Insurance association announces leadership shift amid regulatory updates

The Self Insurers of South Australia (SISA) has announced a leadership transition and key updates to work health and safety (WHS) standards, reflecting ongoing regulatory developments for self-insured employers under the Return to Work Act 2014.

Nathan Conroy (pictured), who has served as leader of self-insured services at ReturnToWorkSA since January 2022, will step down from his role on Feb. 21.

ReturnToWorkSA leader bids farewell

James Large, executive leader, regulation, at ReturnToWorkSA, confirmed the departure, citing Conroy’s acceptance of a new position outside the organisation.

“Nathan Conroy informed me he has accepted a new role and will be finishing up with ReturnToWorkSA on Friday, 21 February,” he said.

Nathan Conroy’s contributions to ReturnToWorkSA

During his tenure, Conroy led several initiatives, including regulatory reforms, improvements in employer engagement, and streamlining the renewal process for self-insurers.

Large said that these efforts have enhanced oversight of self-insured employers, revamped Crown portfolio management, and increased stakeholder trust in the scheme.

“This has all contributed to building the confidence amongst stakeholders on what we are doing and what we are trying to achieve for the best interests of the scheme,” Large said.

A replacement for the position is being sought, with updates to follow.

WHS standards and guidance updates finalised 

In addition to staffing changes, SISA announced the conclusion of consultations on WHS standards for self-insured employers.

ReturnToWorkSA released a revised draft of the Self-insured Injury Management Standards and Guidance Notes, now available online for review. The revisions incorporate feedback gathered during consultation sessions with employers and unions.

Key adjustments 

The consultation process led to several updates to the standards, including:

• confirming the role of physical workplace inspections in evaluations and referencing this as potential evidence where relevant
• reinforcing the importance of communicating the role of health and safety representatives (HSRs) and ensuring their inclusion in worker consultations
• expanding requirements for employers to address worker concerns related to WHS issues
• adding clarification around responsibilities for hazard identification and control measures
• revising the requirement for investigating all incidents, replacing it with a documented method for assessing incident severity and frequency

A tracked-change version of the revised standards is available, and feedback on the updates will be accepted until Jan. 22.

Transition timeline and compliance 

The final version of the standards will be published after the feedback deadline. Employers will have until June 30 to update their systems to comply with the new requirements.

During this transition period, evaluators will review claims based on the updated standards but will allow reasonable flexibility for extensions if supported by adequate rationale.

ReturnToWorkSA also noted that some employers currently assessed against the National Self-insurer OHS Management System Audit Tool (Version 3), which aligns with the superseded AS/NZS 4801 standard, may require additional time to meet the updated expectations. Adjustments to transition timeframes will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Additional details, including the revised standards and submission guidelines, are available on the ReturnToWorkSA website.