Historic Queensland firefighter protection laws passed

Treasurer and Minister for Industrial Relations Curtis Pitt has welcomed the passage of historic firefighter protection laws in State Parliament.

Mr Pitt said the laws provide brave Queensland firefighters with greater certainty in their worker’s compensation coverage for latent onset diseases.

“These laws are a win for brave Queensland firies who put their lives on the line to keep the community safe,” he said.

“They make it easier for firefighters to access compensation for work-related cancers, and that’s a great outcome.

“Nothing’s more important than protecting our firefighters and I’m proud to have introduced these important and historic reforms.”

The Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 also restores important common law rights for workers.

“The Bill removes an LNP-imposed threshold which unfairly restricts Queenslanders injured at work from accessing common law damages,” Mr Pitt said.

“It extends the same rights to volunteer firefighters as those enjoyed by fulltime and auxiliary firefighters who contract one of 12 specified work-related cancers.

“We undertook an extensive consultation process with firefighters and incorporated the recommendations of the parliamentary Finance and Administration Committee to achieve this result.

“This is in stark contrast to the LNP, which ignored the all-party committee’s recommendations on worker’s compensation.”

Mr Pitt said the reforms would give all firefighters access to medical expenses, weekly benefits and statutory lump sum or common law damages.

Media contact: Martin Philip 0427 919 548