1Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation Regulations 2019

Version No. 002

Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation Regulations 2019

S.R. No. 62/2019

Version incorporating amendments as at
1 September 2022

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Regulation Page

Part 1—Preliminary 1

1 Objectives 1

2 Authorising provision 1

3 Definitions 2

Part 2—Application for special consideration 3

4 Manner and form of application for special consideration 3

Part 3—Advisory committee 4

5 Establishment of the advisory committee 4

6 Members of the advisory committee 4

7 Eligibility requirements for members 4

8 Appointment of members 5

9 Appointment of chairperson 6

10 Resignation of members 6

11 Removal of members of advisory committee 7

12 Request for expert opinion from the advisory committee 7

13 Duty to declare conflict of interest 8

14 Expert opinions 8

15 Administrative support 10

16 Confidentiality 10

17 Procedures of the advisory committee 10

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Endnotes 11

1 General information 11

2 Table of Amendments 13

3 Explanatory details 14

Version No. 002

Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation Regulations 2019

S.R. No. 62/2019

Version incorporating amendments as at
1 September 2022

Part 1—Preliminary

1 Objectives

The objectives of these Regulations are to support and further the purposes of the Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 by prescribing—

(a) the manner and form of an application for special consideration made under section 13(2) of the Act; and

(b) the membership of, and other matters relating to, the establishment of the advisory committee under section 20 of the Act; and

Reg. 1(c) amended by S.R. No. 71/2022 reg. 5.

(c) the form and process of providing an expert opinion to the Authority under sections 12, 12C and 16 of the Act.

2 Authorising provision

These Regulations are made under section 22 of the Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019.

3 Definitions

In these regulations—

application for special consideration means an application under section 13(2) of the Act;

Reg. 3 def. of expert opinion amended by S.R. No. 71/2022 reg. 6.

expert opinion means an opinion provided by the advisory committee under section 12, 12C or 16 of the Act;

fire services agency has the same meaning as it has in the Emergency Management Act 2013;

the Act means the Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019.

Part 2—Application for special consideration

4 Manner and form of application for special consideration

For the purposes of section 15(1)(a) of the Act, an application for special consideration must be made in writing and includes any relevant supporting information.

Part 3—Advisory committee

5 Establishment of the advisory committee

For the purposes of section 20(1) and (3) of the Act, the Minister must establish the advisory committee in accordance with this Part.

6 Members of the advisory committee

(1) The members of the advisory committee are to be appointed by the Minister.

(2) The Minister should appoint up to 15 persons to be members of the advisory committee.

7 Eligibility requirements for members

(1) A person (other than a person referred to in subregulation (2)) is eligible to be appointed as a member, if—

(a) the Minister is satisfied that the person is able to make an informed and independent assessment of the matters to be considered by the advisory committee; and

(b) the person meets at least one of the following requirements—

(i) has significant and substantial expertise and experience in firefighting, fire response, fire management or another relevant field;

(ii) has significant and substantial expertise and experience relevant to the scientific research of the relationship between firefighters' occupational exposure and cancers;

(iii) is an Australian lawyer.

(2) A person is not eligible to be appointed as a member if the person is—

(a) engaged in any paid employment, is a volunteer or holds a position with—

(i) a fire services agency; or

(ii) an industrial body that is responsible for an enterprise agreement that applies to a fire services agency; or

(iii) the Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria Incorporated; or

(iv) the Victorian Volunteer Firefighters Association; or

(b) an insolvent under administration; or

(c) convicted of an indictable offence, or an offence that, if committed in Victoria, would be an indictable offence.

8 Appointment of members

(1) A member must be appointed in writing by the Minister.

(2) The term of an appointment of a member is as specified in the instrument of appointment but must not be longer than 3 years.

(3) A member's instrument of appointment must specify—

(a) the terms and conditions of the member's appointment; and

(b) the remuneration (if any) and travelling or other allowances to which the member is entitled.

(4) A member is eligible for reappointment.

9 Appointment of chairperson

(1) The Minister must, in writing, appoint a member to be the chairperson of the advisory committee.

(2) If the chairperson is, for any reason, unable to perform their functions or duties on the advisory committee—

(a) the chairperson must appoint a member to act as chairperson during the period in which the chairperson is unable to perform their functions and duties; or

(b) if it is not possible for the chairperson to make an appointment under paragraph (a), the Minister must appoint a person to act as chairperson during the period in which the chairperson is unable to perform their functions and duties.

(3) A person appointed as acting chairperson under subregulation (2) may be appointed to exercise—

(a) all of the functions and duties of the chairperson under these Regulations; or

(b) the functions and duties of the chairperson in relation to a specific request for an expert opinion received under regulation 14.

10 Resignation of members

(1) A member may resign by giving written notice to the Minister.

(2) A resignation under subregulation (1) takes effect—

(a) on the day the notice is received by the Minister; or

(b) if a later date is specified in the notice, on that later date.

11 Removal of members of advisory committee

(1) The Minister may, at any time, remove a member of the advisory committee.

(2) A person ceases to be a member of the advisory committee if any one of the criteria specified in regulation 7(2) applies to the member after the member is appointed.

12 Request for expert opinion from the advisory committee

Reg. 12(1) amended by S.R. No. 71/2022 reg. 7.

(1) After a request for an expert opinion has been made under section 12(1), 12C(1) or 16(2) of the Act, the chairperson must, as soon as reasonably practicable—

(a) nominate 3 members, to constitute the advisory committee, that will provide an expert opinion in accordance with regulation 14; and

(b) provide the nominated members with the documents received from the Authority that are relevant to the request.

(2) For the purposes of subregulation (1)(a), the chairperson may nominate themselves as a member for the purpose of providing an expert opinion for the request.

(3) Taking into account the nature of the request for an expert opinion and to the extent reasonably practicable, the chairperson's nomination of the advisory committee members is to represent the fields specified in regulation 7(1) which have the most relevance to the request for an expert opinion.

13 Duty to declare conflict of interest

(1) Prior to considering a request for an expert opinion, each member nominated under regulation 12(1)(a) must declare any conflict of interest they may have in relation to the request.

(2) Declarations under subregulation (1) must be made to the chairperson.

(3) The chairperson must appoint an alternate member under regulation 12(1)(a) in circumstances where a member that was nominated declares a conflict of interest that prevents them from providing an expert opinion on the request.

(4) The chairperson must declare any conflict of interest they may have in relation to a request for an expert opinion received under regulation 12(1) to the Minister.

(5) In circumstances where the conflict of interest prevents the chairperson from carrying out their functions under these Regulations, the Minister must appoint an acting chairperson for the request for an expert opinion.

14 Expert opinions

(1) Subject to regulation 16, the advisory committee for the purpose of providing an expert opinion—

Reg. 14(1)(a) amended by S.R. No. 71/2022 reg. 8(1).

(a) must, as far as reasonably practicable, provide the firefighter or vehicle and equipment maintenance employee with an opportunity to provide information that is relevant to the request for expert opinion; and

Reg. 14(1)(b) amended by S.R. No. 71/2022 reg. 8(1).

(b) may seek advice or information from other persons, including the firefighter or vehicle and equipment maintenance employee, the Authority and the relevant fire services agency; and

(c) may inform itself on any matter relevant to the request as it sees fit.

Reg. 14(2) amended by S.R. No. 71/2022 reg. 8(2).

(2) For the purposes of providing an expert opinion to the Authority under section 12 or 12C of the Act, the advisory committee may assist by obtaining relevant records, brigade records, CFA data, employer data and local knowledge.

(3) The advisory committee is not bound by any advice received under subregulation (1).

(4) An expert opinion must be signed by at least a majority of the members of the advisory committee.

(5) The advisory committee must provide an expert opinion and the reasons for the opinion to the Authority—

Reg. 14(5)(a) amended by S.R. No. 71/2022 reg. 8(2).

(a) in the case of a request under section 12 or 12C of the Act, within 10 days after receiving a request from the Authority; or

(b) in the case of an application for special consideration under section 16 of the Act, within 60 days after receiving a request from the Authority.

(6) The expert opinion provided under subregulation (5) must be in the form approved by the Authority.

Reg. 14(7) amended by S.R. No. 71/2022 reg. 8(3).

(7) Following the determination of their claim under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013, the firefighter or vehicle and equipment maintenance employee may request a copy of the expert opinion and the reasons for the expert opinion provided under subregulation (5).

Reg. 14(8) amended by S.R. No. 71/2022 reg. 8(3).

(8) Where the firefighter or vehicle and equipment maintenance employee makes a request under subregulation (7), the Authority must provide them with a copy of the expert opinion and the reasons for the expert opinion within 7 days from the date the request is received by the Authority.

15 Administrative support

The Authority must provide the advisory committee with any necessary administrative support on the request of the chairperson.

16 Confidentiality

(1) Materials and information provided to the advisory committee in the course of carrying out its functions must be treated as confidential.

(2) Where the advisory committee considers that it is appropriate to distribute materials or information to another person under regulation 14(1), the advisory committee is responsible for managing confidentiality of the materials and information.

(3) This regulation does not derogate from the obligations of the advisory committee under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

17 Procedures of the advisory committee

Subject to these Regulations, the chairperson may make rules with respect to the procedures of the advisory committee.

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Endnotes

1 General information

See www.legislation.vic.gov.au for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.

The Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation Regulations 2019, S.R. No. 62/2019 were made on 9 July 2019 by the Governor in Council under section 22 of the Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019, No. 20/2019 and came into operation on 9 July 2019.

The Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation Regulations 2019 will sunset 10 years after the day of making on 9 July 2029 (see section 5 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994).

INTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)

Style changes

Section 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.

References to ILA s. 39B

Sidenotes which cite ILA s. 39B refer to section 39B of the ILA which provides that where an undivided regulation, rule or clause of a Schedule is amended by the insertion of one or more subregulations, subrules or subclauses the original regulation, rule or clause becomes subregulation, subrule or subclause (1) and is amended by the insertion of the expression "(1)" at the beginning of the original regulation, rule or clause.

Interpretation

As from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:

• Headings

All headings included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after
1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any heading inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.
This includes headings to Parts, Divisions or Subdivisions in a Schedule; Orders; Parts into which an Order is divided; clauses; regulations; rules; items; tables; columns; examples; diagrams; notes or forms.
See section 36(1A)(2A)(2B).

• Examples, diagrams or notes

All examples, diagrams or notes included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any examples, diagrams or notes inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, form part of that Statutory Rule. See section 36(3A).

• Punctuation

All punctuation included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after
1 January 2001 forms part of that Statutory Rule. Any punctuation inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.
See section 36(3B).

• Provision numbers

All provision numbers included in a Statutory Rule form part of that Statutory Rule, whether inserted in the Statutory Rule before, on or after
1 January 2001. Provision numbers include regulation numbers, rule numbers, subregulation numbers, subrule numbers, paragraphs and subparagraphs. See section 36(3C).

• Location of "legislative items"

A "legislative item" is a penalty, an example or a note. As from 13 October 2004, a legislative item relating to a provision of a Statutory Rule is taken to be at the foot of that provision even if it is preceded or followed by another legislative item that relates to that provision. For example, if a penalty at the foot of a provision is followed by a note, both of these legislative items will be regarded as being at the foot of that provision. See section 36B.

• Other material

Any explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of a Statutory Rule. See section 36(3)(3D)(3E).

2 Table of Amendments

This publication incorporates amendments made to the Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation Regulations 2019 by statutory rules, subordinate instruments and Acts.

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Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation Amendment Regulations 2022, S.R. No. 71/2022

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3 Explanatory details

No entries at date of publication.