Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation (Protecting Firefighters) Amendment Bill 2015

Overview

This bill would have made it easier for Queensland firefighters who develop certain cancers to get workers' compensation. It proposed 'deemed disease' coverage for 12 cancers linked to firefighting, meaning the cancer would automatically be treated as work-related if the firefighter had served a minimum number of years. The bill was discharged and did not become law.

Who it affects

Career, auxiliary, rural and volunteer firefighters diagnosed with one of the listed cancers, along with their families and WorkCover Queensland.

Key changes

• 12 cancers (including brain, bladder, kidney, breast, prostate, colorectal and oesophageal cancers, leukaemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma) would be presumed work-related for firefighters with enough service
• Qualifying service periods ranged from 5 years (brain cancer, leukaemia) to 25 years (oesophageal cancer)
• The burden of proof would shift: employers and insurers would have to prove the cancer was not caused by firefighting, rather than firefighters having to prove it was
• Coverage extended to full-time fire officers, auxiliary firefighters, rural firefighters and volunteer firefighters and fire wardens
• The bill was discharged and did not become law