Introduction to Parliament - Workplace Legislation Amendment (Accident Compensation and Other Matters) Bill 2026

  

 

The Victorian Government has introduced the Workplace Legislation Amendment (Accident Compensation and Other Matters) Bill 2026 (the Bill) to Parliament. 

What this means for self-insurers

 

The Bill amends the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (WIRC Act) to give self-insurers and non-WorkCover employers more options to meet financial guarantee requirements.

 

Specifically, the Bill would:

• allow surety bonds to be used as a form of financial guarantee, in addition to guarantees issued by an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution
• require surety bond issuers to be regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, and satisfy credit rating requirements to be specified in a Ministerial Direction
• provide for a Ministerial Direction to be developed specifying requirements to be met by surety bond issuers, following passage of the Bill.

 

Other reforms included in the Bill

 

The Bill also proposes to:

• enhance the ability of health and safety representatives (HSRs) and authorised representatives of registered employee organisations (ARREOs) to identify and resolve occupational health and safety issues
• safeguard against conduct that undermines the effectiveness and integrity of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) representation framework
• make administrative improvements to the OHS representation framework
• clarify that WorkSafe and the Transport Accident Commission are not liable to fund accommodation costs associated with specialist disability accommodation (SDA)

• align approval of the terms and conditions of the WorkSafe Board Chairperson with that of Directors of WorkSafe
• clarify how Medical Panels fees are set.

 

Commencement

 

Changes to financial guarantee requirements are expected to commence on 10 September 2027, unless proclaimed earlier.

 

Next steps

 

WorkSafe will continue to keep you informed as the Bill progresses through Parliament. Should the Bill pass Parliament, WorkSafe will consult on the supporting instrument relevant to the financial guarantee reforms, including a new Ministerial Direction setting out requirements for surety bonds.

 

More information

 

A copy of the Bill can be viewed and downloaded from the Victorian Legislation website. The Ministerial media release announcing the introduction of the new legislation to Parliament is available here.