Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Specified Laws) Declaration 2017

There are a small number of controlling concepts in the instrument, all expressed in its text.

• Declaration power and source of authority. The instrument is made under an express subsection of the Commonwealth Act, namely subsection 119(7), s 3. It therefore operates as a delegated instrument of the Commonwealth referencing the Commonwealth Act's power to declare certain State or Territory laws to be "specified laws".

• Commencement. The instrument takes effect the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation, s 2. That rule sets a precise and short commencement window: stakeholders should note the date of registration to know the exact date the declaration becomes operative.

• Schedules may effect amendments. Section 4 establishes a general principle that items in Schedules to the instrument may amend or repeal instruments specified in those Schedules, or otherwise have whatever effect their terms prescribe. In this instrument Schedule 1 is a declaration table; s 4 is the general machinery clause that governs how Schedules operate.

• Substantive declaration. Section 5 is the operative substantive provision: it declares that for the purposes of subsection 119(7) of the Commonwealth Act, "a law of a State or of a Territory that provides for the payment of compensation, other than workers' compensation, specified in column 1 of an item of the table in Schedule 1 is a specified law", s 5. Two definitional features are embedded here: (a) only laws that "provide for the payment of compensation" are captured, and (b) the declaration expressly excludes "workers' compensation". The Schedule identifies those laws by title and item number.

• Geographic and subject coverage. Schedule 1 groups the listed laws by jurisdiction and identifies Acts with motor-accident, lifetime care, sporting injury, victims-of-crime and criminal injury subject matter. The Schedule therefore covers a range of compensation schemes that are not labelled workers' compensation, and the list spans mainland States, Territories and some external Territories.

Because the instrument is declaratory, its legal concept is cross-referential: it does not define the substantive content of compensation entitlements or the operational detail of the State Acts. The instrument's legal work is to link specific State/Territory statutes to the Commonwealth Act by the label "specified law" for the purpose stated in subsection 119(7) of the Commonwealth Act. The instrument does not itself explain the legal consequences of that label; those consequences must be determined from the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.

The instrument identifies classes of laws and, by implication, the individuals and entities who are subject to or benefit from those laws. The text itself frames the affected group in terms of statutes, not named parties, but practical application will involve several concrete groups.

• Persons eligible under the listed State and Territory Acts. Section 5 applies to "a law of a State or of a Territory that provides for the payment of compensation, other than workers' compensation, specified in column 1 of an item of the table in Schedule 1", s 5. That language focuses attention on persons who are covered by those named Acts. The Schedule contains statutes that, on their face, govern compensation payments to injured persons, victims of crime, or persons with catastrophic or lifetime injuries. In practical terms, claimants, beneficiaries, dependants and their legal representatives under those Acts are the primary human stakeholders whose cases may intersect with Commonwealth obligations under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988.

• State and Territory agencies administering the listed Acts. The listed Acts are administered by State or Territory agencies or statutory authorities (for example transport accident bodies, victims-of-crime assistance agencies, lifetime care agencies). The declaration will be relevant to those agencies because it formally places their Acts within the Commonwealth Act's category of "specified laws" under subsection 119(7), s 5. The instrument itself does not change the State agencies' statutory powers or duties under their own Acts; it signals a federal cross-reference which may affect coordinated administration, reporting or interaction with Commonwealth schemes.

• Commonwealth entities and administrators of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. Because the declaration is made under s 119(7) of the Commonwealth Act, it creates an administrative classification that the Commonwealth administrator of that Act must take into account. The instrument therefore affects departments or decision-makers who apply the Commonwealth Act's provisions that reference "specified laws" under the relevant subsection. The instrument does not itself set out those Commonwealth provisions or their practical effects; it creates the list that those provisions will operate on.

• Insurers and service providers. Many listed Acts involve entitlements paid by insurers or by statutory schemes that contract with service providers (medical, rehabilitation, lifetime-care). The instrument does not create new obligations for private insurers or suppliers, but by formally linking State/Territory schemes to the Commonwealth Act’s concept of "specified laws", it may affect how insurers and providers model overlapping entitlements or subrogation issues. The instrument’s text does not specify those interactions; practitioners should read the relevant provisions of the Commonwealth Act that give operative effect to a law’s being a "specified law".

• Legal practitioners and advisers. Lawyers and advocates who act for claimants or defendants in matters governed by the listed State and Territory Acts must be alert to the declaration because it may influence how Commonwealth-level entitlements or offsets operate. The instrument itself is an identification tool; it does not resolve conflicts or provide procedural directions. Responsibility rests with advisers to check the Commonwealth Act and the listed State/Territory Act text and any inter-governmental instruments.

The instrument does not list individuals by name, nor does it purport to alter the substantive scope of the State or Territory Acts it lists. It affects those whose legal positions depend on cross-references between Commonwealth and State/Territory law, by ensuring that particular State/Territory Acts are formally recognised as "specified laws" within the meaning of subsection 119(7) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, s 5.

The instrument itself contains no express obligations, rights, or duties imposed on persons. It operates as a declaratory instrument that identifies particular State and Territory Acts as "specified laws" for the purposes of some provision (subsection 119(7)) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, s 5. Therefore the key "duty" or "right" created by the instrument is not substantive in the sense of creating a new private right or an offence; instead it creates a legal classification upon which other statutory provisions may operate.

Because the instrument does not itself set out consequences of the classification, the practical duties and rights that flow from inclusion on the Schedule are found in:

• the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 itself, insofar as that Commonwealth Act contains provisions that refer to "specified laws" under subsection 119(7), and
• the listed State or Territory Acts which contain the substantive entitlements, administrative procedures and definitions for compensation payments.

This instrument does embed a couple of concrete limitations and parameters which practitioners must note:

• Subject-matter limitation. Section 5 limits the declaration to laws "that provide for the payment of compensation, other than workers' compensation", s 5. That exclusion is a statutory constraint: a State or Territory Act that is properly characterised as a workers' compensation law is excluded from being captured by this declaration. The effect is that the instrument’s Schedule should be read as asserting the listed Acts, in their operation and subject-matter, are non-workers' compensation compensation schemes.

• Identification by title. The Schedule identifies laws by title and jurisdiction. The declared list is therefore a cataloguing device: inclusion depends on the statutory title (as recorded in the Schedule), s 5 and Schedule 1. Where an Act has been renamed, replaced, or repealed, practitioners will need to check whether the listed title remains the operative statute in the jurisdiction and whether the statutory title or any successor Act is captured by the Schedule entry; the instrument does not itself amend State Acts.

• Administrative effect via the Commonwealth Act. Any duty to recognise or take account of the listed laws as "specified laws" is a duty located in the Commonwealth Act’s provisions which use that category. The instrument does not reproduce those Commonwealth duties; it merely effects the classification under the delegated power in subsection 119(7), s 3 and s 5.

In short, the instrument assigns a statutory label to a set of non-workers' compensation State and Territory compensation laws. The practical rights and duties arising from that label are not created by this instrument; they arise from the interplay between the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 and the substantive State and Territory Acts listed in Schedule 1.

The instrument contains no penalty, offence or enforcement provisions. Nothing in the text of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Specified Laws) Declaration 2017 creates or prescribes sanctions for non-compliance, nor does it prescribe enforcement mechanisms. The instrument is a declaratory instrument and, by its terms, consists of a commencement clause, an authority clause, a schedules clause and a declaration clause with an attached Schedule of statutes, ss 1-5 and Schedule 1.

Consequently, any enforcement consequences that result from a law being listed as a "specified law" will be found in the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (the enabling Commonwealth Act) or in the listed State/Territory Acts themselves. Practitioners should therefore:

• consult the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 to identify any enforcement provisions, civil consequences or administrative sanctions that operate by reference to "specified laws" under subsection 119(7); the Declaration does not reproduce or restate those consequences;
• consult the relevant State or Territory Acts in Schedule 1 for their own enforcement schemes, whether civil, administrative, or otherwise; the instruments listed include Acts such as Motor Accidents Acts, Victims of Crime Acts and Criminal Injuries Compensation Acts, which typically contain their own complaint, review and payment mechanisms; and
• where necessary, identify which state or Commonwealth body has jurisdiction to give effect to the relevant enforcement provision, since the Declaration records the statutory titles and jurisdictions but does not allocate enforcement responsibility.

Because the instrument is silent on enforcement, there are no penalties in the instrument for failing to list a law or for incorrect administration of the Schedule. Any sanctionable conduct would need to be linked to contraventions of other statutory duties that refer to "specified laws" as classified by this Declaration.

The instrument is explicitly cross-referential. It both depends on and modifies the legal import of other statutes solely by identifying which State and Territory laws are to be treated, for the purposes of subsection 119(7) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, as "specified laws", s 3 and s 5. The immediate legal interaction is therefore with:

• The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. The Declaration is expressly made under subsection 119(7) of that Act, s 3. The Declaration’s entire purpose, per s 5, is to specify which State or Territory laws are within the meaning of that subsection. Any legal effect , for example, entitlement offsets, coordination of benefits, or recognition of payments governed by State Acts , depends on how the Commonwealth Act uses the label "specified law" in its provisions. The Declaration does not restate those interacting Commonwealth provisions; those must be read in the Commonwealth Act itself.

• The listed State and Territory Acts. Schedule 1 lists, by jurisdiction, particular Acts such as Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW), Motor Accidents (Lifetime Care and Support) Act 2006 (NSW), Victims Rights and Support Act 2013 (NSW), Transport Accident Act 1986 (VIC), Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 2003 (WA) and many others. The Declaration treats those Acts as the body of State/Territory law that falls within the Commonwealth Act’s definition of "specified laws" under subsection 119(7). The Declaration does not alter the substantive terms, rights, remedies or procedures within those Acts; it maps them into the Commonwealth category.

• Amendments and transitional regimes. The Schedule includes older and newer Acts for the same subject-matter within some jurisdictions (for example: Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW) and Motor Accidents Injuries Act 2017 (NSW) appear together as items 1 and 1A). That coexistence in the Schedule suggests that the Declaration imports the relevant State Acts irrespective of internal transitional or repeal provisions. Practitioners must therefore reconcile the State Act titles listed with the State Act text, including any transitional provisions, repeal, replacements or savings clauses. The Declaration itself does not create or resolve transitional coverage questions.

• External Territories and applied State Acts. Schedule 1 explicitly lists certain Acts as applied to external Territories, e.g., Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 2003 (WA) (CI) and Motor Vehicle (Catastrophic Injuries) Act 2016 (WA) (CI) for Christmas Island, and analogous entries for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, items 20-23. Those Schedule entries reflect that the instruments listed include State Acts as applied to external Territories. The Declaration therefore links applied State legislation in external Territories into the Commonwealth classification.

• Interaction with workers' compensation regimes. Section 5 expressly excludes workers' compensation laws from the declaration: the declared category is confined to State/Territory laws "that provide for the payment of compensation, other than workers' compensation", s 5. That exclusion is a delimiting rule that affects interaction: where a statutory scheme is characterised as a workers' compensation scheme, it is not meant to be captured by this Declaration. Practitioners must therefore characterise the relevant State/Territory scheme (workers' compensation or not) before assuming that the Declaration applies.

• No direct amendment power exercised in this Schedule. Although s 4 states a Schedule may amend or repeal a listed instrument, Schedule 1 in this instrument is not framed as amending or repealing State laws; it is a declaration list. The Declaration therefore operates differently to instruments that use Schedules to make textual amendments to other instruments. Readers should not assume Schedule 1 alters the text of any State or Territory Act; it simply identifies them.

Overall, the declaration operates as a formal bridge between named State and Territory compensation statutes and the Commonwealth Act’s regulatory framework. The concrete legal interactions and practical effects arise from provisions in the Commonwealth Act that are triggered by a law being a "specified law" under subsection 119(7), and from the substantive provisions of the listed State or Territory Acts. The Declaration itself does not resolve conflicts, procedural priority issues, or any private law questions that may arise where State and Commonwealth schemes overlap.

The text of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Specified Laws) Declaration 2017 provided here does not record any prior amendments, revocations, or variations to this instrument itself. The instrument identifies itself by name in s 1: "This instrument is the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Specified Laws) Declaration 2017", s 1. It states a commencement rule, s 2, and the authority under which it is made, s 3. The instrument’s Schedules provision, s 4, is a standard machinery clause relating to how Schedules operate.

From the instrument's text alone the following points about amendment history can be stated factually:

• The instrument is dated as a 2017 instrument by its name, s 1. No dates beyond that which indicate registration or amendment history are present in the text provided here.

• The Schedule lists a number of State and Territory Acts, including some enacted in different years (for example Motor Accidents Injuries Act 2017 (NSW) appears at item 1A; Motor Vehicle (Catastrophic Injuries) Act 2016 (WA) appears at item 14), which indicates that the Schedule contains Acts from a range of years and may be reflecting contemporaneous State law as at the time the Declaration was prepared. The presence of different-year Acts in the Schedule is not, by itself, an amendment history of the instrument; it is the content of the Schedule.

• Section 4 permits Schedules to amend or repeal other instruments if the Schedule items so provide, but in this instrument Schedule 1 is a list of Acts rather than a set of textual amendments or repeals to other instruments, s 4 and Schedule 1. The instrument as presented does not include any item that purports to amend or repeal other instruments by textual change.

• No later amending instruments or revocations are recorded in the text provided. To identify any subsequent amendment, repeal or replacement of this Declaration after its registration, a practitioner must consult the Federal Register of Legislation, the Commonwealth Gazette, or electronic consolidated legislation resources to see whether this 2017 instrument has been amended or repealed since registration. The instrument text itself does not contain that information.

In short, the instrument as supplied is self-contained and contains no internal amendment history. Any search for amendment history, revocation or replacement must be conducted by reference to external legislative databases because the Declaration text does not disclose post-registration events.

The instrument, as provided, contains no references to judicial consideration, case law, or litigation involving the Declaration itself. The text does not cite cases, and it records only the delegated power under subsection 119(7) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 and the Schedule of State/Territory Acts, ss 3 and 5.

Because this instrument is a statutory declaration that functions as an administrative list, litigation involving its operation would ordinarily arise by reference to the Commonwealth Act and the listed State/Territory Acts, for example:

• disputes about whether a particular payment is within the scope of a "specified law" under subsection 119(7) of the Commonwealth Act might be litigated (but any such litigation would be directed to the meaning and application of the Commonwealth Act and the State law, not to this instrument’s text beyond its Schedule entry);
• challenges to administrative decisions that rely on the Declaration would be brought under relevant judicial review regimes against the Commonwealth decision-maker, invoking the Declaration only to the extent that the decision-maker relied upon it; and
• conflicts between Commonwealth and State entitlements or claims could produce litigation in which the classification of a State Act as a "specified law" under the Commonwealth Act is relevant.

However, the instrument itself does not record any judgments or proceedings. To determine whether any litigation has occurred that references or turns on this Declaration, one must search case law databases, administrative law reports, or judicial decisions in which subsection 119(7) of the Commonwealth Act and this Declaration are cited. Such a search is external to the instrument’s text; the instrument provides no internal litigation history.

Because the instrument is brief and declaratory, a number of practical pitfalls and points of caution arise for practitioners who rely on it. The instrument’s text itself highlights several matters to check and confirm rather than assumes them.

• The instrument is a classification, not a substantive source of entitlements. The Declaration lists State and Territory Acts as "specified laws" for the purposes of subsection 119(7) of the Commonwealth Act, s 5. It does not itself alter or restate the substantive rights, remedies or procedures in those State Acts. A common error would be to treat the Declaration as creating an entitlement or process; it does not.

• Confirm whether the listed Act is the operative statute in the jurisdiction. The Schedule identifies Acts by title. Where a jurisdiction has enacted successor legislation, renamed or repealed an Act, or applied a different statutory instrument, the Schedule entry may nonetheless retain the old title. Practitioners should verify the current text and operative status of the listed State/Territory Act in the jurisdiction before relying on the Declaration. The Declaration does not update or amend State Acts itself; s 4 merely sets out how Schedules could operate in principle.

• Watch for duplicated or overlapping titles. The Schedule includes multiple Acts in the same subject-area within jurisdictions (for example NSW items 1 and 1A: Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 and Motor Accidents Injuries Act 2017). That duplication may reflect transitional regimes, staged reforms, or concurrent statutory coverage for different cohorts of claimants. Do not assume the Declaration resolves which Act applies to a particular claimant; consult the State Act's transitional provisions and operative dates.

• The statutory exclusion of workers' compensation. Section 5 explicitly excludes workers' compensation from the class of laws being declared, s 5. If a scheme is characterised as workers' compensation under State law, it is not intended to be captured by the Declaration. Practitioners must carefully characterise whether a State or Territory scheme is a workers' compensation scheme or a separate compensation scheme (e.g., victims-of-crime, motor accident statutory scheme, lifetime care). Mischaracterisation could lead to incorrect assumptions about offsets, coverage and applicable procedures.

• Check external Territory entries carefully. Schedule 1 includes entries explicitly noting the application of Western Australian Acts to external Territories (CI and CKI notation) for Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, items 20-23. Those entries mean particular State Acts as applied to external Territories are included. Verify territorial application and whether other local instruments or federal statutes modify how those Acts operate in the Territory.

• The instrument is silent about operational detail. The Declaration does not state how overlaps with Commonwealth schemes are to be resolved, whether Commonwealth contributions are to be offset by State payments, or how disputes about priority are to be handled. Those operational details will be found in the Commonwealth Act and in the State/Territory Acts. The Declaration simply identifies the class of State/Territory Acts that are "specified laws" under subsection 119(7).

• Administrative reliance risks. If a Commonwealth administrative body relies on the Declaration to make decisions affecting third parties, those third parties should not assume the Declaration itself is the statutory footing for any particular outcome. Remedies and challenge routes will depend on the statutory decision-making power invoked by the Commonwealth decision-maker and whether the decision-maker correctly applied the Commonwealth Act.

• Practitioners must consult primary texts. Because the instrument’s text is concise, reliance on it without consulting the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 and the listed State/Territory Acts risks error. The Declaration is a pointer, not a substitute for primary statutory interpretation.

These are not speculative warnings; they follow from the instrument’s structure and wording: it declares the listed laws are "specified laws" for subsection 119(7) purposes (s 5), it commences on registration+1 day (s 2), and it includes a Schedule of State and Territory Acts that practitioners must reconcile with local enactments (Schedule 1).

Compliance in relation to this instrument is essentially administrative and interpretative because the Declaration itself does not impose operational duties or penalties. The primary compliance tasks for affected parties and advisers are to identify, reconcile and incorporate the Declaration into their legal and administrative workflows by reference to the Commonwealth and State/Territory Acts the Declaration cross-references.

Practical steps:

1. Verify the Declaration’s commencement date. The instrument commences the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation, s 2. Check the exact registration date in the Federal Register to determine the precise operative date.

2. Map your client population to the Schedule. Identify which of your clients, claimants or administered cases are governed by one or more of the Acts listed in Schedule 1. The Schedule lists Acts by jurisdiction and title (for example, Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW), Transport Accident Act 1986 (VIC), Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 2003 (WA)). Use those titles as starting points to locate the operative State/Territory legislation.

3. Confirm the current State/Territory statutory text. For each listed Act relevant to your matters, obtain the current consolidated version of the State/Territory Act and review scope, eligibility, transitional provisions, and any amendments or repeals. The Declaration lists statutory titles; it does not validate whether a listed Act has been superseded or replaced in the State/Territory consolidated law.

4. Identify the Commonwealth provisions that reference "specified laws". Since the Declaration is made under subsection 119(7) of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, practitioners must read the Commonwealth Act to determine the legal consequences of a law being a "specified law" under that subsection. The Declaration alone does not state those consequences.

5. Reconcile overlap and priority rules. Where a claimant may have entitlements under both a listed State/Territory Act and a Commonwealth scheme (or another State/Territory scheme), identify which provisions determine offsetting, subrogation, priority, or coordination of payments. The Declaration does not resolve these questions; it identifies the relevant State/Territory Acts that may engage coordination rules in the Commonwealth Act.

6. Update administrative and case-management protocols. If you are an agency, insurer, legal practice or service provider, update intake forms, system tags, claims triage protocols and reporting templates to flag matters governed by Acts listed in Schedule 1. This is an administrative necessary because the Declaration defines the set of external laws that the Commonwealth Act treats as "specified laws".

7. Note the workers' compensation exclusion. Where a scheme is potentially a workers' compensation scheme, do not assume the Declaration applies; s 5 excludes workers' compensation explicitly. Verify the statutory characterisation in State law before categorising a scheme as within the Declaration’s scope.

8. Check for external territory nuances. For matters in external Territories such as Christmas Island or the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, verify the territorial application of the listed State Acts (items 20-23) and any federal modifications applicable to those Territories.

9. Seek primary-source confirmation before advising clients. Because the Declaration itself is a classificatory instrument with no procedural or substantive detail, before providing advice to clients about entitlements, offsets, or administrative routes, review the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 for relevant Commonwealth rules and the State/Territory Act for substantive entitlements.

10. Monitor legislative updates. The Declaration is dated 2017. To ensure ongoing compliance, monitor both the Federal Register of Legislation for any amending or repealing instruments affecting this Declaration, and each relevant State/Territory jurisdiction for changes to the listed Acts. Section 4 makes clear schedules may in other instruments effect amendments; do not assume this instrument is immutable.

Following these steps will align practice with the instrument’s limited but legally significant role as a connector between named State/Territory compensation Acts and the Commonwealth Act’s "specified laws" concept. The Declaration itself does not set payment rates, dispute resolution processes, or enforcement tools; those are found in the substantive Acts and in the Commonwealth Act provisions that reference this classification.