South Australia introduced the Workmens’ Compensation Act 1900 which was consolidated in 1932 and remained essentially in that form until the introduction of the Workers’ Compensation Act 1971. The 1971 Act completely restructured the workers’ compensation legislation in the state. The Act increased the amounts of compensation payable and broadened the grounds for which a worker could gain compensation.

In June 1978 the Government established a Committee of Inquiry, chaired by D. E. Byrne, to examine and report on the most effective means of compensating those injured at work. In September 1980 the Committee released the report entitled ‘A Workers’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Board for South Australia — the key to rapid rehabilitation and equitable compensation for those injured at work (‘Byrne Report’). Included among the Committee’s recommendations was that a new Act be introduced repealing the Workers’ Compensation Act 1971, that a Board be established to administer a workers’ compensation scheme and that the Board be responsible for overseeing and confirming rehabilitation programs.

A Joint Committee was established to investigate those areas where employers and the unions were in agreement or disagreement with respect to changing the workers’ compensation system. Essentially, the Joint Committee reviewed the Byrne Committee recommendations to determine which of those should be implemented. A joint agreement was reached that led to the drafting of new legislation that was considered by Parliament in 1986 and the establishment of WorkCover in September 1987.

Amendments to the Workers’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1986 were made in 1992 (abolishment of common law), 1994 (compensability, redemptions, hearing loss), 1996 (dispute resolution, rehabilitation and return to work plans, two year reviews and more), and 2006 (territorial).

In 2008 legislative amendments followed an independent review by the South Australia Government to reassess the structure of the Scheme.

The 2008 amendments included the introduction of work capacity assessments, Medical Panels, restrictions on redemptions and changes to weekly payments (commonly referred to as ‘step-downs’). The Amendment Act also included a requirement for the Minister for Industrial Relations, to initiate a further independent review in 2011 to consider the impact of the 2008 changes.

In 2008 WorkCover commenced a review of all regulations supporting the Act. All SA regulations expire after being 10 years in force (under the Subordinate Legislation Act 1978). In June 2010 Cabinet approved the Workers’ Rehabilitation and Compensation Regulations 2010. The regulations were made by the Governor and published in the SA Government Gazette on 24 June 2010 and commenced on 1 November 2010.

The review (generally referred to as the Cossey Review) of the 2008 legislative amendments was undertaken by Mr Bill Cossey and Mr Chris Latham, with the report tabled in Parliament on 23 June 2011. The review found that overall it was too soon for the long term impacts of the 2008 amendments to be known. Emerging trends were identified where possible noting that trends were based on limited experience, limited data and it was unclear if they would prevail in the longer term.

On 13 September 2011, the Government made a statement in relation to the Cossey Review to announce that it would continue to work on developing the Government’s response, including consideration of recent court judgements and other reform proposals and working closely with employee and employer representatives, the WorkCover Board and Executive and other interested parties.

On 27 October 2012, the Premier announced the Workers’ Compensation Improvement Project. Phase one outcomes included a new WorkCover Charter and Performance Statement signed on 19 August 2013, with a range of initiatives that were expected of WorkCover to place a greater focus on early intervention and return to work. These initiatives were intended to cap the growing unfunded liability. Amendments were also made to the WorkCover Corporation Act 1994 in November 2013 to put the Board on a more commercial footing. Phase two of the Workers’ Compensation Improvement Project was announced to include a root and branch recasting of the fundamental characteristics of the legislation.

On 30 October 2014 new legislation to reform workers’ compensation in South Australia was passed by Parliament. The Return to Work Act 2014 and the South Australian Employment Tribunal Act 2014 replace the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1986 and establish the Return to Work scheme.

The Return to Work scheme is underpinned by the following key principles:

• a strong focus on early intervention, targeted return to work services and provision of retraining (where required)
• recognition that workers who are seriously injured require different services and support to those workers who are not seriously injured
• clearly articulated rights and obligations for all parties: workers, employers and the Corporation
• a simple and efficient dispute resolution process with an improved framework including clear boundaries and requirements for evidence-based decision making.

The Return to Work scheme became operational on 1 July 2015.

On 2 February 2015 the WorkCover Corporation Act 1994 was amended to the Return to Work Corporation of South Australia Act 1994. These amendments arising from the Return to Work Act 2014 provide for the name change of the Corporation.

On 6 February 2015 ReturnToWorkSA (RTWSA) was launched. RTWSA is responsible for insuring and regulating the Return to Work scheme. RTWSA continued to administer the WorkCover scheme until it was replaced by the Return to Work scheme on 1 July 2015.

Section 203 of the Return to Work Act 2014 required a review of the legislation after the expiry of three years from its commencement. The review was conducted by the Hon John Mansfield AM QC who provided the Government with his report and recommendations on 4 June 2018. The report was tabled in both Houses of Parliament on 26 July 2018.