Planned reforms to the NSW workers compensation system would cut support to severely injured workers while failing to curb predatory insurers, a state parliamentary inquiry has been told.
The NSW government wants to make it much more difficult for employees suffering psychological injuries to get support.
To receive long-term support, a worker would need to suffer a whole person impairment (WPI) rating of 31 per cent – rather than the current figure of 15 per cent. New provisions would also limit the ability of workers to claim lump-sum payments.
The IEU has joined other unions in strongly opposing the government’s proposed changes, which will punish teachers and support staff, as well as staff in the care and community sectors.
Even worse, the changes will not reduce or prevent workplace psychological injuries.
Exacerbate harm
Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey told the inquiry in July that the government’s proposed reforms would exacerbate harm caused by insurance practices that “choke the NSW workers compensation system of funds, delay treatment, ignore complaints and hinder return to work”.
“Instead of dealing with this area of waste and harm, the Bill instead seeks savings by limiting compensable psychological injuries and raising the whole person impairment threshold to 31 per cent, forcing severely injured workers off the scheme and cost shifting to other service providers,” Morey said.
Morey said the NSW government should instead focus on reforming insurance practices to save money while promoting early intervention and return to work.
Most submissions to the inquiry, chaired by Upper House Greens MP Abigail Boyd, oppose the proposed workers compensation reforms, arguing the government needs to address the causes of psychological injury – not limit the ability of working people to make claims.
Unions NSW in its submission said legal fees and investigations cost $332 million a year yet “achieve virtually nothing for workers or the scheme’s sustainability”.
Workers injured 100 years ago had greater rights
NSW Bar Association Common Law chairman David Hooke said workers injured a century ago would have “substantially superior rights” than a worker under reforms proposed by the NSW government.
“By introducing new time limits and threshold requirements, as I’ve said, a worker injured 100 years ago will have had substantially superior rights compared with a worker who seeks support under this proposed remake of the scheme,” Hooke told the inquiry.
“This will devastate those who have already been profoundly disabled by psychological injuries.
“It will make it harder for injured people to return to work, and it will shift significant costs onto an already overburdened public health system.”
The NSW Secondary Principals’ Council is also opposed to the government’s Bill, which it said failed to address the underlying causes of workplace injury such as threats of violence and physical assault.
“Rather than addressing the conditions that lead to injury, such as poor system design, chronic underfunding, and critical staffing shortages, this Bill changes eligibility rules in ways that risk excluding genuinely injured workers,” the council said in its submission.
Prevent injuries and trauma
The parliamentary inquiry into the NSW government’s workers compensation reforms is ongoing. The union movement is campaigning against the Bill in its current form and arguing for amendments.
The IEU agrees that the current workers compensation system needs reform to ensure it adequately serves the needs of working people in NSW.
But the government should begin by addressing poor claims management, unnecessary delays and excessive bureaucracy to rein in costs instead of attacking injured workers.
The focus should be on preventing injuries and trauma and returning injured workers back to work sooner.
The NSW government and employers need to do more about eliminating hazards such as workplace violence, sexual harassment, excessive workloads and poor support from supervisors and management.
Take action
Sign the petition calling on MPs to honour pledges to support injured workers launched by Unions NSW: actionnetwork.org/petitions/honour-your-pledge-to-support-injured-workers.
Contact your NSW MP and ask them to stop the NSW government cutting access to mental health services for injured workers:
•Email: actionnetwork.org/letters/fix-the- workers-comp-system-the-right-way
•Call: actionnetwork.org/forms/call-your-mp-stop-the-workers-comp-cuts