Will the recommendations of the Senate Committee’s inquiry into industrial deaths benefit relatives of deceased workers? Yes, mostly.
It seemed like relatives gained greater access to this Senate Committee than in other inquiries. Some public hearings were held with only relatives presenting. This is a major change. The transcripts of the 2012 Parliamentary inquiry into Workplace Bullying included a lot of expert opinion and some “in camera” presentations from bullied workers. The Industrial Deaths inquiry seemed to have less of these private sessions even leading to some comments in Public Hearings where names were named! The direct exposure of relatives to the Committee, and to political leaders on the day of the Report’s tabling in Parliament, is remarkable.