Cost recovery

Background

Comcare undertakes cost recovery to fund the functions and activities of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and Comcare under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 and Work Health and Safety Act 2011. Comcare’s cost recovery activities are subject to the Australian Government Charging Framework and the Cost Recovery Guidelines.

The Australian Government introduced the Australian Government Charging Framework (the Charging Framework) to improve consistency of charging activities and help determine when it is appropriate to charge for a government activity. The Charging Framework came into effect on 1 July 2015.

The Cost Recovery Guidelines (the Guidelines) were issued in July 2014 under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act). The Guidelines set out the overarching framework under which government entities design, implement and review regulatory charging activities.

In line with the Framework and Guidelines, Comcare will report on its cost recovery financial and non-financial performance and will continue to consult with payers of regulatory contributions and licence fees.

Licence fee

Comcare publishes a Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS) to its website by 30 June each year. The CRIS explains Comcare’s approach to licence fee cost recovery.

Regulatory contributions

The Guidelines do not apply to workers compensation premiums charged to Australian Government agencies. The Guidelines also don't technically apply to regulatory contributions, however where a similar charge is applied to non-government sector entities (that is, licence fees) the same methodology is applied (to regulatory contributions).

Comcare publishes a Regulatory Contributions Statement (RCS) aligned with the CRIS to it’s website by 30 June each year. The RCS explains Comcare’s approach to cost recovery from government sector entities.

For additional information

View the Australian Government Charging Framework, the Australian Cost Recovery Guidelines or email Comcare's Cost Recovery team.