Independent expert panel comprises chair Peter Hannon, Simon Blewett, Andrew Smith
The Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) of South Australia has highlighted the state government’s release of the terms of reference for an independent review of South Australia’s workers compensation and return-to-work scheme.
Under the terms of reference, the return-to-work scheme should keep running sustainably within an average premium rate that does not go beyond two percent, in accordance with the current financial parameters.
In its news release, the AGD shared that the release of the terms of reference aims to address a commitment given at this year’s state election.
Peter Hannon chairs the independent expert panel that will conduct the review. He is a retired judge of the South Australian Employment Tribunal and of its predecessor, the South Australian Workers Compensation Tribunal.
Hannon’s practice has encompassed handling disputes spanning distinct iterations of the state’s workers compensation legislation.
Apart from Hannon, the three-member independent expert panel also includes Simon James Blewett SC and Andrew Smith.
Smith is a qualified actuary and managing director of Scyne Advisory. His actuarial advice has covered a broad array of statutory compensation schemes across the country, including workers compensation, dust diseases, and motor vehicle accidents.
Meanwhile, Blewett is a barrister who has dealt with matters involving employment, industrial relations, discrimination, and workers compensation law. He also has a more limited practice in administrative law and the law relating to Aboriginal people.
On behalf of the judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia, SA Chief Justice Laura Stein recently announced Blewett’s appointment as one of two new senior counsel.
Blewett joined the independent bar in July 2017 and gained admission to legal practice in December 1990. He obtained his LLM from New York University and his LLB with first-class honours from the University of Adelaide.
According to the AGD’s news release, the independent review will examine and report on the return-to-work scheme’s effectiveness in fulfilling its aims.
The AGD explained that the independent review seeks to ensure that the return-to-work scheme sufficiently supports workers with injuries and that employers’ costs remain within reasonable financial limits.
The independent review will take place over the next 12 months. The panel will provide a report to the state’s minister for industrial relations by the end of November 2027.
In November 2025, Jennifer Ball, then-president of the Law Society of New South Wales, described the targeting of lawyers during discussions regarding the state’s workers compensation scheme as a distraction from systemic flaws that solicitors acknowledged required an overhaul.
In a September 2025 ruling in a workers compensation case, a justice of the High Court of Australia denied an application for a constitutional or other writ arising from a terminated complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission to allege unlawful discrimination.
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