About the Seacare Authority

Our role and strategic priorities

The Seacare Authority is established under the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992 (Seafarers Act).

Under the Seafarers Act and the Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993 (OHS(MI) Act) we work to:

1. promote healthy and safe workplaces in the Seacare scheme
2. promote appropriate and timely compensation and rehabilitation for injured workers covered by the Seacare scheme
3. maintain a scheme safety net that meets its liabilities.

Membership

The Seacare Authority is comprised of seven members who are appointed by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations.

Along with a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson, there are two employer representatives, two employee representatives and the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

Current members

• Chairperson - Mr Barry Sherriff
• Deputy Chairperson - Mr Michael Duke, Acting Comcare CEO
• Employer representative - Ms Sarah Cerche, Director, Workplace Relations, Governance and Policy at Maritime Industry Australia Limited
• Employer representative - Mr Ian Del Rosso, Industry Employer Representative
• Employee representative - Dr Penny Howard, National Research Officer, Maritime Union of Australia
• Employee representative - Mr Nathan Niven, Senior National Organiser, Australian Institute of Marine Power Engineers
• AMSA CEO - Ms Kaylene Dale

Functions

The Seacare Authority perform functions under two key pieces of legislation.

Under the Seafarers Act, we:

• monitor the operation of the Seafarers Act
• promote high operational standards of claims management and effective rehabilitation procedures by employers
• co-operate with other bodies and people, aiming to reduce the incidence of injuries to employees
• publish material relating to our functions
• advise the relevant Minister regarding our functions and powers, and other matters relating to the compensation and rehabilitation of employees.

Under the OHS(MI) Act, we:

• work to ensure that the obligations imposed by the OHS(MI) Act and associated regulations are complied with
• advise operators, employers and contractors on occupational health and safety matters.
• collect, interpret and report information relating to occupational health and safety
• formulate policies and strategies relating to the occupational health and safety of employees
• accredit OHS training courses for the purposes of section 47 of the OHS(MI) Act
• liaise with other bodies concerned with occupational health and safety
• advise the relevant Minister on the performance of the above functions.

We oversee the operation of a range of legislation and administer Regulations made under scheme legislation.

Support provided to the Seacare Authority

Inspection function

AMSA performs the inspectorate function of the scheme for OHS matters.

The Seacare Authority has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with AMSA (PDF, 132.9 KB) to cover our strategic, administrative and operational relationship. This is in regard to exercising our respective roles under the OHS(MI) Act and OHS(MI) Regulations.

Seacare Secretariat

The Seacare Authority does not have its own staff. Comcare makes staff available to support the Seacare Authority.

Operating as the Seacare Secretariat, staff undertake the day-to-day regulatory functions of the Seacare Authority and provide policy, administrative and secretariat support.

The Seacare Secretariat, under the direction of the Seacare Authority, is responsible for:

• providing secretariat, policy and strategic support to the Seacare Authority
• implementing decisions of the Seacare Authority
• administering Seacare scheme legislation and monitoring how it operates
• managing the annual appropriation to support the Seacare function
• monitoring, and reporting on, Seacare scheme performance
• preparing a corporate plan and an annual report to Parliament
• reporting to the Minister
• liaising and communicating with scheme stakeholders and other regulators
• promoting the objectives of the Seacare scheme.

The Seacare Secretariat also has access to Comcare legal services, financial management services, communication services and corporate support to assist it to carry out its work.

Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding

We have signed several agreements and memoranda of understanding with partners and support agencies on how we will operate together.

• Memorandum of Understanding between the Seacare Authority and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) (PDF, 132.9 KB)
• Memorandum of Understanding between the Seacare Authority and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) (PDF, 1.6 MB).

Corporate publications

• Annual report
• Corporate plan
• Mental Health Strategy (PDF, 216.0 KB).

See a full list of our corporate publications.