Category: rehabilitation

Insider’s perspective on workers’ compensation harmony process

Dr Mary Wyatt is an expert on the return-to-work sector in Australia.  She was one of several expert speakers at the harmonisation conference in Melbourne at the end of March 2010.  Her presentation is available online.

Dr Wyatt spoke from a national perspective and has said:

“The data we have tells us compensation system (sic) are not producing good results. Employees with a compensable condition have poorer outcomes than those who have the same condition in a non compensation situation. For example, those who have surgery have four times the odds of a poor outcome when the condition is compensable.” Continue reading “Insider’s perspective on workers’ compensation harmony process”

The first workers’ compensation harmonisation meeting a sham: unions

“The conference inside is a bit of a sham” claimed Brian Boyd, Victorian Trades Hall Secretary at the first meeting into the harmonisation of Australia’s workers compensation laws.

“It’s really another hidden agenda about trying to harmonise workers comp after we fully know already, they’ve messed up harmonisation of OHS.”

Continue reading “The first workers’ compensation harmonisation meeting a sham: unions”

Some families in South Australia blame WorkCover for their partners’ suicides

In January 2010, Today Tonight in South Australia aired a disturbing report about the workers compensation reforms in that State.  It talks to two widows who blame WorkCover SA as contributing to their husbands’ suicides.  One man left a suicide note explicitly blaming WorkCover SA, emphasising his point by jumping to his death from the sixth floor of the WorkCover office building.

The video report is available HERE under the title WorkCover Suicide.

One of those interviewed in the story is Kevin Purse who undertook a report into the SA workers’ compensation system on behalf of SA Unions.   Continue reading “Some families in South Australia blame WorkCover for their partners’ suicides”

Discussion paper on Queensland workers compensation released

The Queensland Government has released a public discussion paper into its workers’ compensation scheme.  Obviously this was part of the reason for the political argy-bargy in the State in late February 2010 over a report by Deloitte.

A major question posed in the discussion paper concerns the application of Whole Person Impairment (WPI) or Work-Related Impairment (WRI) as the assessment process.  Currently only Queensland applies WRI and so the submissions to this discussion process may be quite useful in anticipation of the any review into the national workers’ compensation arrangements.   Continue reading “Discussion paper on Queensland workers compensation released”

OHS debate is over, says Deputy PM

Deputy Prime minister and Workplace Relations Minister, Julia Gillard, has told the Australian Financial Review (only available online to subscribers) that the OHS law changes were finalised at the recent Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council.

Gillard again rejected the trade union movement’s concerns about weakened worker protection.  The Minister emphasised that substantial economic benefits would flow to business as a result of increased administrative efficiencies.

However, the likelihood of a nationally harmonised OHS system seems as far away as ever with the West Australian Government continuing to refuse to apply the new laws which it sees as too friendly to the unions.

Significantly, the Australian Government has backed down from its earlier threat to penalise any governments that do not support the changes.  This lets the WA Liberal Government off the hook and provides the New South Wales Liberal Party with an easy platform option for the 2010 State election.

The conservative forces in Australia can take heart but Minister Gillard’s position has the union movement facing difficult decisions.  It has strongly funded a campaign against elements of the OHS laws and branded the laws as “second-rate safety”.  It now needs to decide whether to give up the campaign totally as a lost cause or to pare it back so that, over time, the campaign fades away, as did the industrial manslaughter campaign of around five years ago.

The ACTU has expressed disappointment but must have realised, privately at least, that some union powers, considered to be extreme by business and industry groups and over which the business complaints have been load and long, were going to be sacrificed in any harmonisation process.

Former Prime Minister and ACTU President Bob Hawke achieved many industrial relations reforms in the early 1980’s by pushing “consensus”.  This negotiation process had strong similarities to the current OHS harmonisation however big C Consensus is now rarely spoken by the Australian trade union movement.  One of the few contemporary outings was when current ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence, who expressed the disappointment above, speaking about industrial relations said on 14 June 2007:

“I’m tough enough but I’m also a person who likes to work by consensus”.

To operate constructively at the big tripartite table of OHS, the unions will need to accept a defeat and gain whatever they can from the new rules.  This is doubly important in the lead-up to the planned harmonisation of workers compensation.  Australia will see some fiery union rhetoric when harmonisation threatens to reduce the income and entitlements of workers who are already injured.

Kevin Jones

Accident Comp changes put to Victorian Parliament

According to the WorkSafe Victoria website, changes to the Accident Compensation Act were introduced to the Victorian Parliament on 10 December 2009.

WorkSafe is very confident that the changes will be passed.  The summary only talks about “when” the bill is passed.  There is every likelihood it will be passed but the summary has a tinge of arrogance to it.

A summary of the proposed changes is available online.

It all sounds positive and most of it seems about financial improvements.  There are always concerns when a government move from prescriptive- to performance-based practices.  The summary describes the Return-To-Work benefit:

“Prescriptive return to work requirements will be reframed as performance based duties to improve flexibility.”

Usually this sort of change is a red flag for rorts and abuse.

The summary does say that enforcement activities will be increased:

“The Return to Work Inspectorate will have a wider range of tools to improve the effectiveness of compliance activities in relation to return to work obligations, maintaining a fair and consistent application of the law.”

However with the government’s recent spate of administrative mistakes, sloppiness and oversights exposed through the Auditor-General’s reports, accountability in this important area will need to be carefully watched.

The Minister for Workcover, Tim Holding‘s speech to the Bill’s second reading concluded (according to the draft Hansard):

“This bill providers (sic) fairer and better benefits to injured workers and their dependents, recognises that getting injured workers back to work is a central pillar of the scheme, and provides greater transparency for employers in their interactions with the scheme.  The benefit enhancements in this bill are financially responsible, affordable, and consolidate Victoria’s position as the leader in workers compensation in Australia.”

Kevin Jones

Potential risks of investigating workers compensation cases

According to a several media reports in the United States, a private investigator, Matthew Brady, who was investigating a workers compensation case whilst hiding in the woods was mistaken for a turkey and shot by the man he was investigating.  Brady was operated on in the local hospital.

As the Workers Comp Insider Blog states:

“Investigator Brady was hit in the side, back and legs.  He underwent surgery and presumably filed his own workers comp claim for what is surely a work-related – if highly unusual – disability.”

Kevin Jones

© Workplace Safety Services P/L (ABN: 68091088621) and SafetyAtWorkBlog, 2008-2024. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kevin Jones and SafetyAtWorkBlog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Concatenate Web Development
© Designed and developed by Concatenate Aust Pty Ltd