2026 industrial relations and workers’ compensation scheme review

Overview

The Industrial Relations Act 2016 (IR Act) and the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (WCR Act) collectively have a key role in setting the employment related legislative scheme for workers in Queensland, including for the public sector and local government.

It is timely to review these Acts in response to emerging workplace and workers' compensation scheme trends; to support productivity and a fair, balanced and sustainable workers' compensation scheme; and to honour the Crisafulli Government's commitment to ensuring the Queensland Government is an employer of choice, with a clear focus on respecting taxpayers' money.

Providing an industrial relations framework for Queensland, the IR Act regulates state public sector and local government employees. It has been in operation since 2017 with a five year review last completed in 2021.

The IR Act must be reviewed to ensure it is meeting its objectives and responding to emerging trends such as good faith bargaining, public sector productivity, wage setting mechanisms (including Public Sector Wages Policy), worker advocacy and the right to freedom of association.

The Crisafulli Government is committed to a workers' compensation scheme that strikes a balance between providing appropriate benefits for injured workers and ensuring the costs incurred by employers are reasonable.

The workers' compensation scheme was last reviewed in 2023 under section 584A of the WCR Act, which requires the Minister for Industrial Relations to ensure a review of the operation of the scheme is completed at least once in every five year period.

Since the 2023 review there have been emerging trends and national developments relevant to the operation of the workers' compensation scheme including increasing primary and secondary psychological injury claims, increased reporting of fraud and related offending, and suitability of self-insurance arrangements. These trends have direct and indirect human and financial costs to employers, workers, insurers and the community and may present risks to scheme integrity and sustainability.

In light of these developments, a review of Queensland's workers' compensation scheme under section 584A of the WCR Act is necessary to examine whether any changes are required to ensure the Queensland workers' compensation scheme remains effective and fit for purpose.

Terms of reference

With respect to the IR Act, the reviewers will:

  1. review the operation and performance of the IR Act and whether the Act adequately supports workers and productivity in the workplace and provides for freedom of association;
  2. consider requirements to ensure registered industrial organisations, their officials and employees operate in a way that supports productive and harmonious industrial relations and transparent and lawful conduct;
  3. consider measures to ensure Queensland workers have adequate protections and fair conditions in their employment and are paid competitively;
  4. consider good faith bargaining, and the interactions of the State Wage Case, Public Sector Wages Policy, and Collective bargaining provisions of the Act noting the IR Act’s jurisdiction for these matters is almost exclusively contained to employees and employers in the Queensland state public and local government sectors;
  5. support the implementation of recommendations from the Queensland Productivity Commission (QPC) inquiry into the construction sector and the CFMEU Commission of Inquiry in considering the above; and
  6. any other matters the Reviewers deem relevant. 

For the purposes of section 584A of the WCR Act, the Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations, instructs the reviewers to inquire into and report on the operation of the Queensland workers’ compensation scheme. The reviewers will:

  1. consider any emerging issues impacting the operation of Queensland’s workers’ compensation scheme, in particular:
    • the growth of primary and secondary psychological claims and its impact on injured workers, employers and the scheme;
    • the effectiveness of the existing offence of fraud and similar offences (e.g. providing false and misleading information) to ensure these remain fit for purpose;
    • the effectiveness of the scheme’s management of fraudulent claims (or suspected fraudulent claims), including its preventative, detective, compliance and enforcement measures to manage fraudulent conduct within the workers’ compensation scheme; and
    • any relevant laws applying in other Australian jurisdictions and reform;
  2. consider whether the self-insurance scheme as it applies to workers and business is fit for purpose; and
  3. consider measures to ensure Queensland’s workers’ compensation scheme is fair, sustainable, and protected, delivering confidence for workers, employers and taxpayers.

Consideration of any changes to common law under the WCR Act is excluded from the scope of the review. 

The review of the workers’ compensation scheme is being completed under section 584A of the WCR Act, which requires the Minister for Industrial Relations to ensure a review of the scheme is completed at least once every five years.

The Reviewers will present their findings and recommendations to the Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations. 

Reviewers

The review is being led by independent reviewers Mr Glenn Ferguson AM (lead reviewer) and Mr Gary Black. 

Mr Glenn Ferguson AM is the Managing Director of FC Lawyers. Mr Ferguson is a Past President of the Law Council of Australia, the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific and the Queensland Law Society. He is a Founding Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand College of Notaries and Fellow of the College of Law. He is also Chair of Lexon Insurance, a Governor of the College of Law, former Chair of WorkCover Queensland, former member of the Federal Attorney-General’s International Legal Services Advisory Council and the Immigration Minister’s Advisory Board in relation to the regulation of migration agents.

Mr Gary Black is a former Commissioner in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission. Mr Black was also the executive director of the National Retailers Association and has extensive experience in employee relations with a number of the nation’s top employer organisations. He was previously the director of the NRA's Employment Law Division.

Timing

The review is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2026. 

Updates will be posted on this page as the review progresses.

Queries

For any enquiries, please contact ActReview@oir.qld.gov.au.