SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911
- Reprinted as at 19 December 1973 (HISTACT2 CHAP 355 #DATE 19:12:1973)
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - TABLE OF PROVISIONS
TABLE
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section
1. Short title
2. Commencement
3. Interpretation
4. Application of Act
5. Compensation for personal injuries to seamen
5AA. Injury while travelling to or from work
5A. Medical benefits
5B. Compensation for certain injuries
5C. Compensation in respect of death or incapacity of seaman through
disease due to employment
5D. Maximum compensation
6. Time for taking proceedings
7. Sub-contracting
8. Provisions as to cases of insolvency of employer
9. Compensation to be paid in full
10. Remedies both against the employer and a stranger
10A. Liability of employer independently of this Act
11. Depositions where injured seaman left overseas
12. Evidence of loss of ship
13. Detention of ship
14. Medical referees
15. Remuneration of arbitrator appointed by County Court
16. Returns as to compensation
17. Regulations
SCHEDULES
FIRST SCHEDULE
Scale and Conditions of Compensation
SECOND SCHEDULE
Proceedings for Compensation
THIRD SCHEDULE
Part I
Injuries in respect of which the Amount of Compensation Specified in Section
5B
(1) is Payable
Part II
Injuries in respect of which a Percentage of the Amount of Compensation
Specified in Section 5B (1) is Payable
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 1.
Short title.
SECT
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973
An Act relating to Compensation to Seamen for injuries suffered in the course
of their employment.
Short title amended; No. 32, 1918, s. 2.
1. This Act may be cited as the Seamen's Compensation Act 1911-1973.*
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 2.
Commencement.
SECT
2. This Act shall commence on a day to be fixed by proclamation.*
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 3.
Interpretation.
SECT
Substituted by No. 7, 1949, s. 3.
Sub-section (1) amended by No. 10, 1953, s. 2; No. 67, 1960, s. 2; No. 97,
1967, s. 3; and No. 216, 1973, s. 3.
3. (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears-
''ambulance services'' includes conveyance by any form of transport to a
medical practitioner or to a hospital;
''County Court'' means a County Court, District Court or Local Court of any
State, or any Court exercising in any part of the Commonwealth a limited civil
jurisdiction and presided over by a judge or a police, stipendiary or special
magistrate;
''delivery voyage'', in relation to a ship, means a voyage of the ship
between two ports one of which is in Australia and the other of which is in
another country, being a voyage undertaken wholly or principally for the
purpose of delivering or moving the ship to the port of destination;
''dependant'', in relation to a deceased seaman, means-
(a) a member of the seaman's family;
(b) a person to whom the seaman stood in loco parentis or who stood in
loco parentis to the seaman;
(c) any ex-nuptial child or grand-child of the seaman; and
(d) if the seaman was an ex-nuptial child, any parent or grand-parent of
the seaman,
who was wholly or in part dependent upon his earnings at the date of his
death or who would, but for his incapacity due to the injury, have been so
dependent;
''disease'' includes any physical or mental ailment, disorder, defect or
morbid condition, whether of sudden or gradual development, and also includes
the aggravation or acceleration of a disease and the recurrence of a
pre-existing disease;
''employer'' includes the Crown (whether in right of the Commonwealth or of
a State), any authority constituted by or under the law of the Commonwealth or
of a State or Territory, any body of persons (whether corporate or
unincorporate) and the legal personal representative of a deceased employer;
''injury'' means any physical or mental injury and includes the aggravation
or acceleration of an injury and the recurrence of a pre-existing injury;
''Judge of a County Court'' includes the Judge of a County Court, District
Court or Local Court and also any police, stipendiary or special magistrate
presiding, or having jurisdiction to preside, over a County Court as defined
by this Act;
''medical treatment'' means-
(a) medical or surgical treatment by a duly qualified medical
practitioner;
(b) treatment by a registered dentist, a registered physiotherapist or a
registered masseur;
(c) the provision of skiagrams, crutches, artificial members and
artificial replacements;
(d) treatment and maintenance as a patient at a hospital; or
(e) nursing attendance, medicines, medical and surgical supplies and
curative apparatus supplied or provided in a hospital or otherwise;
''member of the family'', in relation to a seaman, means the wife or
husband, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, step-father, step-mother,
son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, step-son, step-daughter, brother,
sister, half-brother, half-sister, adopted child, mother-in-law or any woman
who for not less than three years immediately prior to his death or incapacity
was wholly or mainly maintained by the seaman and who, although not legally
married to him, lived with him as his wife on a permanent and bona fide
domestic basis and who, at the date of his death or incapacity, is maintaining
one or more children under sixteen years of age or is not less than fifty
years of age;
''port'' includes place and harbour;
''seaman'' means a master, mate, engineer, radio officer, apprentice, pilot
or other person employed or engaged in any capacity on board a ship in
connexion with the navigation or working of the ship;
''ship'' includes every vessel used in navigation not ordinarily propelled
by oars;
''vessel'' means any ship or boat and includes any vessel of any other
description used for any purpose on the sea or in navigation.
(2) Any reference to a seaman who has been injured shall, where the seaman
has died as the result of the injury, include a reference to his legal
personal representative or to his dependants or other person to whom or for
whose benefit compensation is payable.
(3) In the application of the provisions of this Act to and in relation to a
seaman to whom section five C of this Act applies, any reference in those
provisions to a personal injury by accident arising out of or in the course of
a seaman's employment shall be read as including a reference to a disease due
to the nature of the employment in which the seaman was engaged.
(4) Where a person with whom a seaman has entered into a contract of service
or apprenticeship temporarily lends or lets on hire the services of the seaman
to another person, the first-mentioned person shall, for the purposes of this
Act, be deemed to continue to be the employer of the seaman while he is
working for that other person.
Added by No. 10, 1953, s. 2.
(5) For the purposes of sections five AA, six, seven, eight, ten, eleven,
thirteen and sixteen of this Act, ''Compensation'' includes a payment under
section five A of this Act.
Added by No. 67, 1960, s. 2.
(6) Where a person has been engaged in Australia for employment as a seaman
for the purposes of a delivery voyage-
(a) he shall, for the purposes of the application of this Act to or in
relation to employment in pursuance of that engagement, be deemed to be a
seaman from the time of that engagement; and
(b) any employment of that person in pursuance of that engagement before he
joins the ship shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be employment
for the purposes of that delivery voyage.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 4.
Application of Act.
SECT
Substituted by No. 67, 1960, s. 3. Sub-section (1) amended by No. 216, 1973,
s. 3.
4.* (1) This Act applies in relation to-
(a) the employment of seamen on a ship registered in Australia-
(i) that is engaged in trade and commerce with other countries or
among the States, or between a State or a Territory forming part of the
Commonwealth and a Territory (whether forming part of the Commonwealth or
not); or
(ii) that is within the territorial waters of a Territory forming part
of the Commonwealth, or whose first port of clearance and whose port of
destination are in such a territory;
(b) the employment, under articles of agreement entered into in Australia,
of seamen on a ship not registered in Australia (whether British or not) that
is engaged in trade and commerce among the States, or between a State and a
Territory forming part of the Commonwealth, in pursuance of a licence granted
under Part VI of the Navigation Act 1912-1958; and
(c) the employment of seamen for the purposes of a delivery voyage of a
ship (whether British or not and, if British, whether registered in Australia
or not), being seamen engaged in Australia (whether or not under articles of
agreement entered into in Australia) upon terms entitling them to, or to
payment in respect of the cost of, transport from or to Australia for the
purpose of joining the ship, or after leaving the ship.
(2) The last preceding sub-section shall not be construed as being subject
to any territorial limitation that is not expressed in that subsection.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 5.
Compensation for personal injuries to seamen.
SECT
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 1.
Sub-section (1) amended by No. 7, 1949, s. 4.
5. (1) If personal injury by accident arising out of or in the course of the
employment is caused to a seaman, his employer shall, subject to this Act, be
liable to pay compensation in accordance with the First Schedule to this Act.
Amended by No. 18, 1947, s. 3; and No. 7, 1949, s. 4.
(2) Provided that-
(a) the employer shall not be liable under this Act in respect of any
injury which does not disable the seaman from earning full wages:
* * * * * * * *
(c) if it is proved that the injury to a seaman is attributable to his
serious and wilful misconduct, any compensation claimed in respect of that
injury shall, unless the injury results in death or serious and permanent
disablement, be disallowed:
Cf. 6 Edw. 7. ch. 58. s. 7 (1) (d).
(d) in the case of the death of a seaman leaving no dependants, no
compensation shall be payable under this Act if the owner of the ship is under
any Act, Imperial Act, or State Act liable to pay the expenses of burial:
(e) if it appears that the claimant has a claim for compensation for the
injury under any law of the United Kingdom or of any other part of the King's
Dominions or of any foreign country, compensation under this Act shall only be
allowed upon the claimant undertaking not to claim compensation for the injury
under any such law.
(3) If any question arises, in any proceedings under this Act, as to the
liability to pay compensation under this Act (including any question as to
whether the person injured is a seaman to whom this Act applies), or as to the
amount or duration of compensation under this Act, the question, if not
settled by agreement, shall, subject to the provisions of the First Schedule
to this Act, be settled by arbitration, in accordance with the Second Schedule
to this Act, or by proceedings in a County Court.
(4) Any undertaking given in pursuance of paragraph (e) of sub-section (2)
of this section shall have effect as a contract between the claimant and the
person from whom the compensation is claimed.
Sub-section (5) omitted by No. 10, 1953, s. 3.
* * * * * * * *
Added by No. 18, 1947, s. 3.
(6) Where a dependant dies before a claim under this Act is made, or, if a
claim has been made, before an agreement or award has been arrived at or made,
the legal personal representative of the dependant shall have no right to
payment of compensation, and the amount of compensation shall be calculated
and apportioned as if that dependant had died before the seaman.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 5AA.
Injury while travelling to or from work.
SECT
Substituted by No. 10, 1953, s. 4.
5AA. (1) Where personal injury by accident is caused to a seaman-
(a) while he is travelling to or from his employment;
(b) while he is travelling to or from a Mercantile Marine Office for a
reason connected with his employment; or
(c) while he is travelling to or from a place where it is necessary for him
to attend for the purpose of obtaining a medical certificate in respect of a
previous injury in respect of which compensation is payable under this Act, or
for the purpose of receiving, in respect of such an injury, medical treatment
or compensation,
his employer shall, subject to this Act, be liable to pay compensation in
accordance with this Act as if the accident were an accident arising out of or
in the course of his employment.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a seaman shall be deemed to be
travelling on a particular journey-
(a) while he is travelling by the shortest convenient route for the
journey, without having interrupted the journey or deviated from that route;
or
(b) during an interruption of the journey or a deviation from the shortest
convenient route for the journey, or while he is travelling by the shortest
convenient route after such an interruption or deviation, if-
(i) the interruption or deviation is or was made for a reason connected
with the seaman's employment, his attendance at the Mercantile Marine Office,
his obtaining the certificate or his receiving the medical treatment or
compensation, as the case may be;
(ii) the interruption or deviation is or was not substantial; or
(iii) the nature, extent, degree and content of the risk of personal
injury by accident are or were not materially changed or increased by reason
of the interruption or deviation,
and not otherwise.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 5A.
Medical benefits.
SECT
Inserted by No. 56, 1938, s. 4.
Sub-section (1) amended by No. 18, 1947, s. 5; No. 7, 1949, s. 6; No. 10,
1953, s. 5; No. 16, 1954, s. 3; No. 99, 1959, s. 3; No. 102, 1964, s. 3; No.
97, 1967, s. 4; and No. 216, 1973, s. 3.
5A. (1) Where any compensation is payable by the employer under this Act to,
or in respect of, a seaman, or where a seaman suffers injury or disease in
circumstances in which compensation would be payable under this Act but for
the fact that the seaman is not rendered incapable of earning full wages or
but for the operation of clause (i) or (ii) of sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph
(2), of paragraph (4) or of paragraph (4A) of the First Schedule to this Act,
the employer shall pay the cost, not exceeding in any case One thousand
dollars, of such medical treatment and ambulance services in relation to the
injury, or disease, as the case may be, as are, in the opinion of the
Minister, reasonably necessary:
Provided that an employer shall not be liable to pay the cost of medical
treatment and ambulance services both independently of and also under this
section:
Provided also that if the seaman is left on shore at any port and there is a
public hospital at or convenient to that port and the seaman elects to be
treated elsewhere than in that hospital, the liability of the employer in
respect of the cost of medical treatment and ambulance services shall be
limited to the amount that would be payable for the treatment and services if
the seaman were treated as an in-patient of that hospital or the sum of One
thousand dollars, whichever is the less:
Provided also that, where, in the opinion of the Minister, the exceptional
circumstances of any case warrant payment of an amount in excess of One
thousand dollars, the employer shall be liable to pay such amount in excess of
One thousand dollars as appears to the Minister to be reasonable in those
circumstances.
Sub-section (2) omitted by No. 10, 1953, s. 5.
* * * * * * * *
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 5B.
Compensation for certain injuries.
SECT
Inserted by No. 56, 1938, s. 4.
Sub-section (1) substituted by No. 97, 1967, s. 5; amended by No. 49, 1970, s.
3; No. 52, 1971, s. 3; and No. 124, 1972, s. 3.
5B. (1) Subject to this Act, where a seaman sustains, by accident arising
out of or in the course of his employment, any of the injuries specified in
Part I of the Third Schedule to this Act, the compensation payable under this
Act shall, when the injury results in incapacity other than total and
permanent incapacity for work, be the amount of Fourteen thousand five hundred
dollars.
Inserted by No. 97, 1967, s. 5.
(1AA) Subject to this Act, where a seaman sustains, by accident arising out
of or in the course of his employment, any of the injuries specified in the
first column of Part II of the Third Schedule to this Act, the compensation
payable under this Act shall, when the injury results in incapacity other than
total and permanent incapacity for work, be the amount equal to such
percentage of the amount specified in the last preceding sub-section as is
specified in the second column of that Part opposite the specification of the
injury in the first column.
Inserted by No. 7, 1949, s. 7.
(1A) Upon payment of an amount under this section the seaman shall not be
entitled to any payment in accordance with sub-paragraph (b) or sub-paragraph
(c) of paragraph (1) of the First Schedule to this Act in respect of a period
of incapacity for work resulting from the injury, but the amount payable under
this section shall not be subject to any deduction in respect of any amount
previously paid to the seaman in accordance with either of those
sub-paragraphs.
Sub-section (2) omitted by No. 52, 1971, s. 3.
* * * * * * * *
Added by No. 18, 1947, s. 6.
(3) Where a seaman sustains an injury which causes the loss of the sight of
both eyes or of an only useful eye, any compensation previously paid under
this Act in respect of loss of sight shall be deducted from the compensation
payable under this section.
Added by No. 18, 1947, s. 6.
(4) Where a seaman sustains an injury which causes partial and permanent
loss of the sight of one eye, there shall be payable an amount of compensation
equivalent to such percentage of the amount of compensation payable under this
section in respect of the loss of the sight of one eye as is equal to the
percentage of the diminution of sight.
Added by No. 18, 1947, s. 6.
(5) Where a seaman sustains an injury which causes partial and permanent
loss of the efficient use, in and for the purposes of his employment at the
date of the injury, of a part of the body (other than an eye) specified in the
Third Schedule to this Act, there shall be payable an amount of compensation
equivalent to such percentage of the amount of compensation payable under this
section in respect of the loss of that part as is equal to the percentage of
the diminution of the efficient use of that part.
Added by No. 18, 1947, s. 6.
(6) For the purposes of this section and of the Third Schedule to this Act,
the loss of a part of the body shall be deemed to include-
(a) the permanent loss of the use of that part; and
(b) the permanent loss of the efficient use of that part in and for the
purposes of his employment at the date of the injury.
Sub-section (7) omitted by No. 52, 1971, s. 3.
* * * * * * * *
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 5C.
Compensation in respect of death or incapacity of seaman through disease due
to employment.
SECT
Inserted by No. 56, 1938, s. 4. Sub-section (1) substituted by No. 7, 1949, s.
8.
5C. (1) Where-
(a) a seaman is suffering from a disease and is thereby incapacitated for
work; or
(b) the death of a seaman is caused by a disease,
and the disease is due to the nature of the employment in which the seaman was
engaged, the employer shall, subject to this Act, be liable to pay
compensation in accordance with this Act as if the disease were a personal
injury by accident arising out of or in the course of the seaman's
employment.
Amended by No. 7, 1949, s. 8.
(2) A claimant for compensation under this section shall if so required
furnish to the employer from whom compensation is claimed any information in
his possession as to the names and addresses of all the other employers by
whom the seaman was employed prior to the date of incapacity or death.
Amended by No. 7, 1949, s. 8.
(3) If the disease is of such nature that it is contracted by a gradual
process, any other employers who, prior to the seaman's incapacity, employed
the seaman in any employment which caused or contributed towards the
contraction of the disease, shall be liable to make to the employer from whom
compensation is recoverable such contributions (not exceeding the maximum
amounts prescribed under the First Schedule to this Act) as, in default of
agreement, are settled by arbitration, in accordance with the Second Schedule
to this Act, or by proceedings in a County Court.
Sub-section (4) omitted by No. 7, 1949, s. 8.
* * * * * * * *
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 5D.
Maximum compensation.
SECT
Substituted by No. 7, 1949, s. 9.
Sub-section (1) amended by No. 10, 1953, s. 6; No. 16, 1954, s. 4; No. 99,
1959, s. 4; No. 102, 1964, s. 4; No. 97, 1967, s. 6; No. 49, 1970, s. 4; No.
52, 1971, s. 4; and No. 124, 1972, s. 4.
5D. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the amount of
compensation payable in respect of an injury or injuries caused by any one
accident shall not, except as provided by this section, exceed Fourteen
thousand five hundred dollars.
(2) Where an injury results in the death or the total and permanent
incapacity of the seaman for work, sub-section (1) of this section shall not
apply to limit the total amount of compensation payable under this Act.
(3) In the application of sub-section (1) of this section in relation to the
total amount of compensation payable to a seaman under section five B of this
Act, the total amount of any compensation paid to the seaman in accordance
with the First Schedule to this Act before payment to him of the amount
specified in the Third Schedule to this Act shall be disregarded.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 6.
Time for taking proceedings.
SECT
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 2.
6. (1) Proceedings for the recovery under this Act of compensation for an
injury shall not be maintainable unless notice of the accident has been given
as soon as practicable after it has happened, and before the seaman has
voluntarily left the employment in which he was injured, and unless the claim
for compensation has been made-
(a) within six months from the occurrence of the accident, or,
(b) in case of death-within six months after news of the death has been
received by the claimant, or,
(c) in the case of a ship lost with all hands-within eighteen months after
the date when she is deemed under section twelve of this Act to have been lost
with all hands.
Provided always that-
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 7 (1) (a).
(a) where the accident happened and the incapacity commenced on board the
ship, it shall not be necessary to give any notice of the accident;
(b) the want of or any defect or inaccuracy in the notice shall not be a
bar to the maintenance of proceedings if it is found, in the proceedings for
settling the claim, that the employer is not, or would not, if a notice or an
amended notice were then given and the hearing postponed, be prejudiced in his
defence by the want, defect, or inaccuracy, or that the want, defect, or
inaccuracy was occasioned by mistake, absence from Australia, or other
reasonable cause; and
(c) the failure to make a claim within the period above specified shall not
be a bar to the maintenance of proceedings if it is found that the failure was
occasioned by mistake, absence from Australia, or other reasonable cause.
(2) Notice in respect of an injury under this Act shall give the name and
address of the person injured, and shall state in ordinary language the cause
of the injury and the date at which the accident happened, and shall be served
on the employer, or, if there is more than one employer, upon one of the
employers.
(3) The notice may be served by delivering it to the person on whom it is to
be served, or by sending it by post in a registered letter addressed to him at
his residence or place of business.
(4) Where the employer is a body of persons, corporate or unincorporate, the
notice may be served by delivering it at the office or one of the offices of
the employer, or by sending it by post in a registered letter addressed to the
employer at one of the offices of the employer.
Substituted by No. 10, 1953, s. 7.
(5) The notice of accident and the claim for compensation may be served on
the master of the ship on which the seaman was employed or engaged at the time
of the accident as if the master were the employer.
Added by No. 99, 1959, s. 5.
(6) In the application of this section, in accordance with section five C,
and sub-section (3) of section three, of this Act, in relation to a claim in
respect of a seaman who is suffering from a disease or whose death has been
caused by a disease-
(a) notice of the accident shall be deemed to have been given in accordance
with the provisions of sub-section (1) of this section if notice of the
contracting of the disease was given to the employer-
(i) in the case of a claim arising out of the death of the seaman
caused by the disease-as soon as practicable after his death; or
(ii) in any other case-as soon as practicable after the seaman first
became aware that he was suffering from the disease or, if he died without
having become so aware, as soon as practicable after his death;
(b) a claim for compensation shall be deemed to have been made within the
period required by sub-section (1) of this section if the claim was made-
(i) in the case of a claim arising out of the death of the seaman
caused by the disease-within six months after news of the death was received
by the claimant; or
(ii) in any other case-within six months after the seaman first became
aware that he was suffering from the disease or, if he died without having
become so aware, within six months after his death;
(c) paragraph (a) of the proviso to sub-section (1) of this section shall
not apply;
(d) a notice shall, for the purposes of sub-section (2) of this section, be
deemed to contain the date at which the accident happened if it specifies the
date at which, or period during which, the seaman contracted the disease;
(e) a notice referred to in sub-section (2) of this section shall be deemed
to have been duly served if it was served, in accordance with this section, on
the employer by whom the seaman was employed in employment to the nature of
which the disease was due or, if he was so employed by more than one employer,
on the employer by whom he was last so employed; and
(f) a notice or claim shall be deemed to have been duly served in
accordance with the last preceding sub-section if it was served on the master
of the ship on which the seaman was engaged in employment to the nature of
which the disease was due or, if he was so engaged on more than one ship, on
the master of the ship on which he was last so engaged.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 7.
Sub- contracting.
SECT
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 4.
7. (1) Where any person (in this section referred to as the principal) in
the course of or for the purposes of his trade or business, contracts with any
other person (in this section referred to as the contractor) for the execution
by or under the contractor of the whole or any part of any work undertaken by
the principal, the principal shall be liable to pay to any seaman employed in
the execution of the work any compensation under this Act which he would have
been liable to pay if that seaman had been immediately employed by him; and
where compensation is claimed from or proceedings are taken against the
principal, then in the application of this Act, references to the principal
shall be substituted for references to the employer, except that the amount of
compensation shall be calculated with reference to the earnings of the seaman
under the employer by whom he is immediately employed.
(2) Where the principal is liable to pay compensation under this section, he
shall be entitled to be idemnified by any person who would have been liable to
pay compensation to the seaman independently of this section, and all
questions as to the right to and amount of any such indemnity shall in default
of agreement be settled by arbitration under this Act, or by action in any
County Court.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing a seaman
recovering compensation under this Act from the contractor instead of the
principal.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 8.
Provisions as to cases of insolvency of employer.
SECT
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 5.
8. (1) Where any employer has entered into a contract with any insurers in
respect of any liability under this Act to any seaman, then, in the event of
the employer becoming bankrupt, or making a composition or arrangement with
his creditors, or if the employer is a company, in the event of the company
having commenced to be wound up, the rights of the employer against the
insurers as respects that liability shall, notwithstanding anything in the
laws relating to bankruptcy, and the winding up of companies, be transferred
to and vested in the seaman, and upon any such transfer the insurers shall
have the same rights and remedies and be subject to the same liabilities as if
they were the employer, but so that the insurers shall not be under any
greater liability to the seaman than they would have been under to the
employer.
(2) If the liability of the insurers to the seaman is less than the
liability of the employer to the seaman, the seaman may prove for the balance
in the bankruptcy or liquidation.
(3) There shall be included among the debts which are in the distribution of
the property of a bankrupt and in the distribution of the assets of a company
being wound up to be paid in priority to all other debts, the amount due in
respect of any compensation the liability wherefor accrued before the date of
the sequestration order (or any other order corresponding thereto or having
the like effect) or the date of the commencement of the winding up and the
provisions of any laws relating to preferential payments in relation to
bankruptcy and the winding up of companies shall have effect accordingly.
Where the compensation is a weekly payment, the amount due in respect thereof
shall, for the purposes of this provision, be taken to be the amount of the
lump sum for which the weekly payment could, if redeemable, be redeemed if the
employer made an application for that purpose under the First Schedule to this
Act.
(4) The provisions of this section with respect to preferences and
priorities shall not apply where the bankrupt or the company being wound up
has entered into such a contract with insurers as aforesaid.
(5) This section shall not apply where a company is wound up voluntarily
merely for the purposes of reconstruction or of amalgamation with another
company.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 9.
Compensation to be paid in full.
SECT
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 7 (1) (f).
9. Subject to this Act, compensation shall be paid in full in all cases,
notwithstanding any limitation of liability in any other law; but any
limitation of a shipowner's liability imposed by any other law shall apply to
the amount recoverable by way of indemnity under the section of this Act
relating to remedies both against employer and stranger, as if the indemnity
were damages for loss of life or personal injury.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 10.
Remedies both against the employer and a stranger.
SECT
Substituted by No. 7, 1949, s. 10.
10. (1) Where an injury in respect of which compensation is payable under
this Act is caused under circumstances which create, or appear to create, a
legal liability in some person other than the employer to pay damages in
respect of the injury (which other person is in this section referred to as
''the third party''), the provisions of this section shall apply.
Amended by No. 10, 1953, s. 8.
(2) The seaman may take proceedings both against the third party to recover
damages and against the employer for compensation.
(3) The employer may request the seaman to take proceedings against the
third party and, where the seaman takes such proceedings at the request of the
employer, the proceedings shall be conducted on the seaman's behalf at the
expense of the employer, but the seaman shall pay to the employer the amount
of any costs received by the seaman from the third party in respect of the
proceedings.
(4) Where the seaman receives both compensation under this Act and damages
from the third party, the seaman shall repay to the employer such amount of
the compensation as does not exceed the amount of damages recovered from the
third party.
Amended by No. 10, 1953, s. 8.
(5) Upon notice to the third party, the employer shall have a first charge
on moneys payable by the third party to the seaman to the extent of any
compensation which the employer has paid to the seaman under this Act.
(6) Where the seaman has received compensation under this Act, but no
damages or less than the full amount of damages to which he is entitled, the
third party shall be liable to indemnify the employer against so much of the
compensation paid to the seaman as does not exceed the damages for which the
third party is liable.
(7) Payment of money by the third party to the employer under the last
preceding sub-section shall, to the extent of the amount paid, be a
satisfaction of the liability of the third party to the seaman.
(8) All questions as to the right to and amount of any indemnity for which a
third party is liable under this section shall, in default of agreement, be
settled by action or, by consent of the parties, by arbitration under this
Act.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 10A.
Liability of employer independently of this Act.
SECT
Inserted by No. 7, 1949, s. 10.
10A. (1) Except as provided by this Act, a seaman shall not be entitled, in
respect of personal injury by accident arising out of or in the course of his
employment, to receive compensation or any payment by way of compensation from
the employer both independently of and also under this Act.
(2) Where personal injury is caused to a seaman in circumstances which
create, or appear to create, a legal liability in the employer to pay damages
in respect of the injury and the seaman has received compensation under this
Act, the seaman shall not be entitled to take proceedings against the employer
to recover damages unless he commences those proceedings within twelve months
after the date upon which he received payment, or the first payment, of
compensation under this Act.
(3) A seaman who recovers damages from an employer in respect of an injury
shall not be entitled to compensation or any payment under this Act in respect
of the same injury and any sum received by him under this Act in respect of
that injury prior to the award of the damages shall be deducted from the
amount of the damages recoverable from the employer.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 11.
Depositions where injured seaman left overseas.
SECT
Substituted by No. 99, 1959, s. 6.
11. (1) Where-
(a) an injured seaman has been discharged from a ship at a port outside
Australia or has been left on shore at such a port;
(b) depositions as to the circumstances and nature of the injury have been
taken-
(i) if the port is in a Commonwealth country or in the Republic of
Ireland-before a judge or magistrate; or
(ii) if the port is in any other country-before a diplomatic or consular
representative of Australia or before a diplomatic or consular representative
of the United Kingdom; and
(c) the depositions have been transmitted to the Minister, or a copy of the
depositions certified by the person who took the depositions to be a true copy
has been transmitted to the Minister,
the depositions are admissible, and a true copy of the depositions is
admissible, in evidence in proceedings for compensation under this Act.
(2) A certificate signed by the Minister certifying-
(a) that depositions duly taken in accordance with this section have been
transmitted to the Minister, or that a copy of depositions so taken, being a
copy certified by the person who took the depositions to be a true copy, has
been transmitted to the Minister; and
(b) that a document annexed to the certificate is, or is a true copy of,
the depositions,
is evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.
(3) In this section-
''Commonwealth country'' has the same meaning as in the Navigation Act
1912-1958;
''diplomatic or consular office'' means any of the following offices:-
(a) Ambassador;
(b) Minister;
(c) Head of a Mission;
(d) Charge'e d'Affaires;
(e) Counsellor, Secretary or Attache of an Embassy, Legation or other
post;
(f) Consul-General;
(g) Consul;
(h) Vice-Consul;
(i) Pro-Consul; and
(j) Consular Agent;
''diplomatic or consular representative of Australia'' means a person
appointed to hold or act in a diplomatic or consular office of the
Commonwealth in a country or place outside Australia;
''diplomatic or consular representative of the United Kingdom'' means a
person appointed to hold or act in a diplomatic or consular office of the
United Kingdom in a country or place outside the United Kingdom.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 12.
Evidence of loss of ship.
SECT
Cf. M.S.A. 1894, s. 174 (2), (3).
Sub-section (1) amended by No. 56, 1938, s. 6.
12. (1) In any proceeding for compensation under this Act, if it is shown by
some official return produced out of official custody, or by other evidence,
that the ship on which the seaman in respect of whom the compensation is
claimed was employed has, three months or upwards before the institution of
the proceeding, left a port of departure, she shall, unless it is shown that
she has been heard of within three months after that departure, be deemed to
have been lost with all hands on board either immediately after the time she
was last heard of or at such later time as the Court or arbitrator thinks
probable.
(2) A duplicate agreement or list of the crew made out or a statement of a
change in the crew delivered under any Act, Imperial Act, or State Act
relating to navigation or shipping at the time of the last departure of the
ship from Australia, or a certificate purporting to be a certificate from a
Consular or other public officer at any port out of Australia, stating that
certain seamen were shipped in the ship from the said port, shall, if produced
out of official custody, be, in the absence of proof to the contrary,
sufficient proof that the seamen therein named as belonging to the ship were
on board at the time of the loss.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 13.
Detention of ship.
SECT
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 11. M.S.A. 1894, s. 692.
Sub-section (1) amended by No. 99, 1959, s. 7.
13. (1) If it is alleged that the owner of any ship is liable as such to pay
compensation under this Act, and the ship is at any time found in any port or
river in Australia or within any territorial waters thereof, a Justice of the
High Court or a Judge of the Supreme Court of a State may, upon its being
shown to him by any person applying that the owner is probably liable as such
to pay compensation under this Act and that the owner does not reside in
Australia, issue an order, directed to any officer of the Department of
Customs and Excise or other officer named in the order, requiring him to
detain the ship until such time as the owner agent master or consignee thereof
has paid the compensation, or has given security to be approved by the Justice
or Judge to abide the event of any proceedings that may be instituted to
recover compensation under this Act and to pay such compensation and costs (if
any) as are awarded.
(2) The officer to whom the order is directed may detain the ship in
accordance with the order.
(3) In any legal proceeding to recover the compensation, the person giving
security may be made the defendant, and the production of the order of the
Justice or Judge made in relation to the security shall be conclusive evidence
of the liability of the defendant.
(4) Where the owner of a ship is a corporation, it shall for the purpose of
this section be deemed to reside in Australia if it has an office in Australia
at which service of process can be effected.
Amended by No. 97, 1967, s. 7.
(5) The master of a ship, after detention in pursuance of this section, or
after service on him of any notice of or order for detention, shall not
proceed to sea with the ship before she is released by competent authority.
Penalty: Two hundred dollars.
Amended by No. 97, 1967, s. 7.
(6) If the master proceeds to sea with the ship in contravention of this
section, and takes to sea any person authorized to detain the ship, the owner
and master of the ship shall each be liable to pay a further penalty at the
rate of Twenty dollars per day until the person returns or such time as would
enable him after leaving the ship to return to the place from which he was
taken.
(7) An Officer of Customs shall refuse to grant a certificate of clearance
to any ship while under detention in pursuance of this section, and may refuse
to grant such a certificate if he has had notice that an order for the
detention of the ship has been made, or that an application for an order for
the detention of the ship is about to be made.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 14.
Medical referees.
SECT
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 10 (1).
14. (1) The Minister may appoint any duly qualified medical practitioners to
be medical referees for the purposes of this Act.
Sub-section (2) omitted by No. 99, 1959, s. 8.
* * * * * * * *
(3) The fees of medical referees shall be paid out of moneys provided by
Parliament for the purpose.
(4) A medical referee who has been employed as a medical practitioner in
connexion with any case by or on behalf of an employer or seaman, or by any
insurers interested, shall not act as a medical referee in that case.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 15.
Remuneration of arbitrator appointed by County Court.
SECT
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 10 (2).
15. Where an arbitrator is appointed by a County Court under this Act, the
remuneration of the arbitrator shall be paid out of moneys provided by
Parliament for the purpose.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 16.
Returns as to compensation.
SECT
Cf. 6 Edw. 7, ch. 58, s. 12.
Amended by No. 56, 1938, s. 7; and No. 97, 1967, s. 8.
16. The owner or master of every ship on which seamen to which this Act
applies are employed shall, as prescribed, furnish correct returns
specifying-
(a) the number of injuries in respect of which compensation has been paid
under this Act during the previous year, or in respect of any prescribed
period;
(b) the amount of compensation paid during that year, or period; and
(c) such other particulars as are prescribed.
Penalty: Ten dollars.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECT. 17.
Regulations.
SECT
17. The Governor-General may make Regulations not inconsistent with this
Act, prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be
prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for giving
effect to this Act, and in particular for modifying, altering or repealing any
of the provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act or adding any additional
provisions to that Schedule.
Section 18 repealed by No. 216, 1973, s. 3.
* * * * * * * *
-----------
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - FIRST SCHEDULE
SCH
SCHEDULES
FIRST SCHEDULE
SCALE AND CONDITIONS OF COMPENSATION
Paragraph (1) substituted by No. 56, 1938, s. 8; amended by No. 18, 1947, s.
8; No. 7, 1949, s. 11; No. 10, 1953, s. 9; No. 16, 1954, s. 5; No. 99, 1959,
s. 9; No. 102, 1964, s. 5; No. 97, 1967, s. 9; No. 124, 1968, s. 3; No. 49,
1970, s. 5; No. 52, 1971, s. 5; and No. 124, 1972, s. 5.
(1) The amount of compensation under this Act shall be-
(a) where death results from the injury-
(i) if the seaman leaves any dependants wholly dependent upon his
earnings, the sum of Fourteen thousand five hundred dollars and, in addition,
in respect of each child under the age of sixteen years at the date of the
death of the seaman who was, at the date of the injury or the date of the
death of the seaman, wholly or mainly dependent upon the earnings of the
seaman, a weekly payment, from the date of the death, of an amount equal to
the amount specified in clause (ii) of the next succeeding sub-paragraph;
(ii) if the seaman does not leave any such dependants, but leaves any
dependants in part dependent upon his earnings, such sum, not exceeding in any
case the amount payable under the foregoing provisions, as may be agreed upon,
or, in default of agreement, may be determined, on arbitration or proceedings
under this Act, to be reasonable and proportionate to the loss to the
dependants resulting from the cessation of the earnings of the seaman; and
(iii) the reasonable expenses of the seaman's funeral, not exceeding
Three hundred dollars;
(b) where the seaman is totally incapacitated for work by the injury-a
weekly payment during his incapacity of the sum of Forty-three dollars and, in
addition, the sum of-
(i) Eleven dollars in respect of-
(1) the wife of the seaman, if she was married to the seaman at the
date of the injury and is wholly or mainly dependent upon his earnings; or
(2) if he has no wife, or if compensation is not payable in respect
of his wife-one female, over the age of sixteen years, who is wholly or mainly
dependent upon the earnings of the seaman and was, at the date of the injury,
a member of the seaman's family or caring for a child who was at that date,
and is, under the age of sixteen years and wholly or mainly dependent upon the
earnings of the seaman; and
(ii) Five dollars in respect of each child, born before or after the
date of the injury, who, not being a child of a marriage contracted, or an
ex-nuptial relationship formed, after the date of injury, is under the age of
sixteen years and wholly or mainly dependent upon the earnings of the seaman;
and
(c) where the seaman is partially incapacitated for work by the injury-a
weekly payment during his incapacity-
(i) of the amount (if any) by which the weekly amount that he is
earning, or is able to earn in some suitable employment or business, after the
injury is less than his weekly pay at the date of the injury, or of the amount
of Forty-three dollars, whichever is the less; or
(ii) of the amount (if any) by which the weekly amount that he is
earning, or is able to earn in some suitable employment or business, after the
injury is less than the weekly amount that would have been payable to him
under sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph, if he had been totally
incapacitated,
whichever is the greater.
Paragraphs (1A) and (1B) omitted by No. 7, 1949, s. 11.
* * * * * * * *
Substituted by No. 7, 1949, s. 11; amended by No. 10, 1953, s. 9; No. 16,
1954, s. 5; No. 99, 1959, s. 9; No. 102, 1964, s. 5; No. 97, 1967, s. 9; No.
124, 1968, s. 3; No. 49, 1970, s. 5; and No. 52, 1971, s. 5.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph (1) of this Schedule-
(a) where death results from the injury-
(i) any amount paid or payable before the death of the seaman by way of
weekly payments in respect of his total or partial incapacity for work shall
not be deducted from the sum payable under clause (i) of sub-paragraph (a) of
that paragraph, or shall be disregarded in determining the sum payable under
clause (ii) of that sub-paragraph, as the case may be;
(b) where the seaman is totally or partially incapacitated for work by the
injury-
(i) no payment shall be made under sub-paragraph (b) or sub-paragraph
(c) of that paragraph which is in excess of the amount of the weekly pay of
the seaman at the date of the injury; and
(ii) no such payment shall be made in respect of any period during which
the owner of the ship is under any Act, Imperial Act or State Act liable to
pay full wages to the injured seaman; and
(c) where the seaman is totally incapacitated for work by the injury,
eligibility for weekly payment under sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph in
respect of a child born after the date of the injury shall not accrue until
the date of birth of the child.
Inserted by No. 7, 1949, s. 11; amended by No. 216, 1973, s. 3.
(2A) The amount of any child endowment paid under Part VI of the Social
Services Act 1947-1973 in respect of a child shall be disregarded in
ascertaining, for the purposes of this Schedule, whether or not that child is
or was dependent upon the earnings of a seaman.
Substituted by No. 7, 1949, s. 11; amended by No. 10, 1953, s. 9; and No. 97,
1967, s. 9.
(3) For the purposes of this Schedule-
(a) ''pay'' means the salary or wages of the seaman, and includes-
(i) where the seaman receives, as a regular condition of his
employment, board or board and lodging in addition to wages-such amount, not
exceeding Four dollars fifty cents per week, as is assessed as the value of
the board or board and lodging; and
(ii) unless otherwise prescribed-any allowance payable to the seaman in
respect of his employment,
but, subject to the regulations, does not include any allowance which is
intermittent or any allowance or sum which is payable in respect of special
expenses incurred or likely to be incurred by the seaman in respect of his
employment; and
(b) any reference to the weekly pay of the seaman at the date of the
inquiry means, if the rate of pay of seamen of the same class is subsequently
varied under the terms of any award, order or determination of an industrial
authority, any industrial agreement or any law, the rate of pay as so varied.
Substituted by No. 7, 1949, s. 11.
(4) The amount of any weekly payment of compensation payable to a seaman
under this Schedule shall be subject to deduction of the amount of any
payment, allowance or benefit which the seaman receives from the employer
during the period of the seaman's incapacity.
Inserted by No. 56, 1938, s. 8.
(4A) Where under any Act, Imperial Act or State Act, the employer is liable
to defray the expenses of maintenance of the injured seaman, the amount of any
weekly payment of compensation payable to the seaman under this Schedule shall
be subject to deduction of the amount of the weekly cost of maintenance of the
seaman paid by the employer.
Amended by No. 99, 1959, s. 9.
(5) Where a seaman has given notice of an accident or has made a claim for
compensation under this Act for an injury, he shall, if so required by the
employer, submit himself for examination by a duly qualified medical
practitioner provided and paid by the employer, and, if he refuses to submit
himself to such examination, or in any way obstructs the same, his right to
compensation, and to take or prosecute any proceedings under this Act in
relation to compensation, shall be suspended until such examination has taken
place.
Amended by No. 56, 1938, s. 8; and No. 10, 1953, s. 9.
(6) The payment in the case of death shall, unless otherwise provided in
this Schedule or by the regulations, be paid to a prescribed authority, and
the sum so paid shall be dealt with as prescribed for the benefit of the
persons entitled thereto:
Provided that, if so agreed, the payment in case of death shall, if the
seaman leaves no dependants, be made to his legal personal representative, or,
if he has no such representative, to the persons to whom payments in respect
of medical treatment, ambulance services and funeral expenses are due.
Inserted by No. 102, 1964, s. 5.
(6A) An additional amount of compensation payable under paragraph (10A) of
this Schedule shall be paid to such a person or to such persons, and for such
purposes, as the Minister directs.
(7) Where a weekly payment is payable under this Act to a person under any
legal disability, the weekly payment shall be paid during the disability to a
prescribed authority, and dealt with as prescribed for the benefit of the
person entitled thereto.
Inserted by No. 18, 1947, s. 8.
(7A) Where any person under any legal disability is entitled to any amount
of compensation under this Act in the form of a lump sum, that amount may be
paid to a trustee or trustees appointed by a committee or by an arbitrator and
approved by a prescribed authority, or appointed by a Judge or a County Court,
and the amount so paid shall, subject to any general or special direction of a
Judge or a County Court, be held and applied by the trustee or trustees for
the benefit of the persons so entitled.
Substituted by No. 56, 1938, s. 8.
(8) Any question as to-
(a) who is a dependant; or
(b) how the compensation shall be allotted among, or otherwise dealt with
for the benefit of, the dependants
shall, in default of agreement, be settled by arbitration under this Act, or
by a County Court.
(9) Where there are both total and partial dependants, nothing in this
Schedule shall be construed as preventing the compensation being allotted
partly to the total and partly to the partial dependants.
(10) Where, on application being made to a prescribed authority that, on
account of neglect of children on the part of a widow, or on account of the
variation of the circumstances of any of the dependants, or for any other
sufficient cause, an order of the Court or an award as to the apportionment
amongst the several dependants of any sum paid as compensation, or as to the
manner in which any sum payable to any dependant is to be dealt with, ought to
be varied, the prescribed authority may make an application to a County Court
for the variation of the order or the award, and the County Court may make
such order thereon as it thinks just.
Inserted by No. 102, 1964, s. 5; amended by No. 97, 1967, s. 9; No. 49, 1970,
s. 5; and No. 52, 1971, s. 5.
(10A) A weekly payment referred to in clause (i) of sub-paragraph (a) of
paragraph (1) of this Schedule ceases to be payable when the child-
(a) attains the age of sixteen years;
(b) marries; or
(c) dies,
whichever event first occurs, and where such a weekly payment ceases to be
payable and the aggregate amount of such weekly payments made in respect of
the child is less than Five hundred dollars, there is payable an additional
amount of compensation equal to the difference between that aggregate amount
and Five hundred dollars.
(11) Any seaman receiving weekly payments under this Act shall, if so
required by the employer, from time to time submit himself for examination by
a duly qualified medical practitioner provided and paid by the employer. If
the seaman refuses to submit himself to such examination, or in any way
obstructs the examination, his right to the weekly payments shall be suspended
until the examination has taken place.
(12) A seaman shall not be required to submit himself for examination by a
medical practitioner under the provisions of this Schedule otherwise than in
accordance with the regulations, or at more frequent intervals than is
prescribed by those regulations.
Amended by No. 16, 1954, s. 5.
(13) Where a seaman has submitted himself for examination by a medical
practitioner, or has been examined by a medical practitioner selected by
himself, and the employer or seaman, as the case may be, has within six days
after such examination furnished the other with a copy of the report of that
practitioner as to the seaman's condition, then, in the event of no agreement
being come to between the employer and the seaman as to the seaman's condition
or fitness for employment, the prescribed authority, on application being made
to him by both parties, may on payment by the applicants of such fee as is
prescribed, refer the matter to a medical referee.
(14) The medical referee to whom the matter is referred shall examine the
seaman, and shall, in accordance with the regulations, give a certificate as
to the condition of the seaman and his fitness for employment, specifying,
where necessary, the kind of employment for which he is fit, and that
certificate shall be conclusive evidence as to the matters so certified.
(15) Where no agreement can be come to between the employer and the seaman
as to whether or to what extent the incapacity of the seaman is due to the
accident, the provisions of this Schedule relating to reference to and
examination and certificate by a medical referee shall, subject to the
regulations, apply as if the question were a question as to the condition of
the seaman.
(16) If a seaman refuses to submit himself for examination by a medical
referee, as provided in this Schedule, or in any way obstructs the
examination, his right to compensation and to take or prosecute any
proceedings under this Act in relation to compensation, or, in the case of a
seaman in receipt of a weekly payment, his right to that weekly payment, shall
be suspended until the examination has taken place.
Amended by No. 56, 1938, s. 8; No. 18, 1947, s. 8; and No. 7, 1949, s. 11.
(17) Any weekly payment may be reviewed in the prescribed manner at the
request either of the employer or of the seaman, and on such review may be
ended, diminished, or increased, subject to the maximum above provided.
(18) Where any weekly payment has been continued for not less than six
months, the liability therefor may, at the option of the employer, but subject
to the regulations, be redeemed by the payment of a lump sum of such an amount
as, where the incapacity is permanent, would, if invested in the purchase of
an immediate life annuity, purchase an annuity for the seaman equal to
seventy-five per cent. of the annual value of the weekly payment, and as in
any other case is settled by arbitration under this Act, or by a County Court,
and such lump sum may be ordered by the committee or arbitrator or Judge of
the County Court to be paid to a prescribed authority to be invested or
otherwise applied for the benefit of the person entitled thereto:
Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as preventing
agreements being made for the redemption of a weekly payment by a lump sum.
Inserted by No. 18, 1947, s. 8.
(18A) The last preceding paragraph shall not apply in any case where the
incapacity is total and permanent.
(19) If a seaman receiving a weekly payment ceases to reside in Australia,
he shall cease to be entitled to receive any weekly payment, unless a medical
referee certifies that the incapacity resulting from the injury is likely to
be of a permanent nature. If the medical referee so certifies, the seaman
shall be entitled to receive quarterly the amount of the weekly payments
accruing due during the preceding quarter so long as he proves, in such manner
and at such intervals as are prescribed, his identity and the continuance of
the incapacity in respect of which the weekly payment is payable.
Substituted by No. 56, 1938, s. 8.
(20) Any amount paid in compensation under this Act, whether by way of
weekly payment or sum paid in redemption thereof, or lump sum payment for a
specific injury fixed in accordance with the Third Schedule to this Act, shall
not be capable of being assigned, charged or attached, and shall not pass to
any other person by operation of law, nor shall any claim be set off against
it.
(21) Where under this Schedule a right to compensation is suspended, no
compensation shall be payable in respect of the period of suspension.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - SECOND SCHEDULE
SCH
SECOND SCHEDULE
PROCEEDINGS FOR COMPENSATION
(1) For the purpose of settling any matter which under this Act may be
settled by arbitration, if any committee, representative of an employer and
his seamen, exists with power to settle matters under this Act in the case of
the employer and seamen, the matter may, unless either party objects by notice
in writing sent to the other party before the committee meet to consider the
matter, be settled by the arbitration of the committee, or be referred by it
to arbitration as hereinafter provided.
Amended by No. 7, 1949, s. 12.
(2) If there is no such committee, or if either party objects to the
settlement of the matter by the committee, or if the committee refers the
matter to arbitration or fails to settle it within six months from the making
of the claim, the matter may be settled by a single arbitrator agreed on by
the parties, or, in the absence of agreement, appointed by a County Court or
by arbitration before a Judge of a County Court.
(3) The provisions of any Act or State Act relating to arbitration shall not
apply to any arbitration under this Act; but a committee or an arbitrator may,
if they or he think fit, submit any question of law for the decision of a
County Court, and the decision of the County Court on any question of law,
either on such submission, or in any case where a County Court settles the
matter under this Act, or where it gives any decision or makes any order under
this Act, shall be final, unless within the time and in accordance with the
conditions prescribed by the regulations either party appeals to the High
Court or to the Supreme Court of the State in which the County Court is
situated.
(4) Any arbitrator appointed by a County Court shall, for the purpose of
proceedings under this Act, have the same powers of procuring the attendance
of witnesses and the production of documents as if the proceedings before him
were an action in the County Court.
(5) In any arbitration under this Act, any party to the proceedings may
appear personally or by any other person appointed to represent him.
Amended by No. 7, 1949, s. 12.
(6) The costs of and incidental to the arbitration and proceedings connected
therewith shall, subject to the regulations, be in the discretion of the
committee, a Judge or arbitrator. The costs, whether before a committee, a
Judge or an arbitrator, shall not exceed the limit prescribed by the
regulations.
(7) In the case of the death or refusal or inability to act of an
arbitrator, the County Court may, on the application of any party, appoint a
new arbitrator.
(8) Where the amount of compensation under this Act has been ascertained, or
any weekly payment varied, or any other matter decided under this Act, either
by a committee or by an arbitrator or by agreement, a memorandum thereof shall
be sent, in manner prescribed by the regulations, by the committee or
arbitrator, or by any party interested, to the prescribed authority, who
shall, subject to the regulations, on being satisfied as to its genuineness,
record the memorandum, and thereupon the memorandum shall for all purposes be
enforceable as if it were a judgment of a County Court:
Provided that-
(a) no such memorandum shall be recorded before seven days after the
despatch by the prescribed authority of notice to the parties interested;
(b) where a seaman seeks to record a memorandum of agreement between his
employer and himself for the payment of compensation under this Act, and the
employer, in accordance with the regulations, objects to the recording of the
memorandum, and proves that the seaman has in fact returned to work and is
earning the same wages as he did before the accident, the memorandum shall
only be recorded, if at all, on such terms as the prescribed authority, under
the circumstances, thinks just;
(c) a County Court may at any time make such order in relation to the
recording of the memorandum, including the removal of such record, as it
thinks just;
(d) where it appears to a prescribed authority, on any information which he
considers sufficient, that an agreement as to the redemption of a weekly
payment by a lump sum, or an agreement as to the amount of compensation
payable to a person under any legal disability, or to dependants, ought not to
be recorded by reason of the inadequacy of the sum or amount, or by reason of
the agreement having been obtained by fraud or undue influence, or other
improper means, he may refuse to record the memorandum of the agreement, and
refer the matter to a County Court, which may, in accordance with the
regulations, make such order (including an order as to any sum already paid
under the agreement) as under the circumstances it thinks just;
(e) a County Court may, within six months after the recording of a
memorandum of an agreement as to the redemption of a weekly payment by a lump
sum or of an agreement as to the amount of compensation payable to a person
under any legal disability or to dependants, order that the record be removed
on proof to its satisfaction that the agreement was obtained by fraud or undue
influence or other improper means, and may make such order (including an order
as to any sum already paid under the agreement) as under the circumstances it
thinks just.
(9) An agreement as to the redemption of a weekly payment by a lump sum, if
not recorded in accordance with this Act, shall not, nor shall the payment of
the sum payable under the agreement, exempt the person by whom the weekly
payment is payable from liability to continue to make that weekly payment, and
an agreement as to the amount of compensation to be paid to a person under a
legal disability or to dependants, if not so recorded, shall not, nor shall
the payment of the sum payable under the agreement, exempt the person by whom
the compensation is payable from liability to pay compensation, unless, in
either case, he proves that the failure to register was not due to any neglect
or default on his part.
(10) Where any matter under this Act is to be done in a County Court, it may
be done in any County Court, but if the Judge of the County Court in which the
proceedings are taken, is satisfied that the matter can be more conveniently
dealt with in some other County Court, he may order the transfer of the
proceedings to that Court, and upon such transfer that Court shall have the
like jurisdiction in relation to the proceedings as if they had been commenced
in that Court.
(11) Any sum awarded as compensation shall, unless paid to a prescribed
authority, be paid on the receipt of the person to whom it is payable under
any agreement or award, and the solicitor or agent of a person claiming
compensation under this Act shall not be entitled to recover from him any
costs in respect of any proceedings in an arbitration under this Act, or to
claim a lien in respect of such costs on, or deduct such costs from, the sum
awarded or agreed as compensation.
Amended by No. 7, 1949, s. 12.
(12) Any committee, arbitrator, Judge or County Court may, subject to the
regulations, submit to a medical referee for report any matter which seems
material to any question arising in the proceedings.
(13) The Minister may, by order, either unconditionally or subject to such
conditions or modifications as he thinks fit, confer on any committee
representative of an employer and his seamen, as respects any matter in which
the committee acts as arbitrator, or which is settled by agreement submitted
to and approved by the committee, all or any of the powers conferred by this
Act on a County Court, and may by the order modify any of the provisions of
this Schedule, and may provide for such incidental, consequential, or
supplemental provisions as may appear to the Minister to be necessary or
proper for the purposes of the order.
(14) A Judge of a County Court may, in relation to any proceedings in the
Court, exercise all the jurisdiction and powers of a County Court under this
Schedule.
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - THIRD SCHEDULE
SCH
Substituted by No. 52, 1971, s. 6.
THIRD SCHEDULE
Section
5B
PART I
INJURIES IN RESPECT OF WHICH THE AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION SPECIFIED
IN
SECTION 5B (1) IS PAYABLE
Loss of, or total loss of sight of, both eyes Loss of, or total loss of sight
of, a useful eye, the other being blind or absent Loss of both hands Loss of
hand and foot Loss of both feet
PART II
INJURIES IN RESPECT OF WHICH A PERCENTAGE OF THE AMOUNT OF
COMPENSATION SPECIFIED IN SECTION 5B (1) IS PAYABLE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
First Column Second
Column
Nature of Injury
Percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Loss of, or total loss of sight of, one eye, with serious diminution of the
sight of the other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Loss of, or total
loss of sight of, one eye . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Total loss of
hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Complete
deafness of one ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Loss of arm
at or above elbow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Loss of arm
below elbow, loss of hand or loss of thumb and four fingers of the one hand .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Loss of thumb . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Loss of forefinger . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Loss of middle finger . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Loss of ring finger . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Loss of little finger . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 13 Total loss of movement of joint of thumb . .
. . . . . . . . . . 14 Loss of distal phalanx or joint of thumb . . .
. . . . . . . . . 16 Loss of portion of terminal segment of thumb
involving one-third of its flexor surface without loss of distal phalanx or
joint . . 14 Loss of two phalanges or joints of forefinger . . . . . .
. . . . 12 Loss of two phalanges or joints of middle or ring finger .
. . . 11 Loss of two phalanges or joints of little finger . . . . . .
. . 10 Loss of distal phalanx or joint of forefinger . . . . . . . . .
. 10 Loss of distal phalanx or joint of other finger . . . . . . . . .
8 Loss of leg at or above knee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Loss of leg below knee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Loss of foot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Loss of great toe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Loss of any other toe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Loss of two phalanges or joints of any other toe . . . . . . . . 7
Loss of phalanx or joint of great toe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Loss of phalanx or joint of any other toe . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Fourth Schedule omitted by No. 7, 1949, s. 13.
* * * * * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
SEAMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT 1911-1973 - NOTES
NOTES
1. The Seamen's Compensation Act 1911-1973 comprises the Seamen's
Compensation Act 1911 as amended by the other Acts specified in the following
table:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number Date of
Act and year Date of
Assent commencement
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1911 No. 13, 1911 18 Dec 1911 15 Feb 1912 (see
Gazette 1912, p.
215)
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1938 No. 56, 1938 10 Dec 1938 7 Jan 1939
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1947 No. 18, 1947 4 June 1947 2 July 1947
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1949 No. 7, 1949 25 Mar 1949 25 Mar 1949
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1953 No. 10, 1953 28 Mar 1953 25 Apr 1953
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1954 No. 16, 1954 20 Apr 1954 20 Apr 1954
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1959 No. 99, 1959 4 Dec 1959 4 Dec 1959
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1960 No. 67, 1960 7 Dec 1960 4 Jan 1961
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1964 No. 102, 1964 20 Nov 1964 20 Nov 1964
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1967 No. 97, 1967 9 Nov 1967 9 Nov 1967
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1968 No. 124, 1968 3 Dec 1968 3 Dec 1968
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1970 No. 49, 1970 24 June 1970 24 June 1970
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1971 No. 52, 1971 25 May 1971 25 May 1971
Seamen's Compensation
Act 1972 No. 124, 1972 2 Nov 1972 2 Nov 1972
Statute Law Revision Act
1973 No. 216, 1973 19 Dec 1973 31 Dec 1973
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.-S. 4-Sub-section 27 (2) of the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission Act
1956-1973 provides that the Seamen's Compensation Act applies in relation to
seamen who are officers or employees of the Australian Coastal Shipping
Commission.