Default Insurance Fund

Australian Capital Territory Insurance Authority (ACTIA)

About the Default Insurance Fund

The Default Insurance Fund (DI Fund) commenced on 1 July 2006. The fund is established under section 166 of the Workers Compensation Act 1951 (the Act).

The DI Fund is the safety net mechanism in the Australian Capital Territory to ensure that all privately employed workers who:

suffer personal injury arising out of, or in the course of, their employment,
suffer personal injury on an employment-related journey,
suffer personal injury on a journey between the worker’s home and workplace;
contract a disease for which their employment was a significant contributing factor; or
suffer an aggravation, acceleration or recurrence of a disease for which their employment was a significant contributing factor; and
have NO OTHER access to workers compensation benefits.

Role of the Default Insurance Fund

The DI Fund provides access to benefits for injured workers where:

an employer did not hold a compulsory workers compensation policy; or
an insurer collapses or is unable to meet the costs of claims against the workers’ compensation policies.

The DI Fund combines the previous functions of the Workers’ Compensation Supplementation Fund and the Nominal Insurer.

Imminently Fatal Asbestos Claims

From 1 July 2017, Territory workers with an imminently fatal asbestos-related disease have access to a permanent loss lump sum and can claim timely compensation directly from the Default Insurance Fund in the first instance.

Details of the new arrangements and how to make a claim are explained in the Imminently Fatal Claim Form - Information Guide as follows:

Imminently Fatal Claim Form - Information Guide (PDF 137.7 KB) Word version (Doc 150.4 KB)

Payments

Uninsured Employers

For injuries that were notified to the Nominal Insurer before 1 July 2006, the DI Fund can only make payments to an injured worker in whose favour a judgment has been awarded by the courts.

Section 30 of the Act states that:

(2) … the DI Fund Manager need not indemnify an employer in relation to weekly compensation payable in relation to an injured worker’s injury if -
- (a) the injury happened before the commencement of the Workers Compensation Amendment Act 2006; and
- (b) the Nominal Insurer had been given an injury notice for the injury or was otherwise aware that there was no compulsory insurance policy that applied to the worker in relation to the injury.

For injuries where initial notification to the DI Fund took place on or after 1 July 2006, the DI Fund will assess the claim and may take on the role of insurer if an employer defaults on payment. The injured worker may receive entitlements such as:

Weekly compensation
Rehabilitation Medical and
all other expenses specified under the Act.

Insurers unable to meet claims costs

For claims where an employer’s insurer cannot make the payments, for example the insurer collapses, the DI Fund will take on the role of the insurer.

Funding

The funding for the Default Insurance Fund is made up of two components:

Levies, which are imposed on all ACT approved workers’ compensation insurers and self-insurers currently in the market. These levies currently meet the cost of all uninsured employer claims and related administrative costs, and.
Contributions are currently made by the Territory to cover the costs of claims and administrative costs, where an insurer is unable to meet claims costs.

Recoveries

Where an employer fails to maintain a compulsory insurance policy, the DI Fund is entitled to recover, up to three times the amount of:

compensation paid to the injured worker; and
the premium that would have been payable to an insurer.

The Default Insurance Fund acts to recover those monies from the liable employer and returns them to the levied insurers and self-insurers.

More Information

Privacy

For further information please contact the Default Insurance Fund:

GPO Box 158
Canberra
ACT 2601
Phone: (02) 6207 0723
Fax: (02) 6207 0301

Contact the Default Insurance Fund - Claims Manager