Adjunct Professor, Workers Compensation and Workplace Law, Curtin University.
Director of Uncommon Approach.
J Law Med. 2021 Mar;28(2):546-566.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a range of challenges for the participants in Australian workers' compensation schemes. Although there are some jurisdictional differences in legislation operating at sub-national levels, this article addresses some common themes that have emerged since the outbreak of the pandemic in Australia in early 2020. One of the major concerns which has emerged is the issue of proving the causal link between COVID-19 and work. In some jurisdictions, legislation has specifically addressed these causation concerns. While the number of workers' compensation claims overall is low, there are specific industries which have been heavily affected by the pandemic which may result in a spike in claims in areas such as aged care and the medical and allied professions. We speculate that a number of legal and practical concerns will emerge that may in time contribute to some new jurisprudence in the workers' compensation arena.
新冠疫情凸显了澳大利亚工人赔偿计划参与者面临的一系列挑战。尽管在州以下一级运作的立法存在一些管辖权差异，但本文讨论了自 2020 年初澳大利亚爆发疫情以来出现的一些共同主题。出现的主要问题之一是证明 COVID-19 与工作之间存在因果关系。在一些司法管辖区，立法专门解决了这些因果关系问题。虽然总体上工人赔偿索赔的数量很少，但有些特定行业受到疫情的严重影响，这可能导致在老年护理和医疗及相关专业等领域的索赔激增。我们推测，一些法律和实际问题可能会随着时间的推移出现在工人赔偿领域，并可能为该领域的一些新判例法做出贡献。
