Restraints on company structure

New South Wales

An application for a self-insurance licence can be made by ‘any employer’ (s210 — Workers Compensation Act 1987) in accordance with the requirements of SIRA’s licensing policy for self-insurers. A self-insurer licence may be granted to an employer or a group self-insurer licence may be granted to a holding company and all wholly owned subsidiaries of the company that are employers in NSW.

Under a group licence there is no provision for selective inclusion of subsidiaries by the applicant. The legislation specifies that only wholly owned subsidiary companies are to be included in the group licence. For group licences the applicant company would generally be the ultimate holding company in Australia.

For group licences a cross guarantee or a holding company guarantee is required.

Victoria

• Ultimate holding company in Australia and all wholly owned subsidiaries — s376(1) of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013
• Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) and local government corporations participating in a scheme of self-insurance operated by the MAV as a self-insurer — s376(3) of the WIRC Act.

Queensland

Group licences are restricted to groups of employers that are made up as follows:

• employers who are in the same industry and have a pre-existing stable business relationship (classification group self-insurer), or
• related bodies corporate as defined by the Corporations Act 2001 (related bodies corporate group self-insurer).

Western Australia

N/A

South Australia

Under s129(2) of the Return to Work Act 2014 an application as a self-insured employer or as a group of self-insured employers can only be made:

1. in the case of an application by an individual employer—
   1. the employer is a body corporate; or
   2. the employer is an indemnified maritime employer;
2. in the case of an application by a group—
   1. the members of the group are related bodies corporate or local government corporations; and
   2. if the members of the group are related bodies corporate—no related body corporate of any member of the group that employs a worker or workers in employment to which this Act applies is not a member of the group.

Tasmania

N/A

Northern Territory

N/A

Australian Capital Territory

N/A

C’wealth Comcare

A licence is required for each separate legal entity even if multiple entities in a corporate group are self-insurers. There is no provision for group licensing in the Commonwealth scheme.

New Zealand

• Any ‘employer’ in New Zealand is eligible to become ‘accredited’ provided they are able to meet the eligibility requirements outlined in regulation. Eligibility is not confined by structure. Therefore any employer entity, including by way of example a company (including a consolidated group of companies), a partnership, an incorporated society, a government, state owned entities, district hospital boards, local government authorities and incorporated societies.
• A group of employers may become accredited where each member of the group meets the definition of a subsidiary company, as determined by the Companies Act. Any subsidiary where ownership is greater than 50% is able to be a member of the accredited group.