The evolution of workers’ compensation policy in Australia

Abstract

This article traces the trajectory of workers’ compensation policy in Australia through to the mid-1990s, and argues that it can be viewed in terms of ‘punctuated equilibrium’ – which involves occasional bursts of rapid policy change interspersed with longer periods of incremental change. A four-stage periodisation of policy development is presented in which contestation between business interests and organised labour over the distribution of work-related injury costs is the main policy driver. In the process, the mediating role of the federalist Australian state is demonstrated. It is also suggested that the Australian policy experience lends itself to comparative studies with the United States and Canada, particularly as these are the only other two countries with state-based federalist workers’ compensation systems.