What it does
The Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Act 1992 (the Administration Act) establishes a statutory framework for funding and regulating long service leave (LSL) specifically within the black coal mining industry. At its core, the Act creates the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation (the Corporation) as a body corporate with a seal (s.6(2)), capable of suing and being sued. The Corporation's primary functions, set out in s.7, are to establish and maintain the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Fund (the Fund), make payments into and out of the Fund, advise the Minister on appropriate rates of payroll levy, monitor compliance with levy obligations, maintain detailed records of employment, qualifying service, LSL entitlements and reimbursement amounts (s.7(da)), and provide general advice on the operation of the Administration Act, the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Act 1992 (the Payroll Levy Act) and the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection Act 1992 (the Payroll Levy Collection Act).
The Fund itself is constituted under s.40 as a notional ledger within the Corporation's accounts. All moneys received by the Corporation, other than actual payroll levy payments from employers, are paid into the Fund (s.40(2)). Payments into a bank account count as payments into the Fund (s.40(3)). The Corporation is empowered to create separate notional accounts within the Fund to distinguish levy paid before and on or after 1 January 2012 (s.40(4)), reflecting the major 2011-2012 reforms that shifted the scheme from a grant-based system to a direct entitlement model.
Payments out of the Fund are strictly controlled. The Fund may only be applied to payments required or permitted by the Administration Act or the Payroll Levy Collection Act (s.41). Key outflows include reimbursements to employers for LSL payments made to eligible employees or their legal personal representatives (s.44), refunds of overpaid levy (s.47), direct payments to employees where an employer is insolvent, being wound up or has ceased to exist (s.48), and any excess distributions determined by the Board where the Fund is over-capitalised (s.43(7)).