover. It says:\n- Injuries that happened before the new law started are generally covered by the new rules, but only if the old rules would have allowed a payout.\n- Old claims, notices, medical exams, and settlements automatically transfer to the new system.\n- Weekly payments, lump sums, and medical costs keep the same amounts and limits they had under the old law.\n- Employers must honour any unpaid liabilities from the old law as if they arose under the new one.\n\nIt also updates a few other laws (like the Navigation Act and Social Security Act) so they work with the new seafarer compensation rules, and it fully repeals the 1911 Act. \n\n**Who it affects**: Seafarers injured before the switch date, their employers (mostly shipping companies), and government bodies handling claims. It matters because it protects workers’ rights during big legal changes and stops employers or workers from being unfairly penalised by the timing of an injury."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/seafarers-rehabilitation-and-compensation-transitional-provisions-and-consequential-amendments-act-1","history":"/api/acts/seafarers-rehabilitation-and-compensation-transitional-provisions-and-consequential-amendments-act-1/history","analysis":"/api/acts/seafarers-rehabilitation-and-compensation-transitional-provisions-and-consequential-amendments-act-1/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/seafarers-rehabilitation-and-compensation-transitional-provisions-and-consequential-amendments-act-1/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/seafarers-rehabilitation-and-compensation-transitional-provisions-and-consequential-amendments-act-1/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/seafarers-rehabilitation-and-compensation-transitional-provisions-and-consequential-amendments-act-1/documents"}}