In a report presented on Wednesday to the Speaker, for tabling in the Legislative Assembly, Auditor-General Michael Harris said the territory was exposing itself to financial risk.

In March 2019, the ACT became a self-insured licensee and was no longer covered by the federal workers' compensation scheme administered by Comcare.

Despite having held the responsibilities and obligations of workers' compensation since that time, the territory and Comcare have failed to come to an agreement on the amount of money Comcare should pay to the ACT for exiting the scheme.

The Auditor-General determined this meant the ACT lacked the requisite amount in its Public Sector Workers' Compensation Fund to cover its workers' compensation liabilities.

"The continuing uncertainty associated with the transfer of the assets [from Comcare] presents a financial risk to the territory," the report stated.

"The uncertainty restricts the territory's options to manage its workers' compensation liabilities and the longer the issue remains unresolved the greater the financial risk to the territory as it has fewer options to manage any potential increases to its workers' compensation liabilities."

However, an ACT government spokeswoman assured public servants there was no "risk to the continuity or quality of services provided to injured workers arising from this issue".

She said the government had covered all workers' compensation claims it has encountered in this time with contributions it received from government directorates and those contributions were sufficient to cover existing and future claims in any given year.

"In the unlikely event that costs exceed the funds held by the self-insurer, the enabling legislation provides additional means to top up its funding," she said.

READ MORE:

The territory had been assessed by the Commonwealth Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission as being low-risk in regards to its ability to meet compensation claim costs, she said.

The report noted the disagreement over the amount paid from Comcare to the territory stemmed from a disagreement over the methodology used to calculate the figure.

The spokeswoman said when the partnership with Comcare ended, the territory had paid a greater sum in premiums than had been spent on claims.

She said the territory wanted those claims reimbursed plus interest and less any claims paid out by Comcare. The method of calculation preferred by Comcare would see some of the historic premiums paid retained by Comcare and potentially used in Commonwealth public servant claims.

Comcare and the territory have been granted an extension to 30 June 2021 to finalise the asset transfer.