This Act may be cited as the Workers’ Compensation Amendment Act, 1913, and shall form part of and be read together with the (Workers’ Compensation Act, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

Section four of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from paragraph (e) the words “twenty pounds,” and substituting the words “fifty pounds.”

Section seven of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the words “in no case,” the words “of total incapacity.”

Section nine of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection one thereof, and substituting the following subsection therefor:—

Section eleven of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding thereto the following subsection:—

Section twelve of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, before the words “This Act” in subsection two thereof, the words “Except in such cases as may be prescribed by regulations to be made under this Act by the Governor in Council.”

Notwithstanding anything in section nineteen of the principal Act, in any case where the parties, by writing signed by them or their solicitors, so agree, proceedings for the recovery of compensation in respect of any injury by accident which has not caused the death of a worker may be taken in a Magistrate’s Court, and shall be heard and determined by a Magistrate sitting alone.

The order of the Magistrate in any such case shall be final and conclusive, and shall be binding on the parties in the same manner as if it were the order of the Court of Arbitration.

An order made under this section shall, for the purposes of the principal Act, be deemed to be an order made by the Court of Arbitration, and all applications subsequent to the making of such order and made in respect thereof shall be made to the Court of Arbitration.

Until altered by regulations, the procedure in any proceedings before a Magistrate’s Court pursuant to this section shall, with such modifications as the Court deems necessary, be determined by the regulations for the time being in force with respect to similar proceedings before the Court of Arbitration.

Section thirty-seven of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the words “Judge of the Court of Arbitration,” the words“or by the Magistrate where the proceedings are taken in the Magistrate’s Court.”

Where in an action in the Magistrate’s Court for the recovery of damages independently of the principal Act in respect of an injury to a worker by accident arising out of his employment the worker fails to establish his claim, the Magistrate shall have the same jurisdiction to award compensation under the principal Act as is conferred on the Supreme Court under and by virtue of section forty-six of that Act, and the provisions of the said section shall, with the necessary modifications, extend and apply accordingly.

Where the amount of the compensation-money due in respect of the death of a worker has been arrived at, whether by the judgment of the Court of Arbitration or otherwise, the employer or other person liable to pay the same shall, unless the Court otherwise orders, pay the same to the Public Trustee; and the receipt of the Public Trustee, or of any one authorized by him in that behalf, shall be a complete discharge to such employer or other person.

The Public Trustee shall thereupon hold the said money for the person or persons entitled thereto, or pending an order of the said Court disposing of or apportioning the same, and shall obey that order. Application for an order under this subsection may be made by any dependant or by the Public Trustee on the request in writing of any dependant.

If within one month after the receipt of the said money the Public Trustee does not receive notice from any dependant interested therein that application is being made for such order, it shall thereupon become the duty of the Public Trustee to apply for such order.

A certificate under the hand and seal of the Public Trustee showing the receipt of the said money shall, in any Court or proceedings whatsoever, be sufficient evidence of the facts therein stated without any further proof.

The right to recover compensation under the principal Act or to recover damages independently of that Act in respect of an accident to a worker shall survive notwithstanding the death either of the employer or other person liable to pay the compensation or damages or of the worker, and all proceedings for the enforcement of such right may be begun or continued by or against the representative of the deceased person.

Section forty-nine of the principal Act is hereby repealed.

The Second Schedule to the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting the figures “30” opposite the reference to the total loss of the sight of one eye, and substituting the figures “50”; and by adding the following:—

Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act and subject to section fifty-eight of the principal Act, no agreement between an employer and a worker, whether made before or after the coming into operation of this Act, shall be effective so as to exempt the employer in whole or in part from any liability to pay compensation for any injury to be suffered by the worker.

Notwithstanding anything in this section, an agreement may be made between an employer and a worker, or between an employer and any representative or dependant of a deceased worker, or between any such dependants themselves, after the happening of an injury to the worker, for the settlement of any claim to compensation or of any question arising with respect to compensation:

Provided that an agreement between an employer and a worker, or between an employer and any representative or dependant of a deceased worker, shall not be binding on such worker, representative, or dependant respectively unless before making the agreement he had competent and independent advice as to any legal and medical questions arising in connection with the claim for compensation, and understood the agreement; and in any case where such an agreement is challenged the onus shall lie on the employer of proving compliance with this subsection.

Subject to the provisions of the last preceding subsection, any such agreement as is mentioned therein shall be binding on the parties, and any such agreement entered into by the representative of a deceased worker shall be binding on the dependants of that worker.

Subject to the provisions of subsection two hereof, any such agreement as is mentioned therein shall be binding on a person under the age of twenty-one years if it is in writing and approved by a Magistrate; and, unless the Magistrate otherwise orders, any money payable to such person under the agreement may be paid to him, and his written receipt therefor shall be a sufficient discharge.

Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to confer upon the representative of a deceased worker any power to determine the shares in which compensation is to be apportioned between the dependants of that worker.

This section is in substitution for section eighteen of the principal Act, and that section and also section ten of the Workers’ Compensation Amendment Act, 1911, are hereby accordingly repealed.

Section eight of the Crown Suits Amendment Act, 1910, is hereby repealed.

In any action or other proceeding under the principal Act the Court may accept, admit, and call for such evidence as in equity and good conscience it thinks fit, whether strictly legal evidence or not.