Workers Compensation (Indexation) Order 2019

The Order uses several statutory concepts from the 1987 Act; the Order’s effect depends on how those concepts operate in the parent Act. The principal concepts in the Order are:

• Latest index number. The Order declares specific numerical index values to be the “latest index number” for each listed adjustment date for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of that term in s 79 of the 1987 Act (cl 4). That declared index is the reference base for calculating adjusted amounts by reference to the Consumer Price Index or other indexation mechanism embedded in the Act. The Order also directs readers to a prior regulation clause for earlier dates (cl 4 Note).

• Adjustable amount / adjusted amount. The Order enumerates “adjustable amounts” , specified monetary figures that the 1987 Act makes adjustable (for example, caps, thresholds, per‑diem figures, lump sum base amounts). For each adjustable amount the Order declares an “adjusted amount” applicable from the adjustment date until the day before the next adjustment date (cl 5, cl 6 tables). The legal effect is that the Act’s referenced amounts are to be read at the declared adjusted dollar figure for the relevant period.

• Adjustment dates and review dates. The Order distinguishes between “adjustment date” (used for adjusted amounts in cl 5 and cl 6) and “review date” (used for variation of weekly payments at cl 7 and for the highest needs amount at cl 8). Each declared number is expressly tied to the listed date and is to apply until immediately before the next scheduled date.

• Variation factor for weekly payments. Clause 7 declares the numbers that “equate to the factor” required under s 82A of the 1987 Act to vary weekly payments on review dates. The Order notes rounding to four decimal places and records the statutory consequence where a declared factor would reduce an amount (cl 7 Note 3, referencing s 82C(a) and (b) of the Act).

• Different statutory vintages. The Order contains adjusted amounts for provisions “as in force before” particular named amendments to the 1987 Act (for example, provisions as in force before amendments by the Workers Compensation Amendment Act 2015 and the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Act 2012). That reflects that the Act has different historical versions that remain relevant for entitlements that arose under prior legislative regimes (see multiple entries in cl 5).

• Cross‑statute application. Clause 6 applies the mechanism of cl 5 to the Workers’ Compensation (Dust Diseases) Act 1942, as applied by s 82(1) of the 1987 Act and s 8(3)(d) of the Dust Diseases Act. Clause 7A addresses amounts required by s 82B(2) of the 1987 Act, and cl 8 applies s 82BA. Clause 9 applies s 82F(3) to the specific permanent impairment provisions in s 66(2) of the 1987 Act.

Other technical points in the Order include that notes do not form part of the Order (cl 3), that each declared amount applies “on and from” the adjustment date “until immediately before the next following adjustment date” (cl 5, cl 6), and that the Order includes amendment history annotations for each clause (e.g. cl 4: Am 2019 (456), Sch 1[1]; etc). The Order is therefore an exercise in administrative numeric declaration that operationalises statutory indexation rules rather than a substantive policy change.

The Order affects the following categories of stakeholders in concrete, monetary ways:

• Injured workers and claimants. The declared adjusted amounts and variation factors directly determine the dollar values of lump sums, caps, periodic payments and specified per‑unit amounts payable to workers who are entitled to compensation or benefits under the 1987 Act or the Dust Diseases Act. For example, the adjusted lump sums and permanent impairment amounts listed in cl 5 and cl 9 will determine what a worker receives for particular degrees of permanent impairment (cl 9 Table).

• Employers and self‑insurers. Employers or organisations that are responsible for funding workers compensation, or that directly self‑insure, will see their funding obligations change to the extent that declared amounts increase compensation liabilities. The Order therefore affects employer cash flows and, for insured employers, premium calculations through insurer pricing.

• Insurers and claims managers. Insurers must use the declared adjusted amounts and review factors when calculating reserves, determining weekly payment entitlements and applying caps and thresholds. The factors and amounts are input variables for actuarial valuation, underwriting and claims handling.

• Lawyers, accountants and claims advisers. Practitioners who prepare claims, advise on settlement valuations and draft deeds and settlement paperwork must apply the declared figures in calculations. Multiple entries that reflect pre‑amendment versions of the Act increase the complexity of determining which adjusted amount applies to a particular claim.

• Medical assessors and tribunal staff. While the Order is numerical, the values it sets will influence medical assessments framed in monetary terms, and tribunal or commission staff will apply the declared amounts when determining awards.

• Government agencies. The State or a regulatory authority that pays or administers benefits will need to update internal systems and budgets to reflect the declared amounts and review factors.

A concentration of benefit arises: the declared increases benefit individual claimants and classes of claimants (for example, those with high impairment levels or “highest needs” recipients under s 38A). The costs of those increases fall to payers , employers, insurers, and, where state agencies are payers, to government budgets. The Order itself does not allocate who bears the cost; allocation is determined by the underlying statutory compensation regime and by contractual or insurance relationships , the Order solely sets the numbers those arrangements use. Who decides in practice: the Order sets numerical parameters; decision‑makers for payment are the payers and adjudicators within the statutory schemes. What behaviour changes: payers must apply the new numbers, advisers must recalculate entitlements, reserve and premium models must be updated, and settlement negotiations will reflect the new baselines.

The Order imposes no freestanding duties or civil rights. Rather, it declares the numerical values that give effect to duties, rights and discretion embedded in the 1987 Act and related statutes. The practical legal consequences, drawn from the Order’s text, are these:

• Right to be paid the adjusted amount under the Act. Where the 1987 Act or the Dust Diseases Act provides for a payment, threshold, cap or factor described as adjustable, the declared “adjusted amount” in the Order is the amount that parties must construe the statutory provision to mean on and from the relevant adjustment date until the next adjustment date (cl 5, cl 6 tables). In other words, injured workers have the right to payment at the declared figure where the statutory entitlement applies.

• Duty of payers and administrators to apply the declared figures. Employers, insurers and administrators who calculate benefits under the relevant statutory provisions are obliged to use the adjusted amounts or variation factors declared in this Order when calculating entitlements for the listed dates. The Order itself does not set a penalty for failing to do so; liability flows from the underlying statutory entitlements and any enforcement mechanisms in the 1987 Act.

• Variations that reduce an amount are statutorily neutralised in certain circumstances. Clause 7 records that when the variation factor that would otherwise apply to weekly payments is less than 1 (for 1 October 2020 the number is 0.9795), applying that factor would have the effect of reducing a weekly payment; in such a case s 82C(a) deems the variation not to have taken effect and the prior amount continues to apply; s 82C(b) allows for variation in the next or a subsequent financial year. The Order therefore records a statutory mechanism that prevents reductions in weekly payments caused by indexation factors falling below 1 (cl 7, Note 3). That is a rule that preserves the prior amount rather than permitting automatic downward adjustments, and it adjusts the timing of the variation.

• Temporal application. Each adjusted figure is declared to apply “on and from” the adjustment or review date “until immediately before the next following adjustment date” (cl 5; cl 6). The practical duty is to map entitlement periods to the declared time span and not to apply a declared figure beyond its stated effective period.

• Different statutory formulations. The Order explicitly covers adjustable amounts that refer to provisions “as in force before” named amendments to the 1987 Act (for example amounts tied to provisions as they existed before the 2012 and 2015 amendment Acts). Practitioners have the duty to identify which legal regime (pre‑ or post‑amendment) applies to a claim and to apply the corresponding adjusted amount in the Order’s tables.

• Declaratory, not discretionary, nature. The Order declares specific numbers; it does not grant or withhold discretion to decision‑makers. Any discretion concerning the interpretation or application of statutory provisions remains with the courts, tribunals and decision‑makers under the parent Acts.

For authoritative application, practitioners must cross‑check which statutory provision governs a particular claimant’s entitlement (for example the current s 25(1)(a) cap or the historical version in Schedule 6), then use the corresponding adjusted figure from the Order’s table for the relevant date or financial year.

The Order itself contains no penalty provisions and does not establish an enforcement regime. It is a statutory instrument declaring numerical values; enforcement of the correct application of those numbers to payments and decisions occurs via the mechanisms in the 1987 Act and related statutes. The Order, however, makes explicit the statutory mechanism that prevents downward variation of weekly payments when the calculated factor is less than 1 by referencing s 82C (cl 7 Note 3). That provision is an example of the Order recording a statutory safeguard with immediate operational effect.

Because the Order repeatedly relies on provisions of the 1987 Act and the Workers’ Compensation (Dust Diseases) Act, remedies and enforcement for incorrect application, non‑payment or dispute about entitlement will be determined by the enforcement and dispute resolution arrangements set out in those Acts. The Order itself does not specify tribunal venues, penalty amounts, or criminal offences. The Order’s Notes direct readers to the 1987 Act, the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 and the Interpretation Act 1987 for definitions and other interpretive provisions (cl 3). Those Acts contain the statutory architecture for enforcement: processes for making claims, obligations on insurers and employers, and adjudicative forums. The Order therefore functions as an input to enforcement processes rather than creating enforcement mechanisms.

Practical enforcement risks and compliance exposures to note, as reflected by the Order’s structure:

• Misapplication risk. Because the Order contains large tables with numerous amounts mapped to specific statutory provisions and dates (including multiple entries for provisions “as in force before” particular amendments), a misapplied adjusted amount can lead to underpayment or overpayment. Remedies for underpayment would be sought under the enabling Act; indemnities or penalties may arise under that Act or other applicable law.

• Timing and sequencing errors. Each adjusted amount applies only until immediately before the next adjustment date. Failure to move to the subsequent declared amount at the correct time can result in incorrect payments for periods that span adjustment dates.

• Rounding and factor precision. Clause 7 specifies that the number equating to the factor has been rounded to four decimal places. Small rounding differences could give rise to discrete calculation disputes, although the Order records the rounded numbers and thus provides the authoritative figure for use.

• Downward variation deadlock. Where a factor would reduce a weekly payment (as occurred for 1 October 2020), s 82C deems that the reduction does not take effect and preserves the prior figure. That statutory rule means that enforcement questions about reductions must be resolved by reference to the Act’s non‑reduction rule rather than the numerical factor alone.

In all cases, the operative enforcement and penalty framework is in the underlying Acts. The Order supplies the declared numbers those enforcement processes use.

The Order is explicitly interconnected with several existing statutes and subordinate instruments. The Order itself repeatedly states which statutory provision it is giving numerical effect to. The key interactions are:

• Workers Compensation Act 1987. The Order is primarily an indexation instrument for the 1987 Act. It declares the latest index numbers, adjusted amounts and variation factors expressly “for the purposes of” specific sections of the 1987 Act: for example, cl 4 refers to paragraph (b) of the definition of “latest index number” in s 79; cl 5 operates “for the purposes of section 82(1) of the 1987 Act”; cl 7 operates for s 82A(4); cl 7A for s 82B(2); cl 8 for s 82BA; cl 9 for s 82F(3). The Order therefore functions as an implementing instrument required by, and integrated with, the statutory indexation provisions in the 1987 Act.

• Workers’ Compensation (Dust Diseases) Act 1942. Clause 6 applies the mechanism of cl 5 to adjustable amounts contained in the Dust Diseases Act as applied by s 82(1) of the 1987 Act, specifically citing s 8(3)(d) of the Dust Diseases Act. The Order declares the adjusted amounts for the Dust Diseases Act provisions to be used from particular adjustment dates.

• Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 and Interpretation Act 1987. Clause 3 notes that definitions and other provisions in those Acts affect interpretation and application of the Order. The Order therefore relies on interpretive rules from the Interpretation Act and other statutory cross‑references that shape how the declared numbers are read and applied.

• Earlier indexation Orders and the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016. The Order contains notes directing users to clause 41 of Schedule 8 to the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 for the latest index number for adjustment dates from 1 April 1988 to 1 October 2018, and to an earlier Indexation of Amounts Order 2013 for earlier review dates (cl 4 Note and cl 7 Note 2). Practitioners must therefore map across multiple instruments to build a complete historical indexation trail.

• Amendment Acts. Numerous entries in the Order’s tables are explicitly tied to statutory provisions “as in force before” particular amendment Acts , for example, references to the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Act 2012 and the Workers Compensation Amendment Act 2015 (cl 5 notes and table entries). This reflects that some claims continue to be governed by prior legislative formulations and that the Order supplies adjusted amounts appropriate to those historical versions. Interaction therefore requires identifying whether a claimant’s entitlement is governed by the pre‑ or post‑amendment text of the 1987 Act.

• Sectional interplay within the 1987 Act. The Order invokes s 82C indirectly (cl 7 Note 3) to record the effect of a factor less than unity. It also operationalises s 82B, s 82BA and s 82F. Those sections set out the statutory triggers and methods for indexation; the Order supplies the declared numbers those methods require.

Because the Order is a subordinate instrument intended to be read alongside the Acts and associated regulations, practitioners must treat it as an input to a network of statutory provisions. The Order itself does not modify the substantive wording of parent Acts; instead it supplies the numeric parameters those Acts require. Where the Act provides for non‑reduction, rounding or special transitional treatment, the Order records the practical outcome (for example, the non‑reduction outcome for 1 October 2020 in cl 7 Note 3 and for 1 October 2020 in cl 8 Note 2). Users must therefore consult the relevant Act and any transitional or saved provisions to determine which declared figure governs a particular claim.

The Order contains explicit amendment annotations at the end of several clauses and in the clause footnotes. These annotations indicate when clause tables were inserted or amended by later instruments. The Order’s own amendment history, as recorded in the text provided, is:

• Clause 4 (Meaning of “latest index number”) , annotated: Am 2019 (456), Sch 1[1]; 2020 (92), Sch 1[1]; 2020 (579), Sch 1[1]; 2021 (128), Sch 1[1]; 2021 (570), Sch 1[1]; 2022 (102), Sch 1[1]; 2022 (566), Sch 1[1]. That shows successive amendments between 2019 and 2022, each updating the declared latest index numbers for additional adjustment dates.

• Clause 5 (Adjustable amounts,Workers Compensation Acts) , annotated: Am 2019 (456), Sch 1[2]; 2020 (92), Sch 1[2]; 2020 (579), Sch 1[2]; 2021 (128), Sch 1[2]; 2021 (570), Sch 1[2]; 2022 (102), Sch 1[2]; 2022 (566), Sch 1[2]. This sequence corresponds to the periodic updates of adjusted amounts and the addition of new adjustment dates and figures in the tables.

• Clause 6 (Adjustable amounts,Dust Diseases Act 1942) , annotation: Am 2019 (456), Sch 1[3]; 2020 (92), Sch 1[3]; 2020 (579), Sch 1[3]; 2021 (128), Sch 1[3]; 2021 (570), Sch 1[3]; 2022 (102), Sch 1[3]; 2022 (566), Sch 1[3]. Again reflects periodic updates.

• Clause 7 (Variation of weekly payments) , annotated: Am 2019 (456), Sch 1[4]; 2020 (92), Sch 1[4]; 2020 (579), Sch 1[4] [5]; 2021 (128), Sch 1[4]; 2021 (570), Sch 1[4]; 2022 (102), Sch 1[4]; 2022 (566), Sch 1[4]. Note the specific annotation for the 2020 (579) instrument which includes an extra bracketed item likely reflecting a technical amendment or correction.

• Clause 7A (Indexation according to average weekly earnings: s 82B) , insertion and amendments: Ins 2019 (268), Sch 1[1]. Am 2020 (339), cl 3(1); 2021 (335), cl 3(1); 2022 (289), sec 3(1). Clause 7A was inserted in 2019 and subsequently amended in 2020, 2021 and 2022; this clause supplies the amounts by financial year for s 38, 40 and 41.

• Clause 8 (Indexation for workers with highest needs: s 82BA) , annotated: Am 2019 (456), Sch 1[5]; 2020 (92), Sch 1[5]; 2020 (579), Sch 1[6]-[8]; 2021 (128), Sch 1[5]; 2021 (570), Sch 1[5]; 2022 (102), Sch 1[5]; 2022 (566), Sch 1[5]. Amendments in 2020 included several bracketed items, possibly multiple sub‑amendments.

• Clause 9 (Indexation,permanent impairment: s 82F) , annotated: Ins 2019 (268), Sch 1[2]. Am 2020 (339), cl 3(2); 2021 (335), cl 3(2); 2022 (289), sec 3(2). Clause 9 was inserted in 2019 and amended annually in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The amendment history as recorded in the Order shows a regular cadence of updates aligned with the twice‑yearly adjustment dates (1 April and 1 October) and with annual financial year indexation (as necessary). The annotations precisely identify the amending instruments by year and instrument number, and the Schedule and item numbers where the amendments appear. Practitioners should therefore consult the legislative history in the NSW legislation database to trace the specific text changes and confirm the authoritative version of the Order at any given point.

The Order also contains internal cross‑references to earlier Orders and regulations. For example, cl 4 Note refers to clause 41 of Schedule 8 to the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 for the latest index numbers for adjustment dates from 1 April 1988 to 1 October 2018; cl 7 Note 2 refers to the Workers Compensation (Indexation of Amounts) Order 2013 for review dates from 1 April 2013 to 1 October 2018. Those references form part of the practical amendment history and show how the current Order fits into a chain of indexation instruments.

The Order’s text contains no judicial decisions, reported litigation or references to cases challenging the Order itself. It is a numeric indexation instrument and the provided source includes no litigation history entries. Therefore, from the Order alone:

• There are no cases named, no reported rulings that interpret this Order’s declared numbers, and no recorded judicial challenges to the Order’s validity in the text provided.

• The Order records statutory interactions (for example s 82C non‑reduction) that could be the subject of dispute in particular factual circumstances, but the Order does not itself contain or reference any adjudicative outcomes.

Given the absence of litigation references in the Order, practitioners who require precedent or case law on application, dispute or interpretation should look to the parent Acts, tribunal decisions and courts’ decisions that interpret the 1987 Act and its indexation provisions. The Order makes clear that disputed calculation outcomes will ultimately be resolved by reference to the 1987 Act’s substantive rules and any dispute resolution mechanisms it contains. To locate litigation that interprets indexation mechanics, thresholds, or transitional treatment, a targeted search of decisions under the Workers Compensation Act 1987 and decisions from the NSW Workers Compensation Commission or relevant superior courts is required; the Order itself does not supply those materials.

Note also that while the Order records a statutory safeguard against reductions in weekly payments (cl 7 Note 3 and s 82C), questions about the correct application of that safeguard, whether a given variation reduces an amount, and the effect on particular entitlements could give rise to disputes in the tribunal system. The Order, however, contains no reported decisions and provides no procedural guidance about commencing or prosecuting such disputes.

Several practical pitfalls and traps are visible from the Order’s structure and wording. These are matters that generate implementation risk or require careful attention by advisers and payers:

• Multiple overlapping statutory vintages. The Order lists adjusted amounts for a mixture of current provisions and provisions as they stood “before” named amendments (for example, figures “as in force before” amendment by the Workers Compensation Amendment Act 2015 or the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Act 2012). Determining which adjusted figure applies to a particular claim requires establishing whether the claimant’s entitlement is governed by the pre‑ or post‑amendment statutory text. Misidentifying the applicable legislative vintage will result in incorrect entitlements.

• Temporal precision. Each declared amount applies from an explicit adjustment or review date until immediately before the next adjustment date. Practitioners must ensure calculations are tied precisely to those date boundaries, particularly for claims spanning adjustment dates. The Order does not automatically prorate within an adjustment period; the declared amount applies for the entire interval.

• Non‑reduction rule traps. Clause 7 records that a factor < 1 (1 October 2020: 0.9795) would reduce weekly payments but is deemed not to take effect by s 82C. This creates a discontinuity: the factor exists but the reduction is legally blocked. Practitioners must be careful: applying the declared factor mechanically could produce an unintended reduction that the Act then deems inoperative. The correct approach, as recorded in the Order, is to preserve the prior amount where s 82C applies and to look to the next or a subsequent financial year for variation.

• Rounding and precision. Clause 7 notes rounding to four decimal places for variation factors. Small rounding errors in other calculations (for example, when performing compounding or applying indexation multipliers) can produce marginal discrepancies. The Order supplies the rounded numbers and thus provides the authoritative figures to use; use of more precise internal calculations that do not match the declared rounded figure may be contested.

• Complexity of tables. Clause 5’s table is extensive, covering many discrete adjustable amounts with multiple adjustment dates. The table includes amounts that appear to be substantially higher than the base figure (for example, entries where pre‑amendment $1,000 is adjusted to $2,177.40 in 2019). Practitioners must map the appropriate line item to the statutory provision they are applying; visual similarity of line items may mislead if the statutory reference is overlooked.

• Cross‑instrument navigation. The Order repeatedly instructs readers to consult other instruments for earlier dates or related calculations (e.g. Workers Compensation Regulation 2016, Indexation of Amounts Order 2013). Missing those cross‑references can lead to incomplete indexation histories and miscalculations for older claims.

• Administrative timing. The Order commences on publication on the NSW legislation website (cl 2). Payers and administrators must therefore ensure their systems are updated at publication and that they use the published figures from the effective date stated in each clause and table. Failure to update promptly can create arrears or overpayments.

• No penalties in the Order. Because the Order itself contains no penalty provision, a common trap is to assume that non‑compliance attracts an automatic sanction under the Order. Enforcement and penalties, where applicable, will arise from the underlying statutory regimes. Advisers must therefore check the parent Acts for enforcement mechanics.

• High number of amendment annotations. Each clause contains multiple amendment annotations. Reliance on an outdated version of the Order or on a copy that does not include the latest amendment is a real risk. Confirm the current consolidated text in the official NSW legislation database.

• This instrument is declaratory. The Order’s declarations are binding as the numbers to be used, but the Order does not alter substantive statutory rights beyond those numeric changes. Advisers should avoid treating the Order as a source of discrete substantive policy change; it changes only the numeric inputs that determine monetary outcomes under the Act.

To comply with the Order and to minimise legal and financial risk, practitioners and payers should adopt a structured approach. The following operational checklist is grounded in the Order’s text and the cross‑references it contains:

1. Identify applicability for each case.

   • Determine whether the claimant’s entitlement falls under the current wording of the 1987 Act or under a prior formulation. The Order includes adjusted amounts expressly tied to provisions “as in force before” specified amendments (cl 5 table). Map each claim to the correct statutory provision.

2. Map dates precisely.

   • For each entitlement, identify whether an “adjustment date” or a “review date” governs. Use the declared amount or factor associated with that exact date and apply it for the period up to immediately before the next listed date (cl 5, cl 6 wording). Do not apply a declared figure outside its effective interval.

3. Use declared rounded factors and numbers.

   • Where cl 7 provides a rounded factor to four decimal places, use the declared rounded number. For 1 October 2020, note the declared factor 0.9795 and the cl 7 Note 3 outcome that a reduction is deemed not to have taken effect because s 82C applies. Use the Order’s declared numbers as authoritative.

4. Update systems and actuarial models.

   • Insurers and employers should update claims systems, payroll, actuarial valuation models and premium calculation spreadsheets to incorporate the declared adjusted amounts, factors and dates. Where a factor would reduce a weekly payment, ensure the non‑reduction rule is implemented.

5. Cross‑check historical sources.

   • For claims with entitlement dates prior to 1 April 2019, consult clause 41 of Schedule 8 to the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 (cl 4 Note) and the 2013 Indexation Order (cl 7 Note 2) as the Order directs. Do not assume the Order’s tables are exhaustive for historical adjustment dates.

6. Reconcile multi‑entry items.

   • The tables include numerous entries that may relate to the same numeric base but to different statutory contexts (for example, different schedules, pre‑amendment provisions, or dust disease specific amounts). Carefully reconcile which table row corresponds to a given statutory provision.

7. Document calculations and decisions.

   • Keep contemporaneous documentation of the mapping from statutory provision to the Order’s table row, the application date, the factor or adjusted amount used, and the system updates performed. That documentation will be necessary in the event of a dispute or audit.

8. Monitor for further amendments.

   • The Order has a pattern of periodic amendment (see amendment annotations). Subscribe to or periodically check the NSW legislation website for amending instruments to capture new adjustment dates or updated numbers.

9. Consider transitional and non‑reduction rules.

   • Implement the s 82C non‑reduction outcome where applicable as recorded in cl 7 Note 3. Similarly, note cl 8 Note 2 where a variation would have reduced an amount on 1 October 2020 and was therefore deemed not to have taken effect under s 82C.

10. Liaise with advisers.

    • Where complex mapping is required , for example, in legacy claims governed by pre‑amendment legislation or where multiple entitlements (weekly payments, lump sums, impairment amounts) interact , engage legal and actuarial advisers to confirm entitlement calculations.

11. Communicate with claimants.

    • When an adjusted amount increases an entitlement, explain the basis of the increase by reference to the statutory provision and the declared amount in the Order. Where a declared factor would reduce a payment but is blocked by s 82C, explain why the prior amount remains in force.

12. Audit past payments.

    • Conduct an audit of payments for periods that straddle adjustment dates or where the declared amounts changed materially to identify underpayments or overpayments. Where an underpayment is found, remediate in accordance with statutory complaint and rectification procedures in the underlying Act.

Who pays and who decides in compliance terms: payers (employers, insurers, government agencies) pay the amounts determined by the statutory provisions read with the numbers declared in this Order. Decision makers (claim administrators, tribunals) apply the 1987 Act and the declared figures in deciding entitlement. The Order itself is a tool for accurate application; compliance requires mapping statutory entitlement to the correct table and date in the Order.

Practitioners should use the Order as the authoritative source for the declared numbers, while relying on the underlying Acts for enforcement mechanisms, dispute resolution and interpretive rules.