There are a range of implications for workers' compensation and rehabilitation as a result of the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other Acts Amendment Act 2005.

From 2 November 2005 :

• Employers and self-insurers are allowed to outsource the role of the rehabilitation coordinator i.e. under a contract for services;
• Rehabilitation coordinators have been renamed as ‘Rehabilitation and Return to Work Coordinators’;
• It is an offence to dismiss an employee within twelve months (previously six months with the ability to return to the pre-injury position if recovery occurs within the first twelve months of injury – section 93 of the Industrial Relations Act 1999) of the employee becoming injured under the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003, solely or mainly because the employee is not fit for employment in a position because of the injury ; and
• A Queensland self-insurer or member of a group self-insurer who is granted a national self-insurance licence under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Cwlth) must notify the Workers’ Compensation Scheme Regulatory Authority (Q-COMP) within 5 business days of receiving the notification.

Implications of the Act for workplace health and safety.