The Productivity Commission and OHS Arrangements in Australia

By Kevin Purse

The federal government's Productivity Commission recently called for a radical restructuring of national institutional arrangements governing OHS in Australia.

Central to the Commissions' agenda were proposals to revamp the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission and recommendations designed to achieve uniform OHS legislation throughout Australia. A further component of the Commission's agenda was a two-stage proposal to provide corporate employers with the option of federal OHS coverage.

This article outlines these proposals, then canvasses a number of the broader issues involved, and concludes with an assessment of the viability of the Commission's agenda for change.

As Purse says, the objective of OHS laws is to reduce the unacceptably high levels of work-related injury and death. The Productivity Commission did not even begin to address this key issue in its report and instead drew up a program almost exclusively for the benefit of corporate Australia.

(Journal of Occupational Health and Safety Australia and New Zealand (vol 20, no 5, October 2004)