Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023C00203:clause:6_39
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023C00203
Segment Type: clause
Provision Reference: sch 6 cl 39
Character Range: 285832–288075

39  Compulsory insurance

Requirement to have insurance
 (1) An employer must have a policy of insurance or indemnity with an insurer for the full amount of the employer's liability under this Part to pay compensation if:
 (a) the employer is not a member of a public scheme; and
 (b) the employer is not prescribed by the rules for the purposes of this paragraph.

Offence
 (2) An employer commits an offence if:
 (a) the employer is required under subsection (1) to have a policy of insurance or indemnity for the full amount of the employer's liability under this Part to pay compensation; and
 (b) the employer does not have such a policy.
Penalty:
 (a) in the case of a natural person—imprisonment for 2 years or 50 penalty units, or both;
 (b) in the case of a body corporate—250 penalty units.
 (3) For the purposes of subsection (2):
 (a) strict liability applies to paragraph (2)(a); and
 (b) recklessness is the fault element for paragraph (2)(b).

Evidentiary certificates
 (4) In proceedings against a person (the defendant) for an offence against subsection (2), the following certificates are prima facie evidence of the matters stated in the certificates:
 (a) a certificate that is signed, or purports to be signed, by an employee or agent of an insurer stating that there was not in force, on a specified date, a policy of insurance or indemnity issued by the insurer for the full amount of the defendant's liability under this Part to pay compensation;
 (b) a certificate that is signed, or purports to be signed, by the Employment Liaison Officer stating either or both of the following:
 (i) that the defendant was not, on a specified date, a member of a public scheme;
 (ii) that the defendant was not, on a specified date, prescribed by the rules for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b).

Joint insurance
 (5) To avoid doubt, if subsection 39(1) requires an employer to have a policy of insurance or indemnity with an insurer for the full amount of the employer's liability under this Part to pay compensation, nothing in this Part prevents the employer from satisfying that requirement (in whole or in part) by jointly entering, with one or more other employers, into a contract of insurance or indemnity with an insurer.