While it is a good scheme, the Comcare workers compensation scheme has become outdated and is no longer serving the needs of workers, their employers or keeping in line with what the community expect of a workers compensation scheme. Worse still, all of this is the case at a time when the cost of the scheme is skyrocketing.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This has been something highlighted recently by the ACT Labor government, which has said that the Comcare scheme "is paying people to sit at home" – it's rare that I would agree with the left-wing ACT Labor government, but on this point I do.
A 2012 review of the scheme commissioned by Bill Shorten as responsible minister found that it does not give injured workers enough support and incentive to return to the workplace. Yet he did nothing. In addition, the scheme allows workers to make claims for conditions that are unrelated to work and pay for treatments that are not evidence-based - this is causing costs to spiral and the community to rightly see the scheme as a soft touch that invites rorting.
While successive governments have tinkered with the scheme since it was established by Labor in 1988, it is well overdue for a proper overhaul. Workplaces and working conditions, health and rehabilitation practices, and social behaviour and expectations, have all changed enormously since it first came into force 27 years ago. The scheme's focus then was on compensating injured workers, and there was no recognition of the benefits of assisting workers to recover and return to work.
The flaws in the system were highlighted in lurid terms by the infamous "hotel room sex case", where a Commonwealth public servant successfully sought workers compensation for an injury sustained on a work trip, after hours, while engaging in sexual activity. Thankfully the decision was ultimately overturned by the High Court, but at significant cost to the scheme, which had to pay more than $600,000 in legal costs to defend the spurious claim, including for the legal costs of the libidinous claimant.
There are too many cases like this. They simply encourage rorting and malingering, waste taxpayers' money and undermine the thousands of hard-working public servants who do not try to take advantage of the loopholes in the system.
It is important in Australian workplaces that we have a form of "mutual obligation" - where workers and employers work together and are prepared to accept responsibility for preventing injuries, ensuring support where injuries occur, and getting workers back to work as soon as possible.
On Wednesday, in the Parliament, the government will introduce legislation to do just this – through much-needed amendments to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 to shift the focus from compensation to rehabilitation and return to work.
The proposed changes the government is introducing today will:
- improve return-to-work outcomes for injured workers;
- put the focus on early intervention and better health outcomes for injured workers; and
- ensure the loopholes in the current legislation are closed.
The new measures will distinguish between work and non-work related injuries. Some conditions will no longer be compensated, such as minor psychological conditions that do not meet medical criteria and injuries sustained while not engaged in work activities, such as in hotel rooms, will no longer be covered. Injured workers would also now be able to access up to $5000 in medical expenses immediately, before a claim is submitted.
Compensation benefits will be paid to injured workers who are assessed as being unable to return to work until pension age, along with lifetime medical and related expenses. This means that the Comcare scheme will remain more generous than almost all state and territory schemes in this regard, rather than cutting off payments after a few years.
Further, injured employees will return to work sooner where they are able to, rather than staying home and getting sicker – which will be better for them, their families and the community and people will be able to access some medical treatment faster and consideration of claims will be quicker.
These reforms will be better for workers, workplaces and ensure confidence and integrity in the scheme. They will strike the right balance of preventing injuries, supporting those who are injured to recover and, most importantly, assisting them to get back to work.
Senator Eric Abetz is the Minister for Employment.
