Worksafe Australia: to the McKay report and beyond

The health and safety of workers was not the only raison d'être for Worksafe Australia. To the Hawke Government, to the ACTU hierarchy and to the employers, a federal initiative in occupational health was a vital item in the ALP-ACTU Accord which would lock the unions into wage restraint. To the already powerful Commonwealth Department of Employment and Industrial Relations the initiative was a golden opportunity to establish a new federal structure under its influence. Thus a bureaucracy, top-heavy with administrators, came into being whilst established national occupational health activities ground to a halt. Plagued by dissent from within and criticism from without, the organisation was saved from extinction only by its importance to the Accord. In 1987 the Government appointed Mr. B. V. McKay to review Worksafe Australia, following which the activities of the organisation were streamlined, with due acknowledgement now given to the key role of the States in giving effect to nationally-agreed policies and standards. However problems remain, and the future of Worksafe Australia is still uncertain.