volunteer firefighter
Role / OfficeReferenced in 2 bills
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation (Protecting Firefighters) Amendment Bill 2015
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.
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
This bill makes it easier for first responders to claim workers' compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It creates a presumptive system where PTSD in eligible workers is automatically assumed to be caused by their work, removing the burden on injured workers to prove the connection. This responds to evidence from Beyond Blue and other reviews showing first responders experience mental health conditions at substantially higher rates than the general workforce.