VICIn ForceAct
Workers Compensation Act 1958
5ANominal defendant
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 5A
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Workers Compensation Act 1958.
5A Nominal defendant
S. 5A(1) amended by Nos 10191 s. 260(1)(a), 67/1992 s. 64(11)(a).
(1) Where the employer of the worker—
(b) is dead or cannot be found or (in the case of a company) has been wound up—
any claim for compensation shall be made against a nominal defendant to be named by the County Court or Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
(1A) Without affecting the generality of subsection (1), where the employer cannot be found at the last-known place of abode of the employer or the last place of business at which the worker was employed by the employer, the employer shall be deemed to be unable to be found and the said subsection shall apply to and in relation to the worker accordingly.
S. 5A(2) substituted by No. 9136 s. 2(1)(a).
(2) The nominal defendant shall not be liable to pay any compensation but—
S. 5A(2)(a) amended by No. 10191 s. 260(1)(b)(i).
(a) where the policy of accident insurance or indemnity held by the employer in accordance with section 72(1)(a) as in force before the appointed day or that policy as extended indemnifies the employer in respect of his liability to pay the compensation concerned or any part thereof, the compensation or the part concerned shall be paid by the insurer; and
S. 5A(2)(b) amended by Nos 10191 s. 260(1)(b)(i)
(ii), 67/1992 s. 64(11)(d) (as amended by No. 50/1993 s. 111(2)(e)), 50/1994 s. 112.
(b) where the policy of accident insurance or indemnity held by the employer in accordance with section 72(1)(a) as in force before the appointed day or that policy as extended does not indemnify the employer in respect of his liability to pay the compensation concerned or any part thereof, the compensation or the part concerned shall be paid out of the Fund.
S. 5A(2A) inserted by No. 9136 s. 2(1)(a), amended by Nos 10191 s. 260(1)(a)(c), 67/1992 s. 64(11)(a)(d) (as amended by No. 50/1993 s. 111(2)(e)), 50/1994 s. 112.
(2A) Where the insurer with whom the employer was insured at the relevant time cannot be determined to the satisfaction of the County Court or Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the compensation shall be paid out of the Fund.
S. 5A(3) amended by No. 9613 s. 3(b).
(3) Nothing in subsections (1) and (2) shall apply to or in relation to the payment of compensation in accordance with Division 3 or 3A of this Part.
S. 5A(4) amended by Nos 10191 s. 260(1)(a), 67/1992 s. 64(11)(a).
(4) The provisions of subsections (3), (4) and (5) of section 16 shall apply to and in relation to nominal defendants named by the County Court or Administrative Appeals Tribunal for the purposes of this section.
S. 5AA inserted by No. 9136 s. 2(1)(b), amended by No. 10191 s. 270(3).
5AA Payments by employer not admission of liability
A payment or payments made by an employer to a worker by way of weekly payments or in respect of medical hospital nursing or ambulance services shall not be taken to be an admission by the employer of his liability to pay compensation if under the terms of the policy of accident insurance or indemnity held by him in accordance with section 72(1)(a) as in force before the appointed day or that policy as extended the payment or payments are made in respect of any liability to pay compensation for which the employer is not entitled to be indemnified by the insurer.
Nos 5601 s. 6, 5676 s. 4(3).
S. 6
amended by No. 9683 s. 3(a)(b).