Damien Tudehope
Shadow Treasurer Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations
Committee endorses Opposition's balanced approach to protect genuine injured workers
The report into the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 released this afternoon reflects the careful consideration by the cross-party Public Accountability and Works Committee of the valuable expert evidence gathered on the workers compensation scheme and its handling of claims for workers with a psychological injury.
Shadow Treasurer Damien Tudehope said "the Committee backed in two important recommendations which, taken together, reflect the balanced approach to Labor's Bill taken by the NSW Liberals and Nationals Opposition.
Firstly, entry to the scheme needs to be tightened by excluding trivial or fanciful claims by workers alleging a psychological injury following reasonable management action by an employer.
Secondly, ongoing income and medical support needs to be maintained for seriously injured workers. Labor's savage proposal to lift the threshold for the degree of permanent impairment to 31% was decisively rejected by the Committee."
The Committee made a finding that "The provision in the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, as introduced into the Legislative Assembly, that would have excluded all claims for a psychological injury where reasonable management action is 'a significant cause of the psychological injury' is a fair and balanced approach that would reduce costs by excluding ill-founded claims". It recommended restoring this provision which was dropped by the Minns Labor Government at the request of the Member for Sydney.
"While pretending to help businesses by reducing premiums, Labor's political deal with the member for Sydney would have unnecessarily increased costs by allowing unjustified claims," Mr Tudehope said.
The Committee also found that the Treasurer's plan to lift the threshold for the degree of permanent impairment to 31% was based on two false claims: that anyone assessed as less than 31% can "by definition" work and that by lifting the threshold to 31% we would be catching up with reforms in South Australia. The truth is 31% under the PIRs, used in NSW, is equivalent to 55% under the GEPIC, used in South Australia, and that few, if any, of those assessed as between 21% and 30% are fit to work in any capacity. The Committee recommended that "'The provisions in the bill lifting the degree of permanent impairment thresholds to 31% should be withdrawn by the Government, and if put forward in the House, opposed."
"The Treasurer has been selling his Bill to Cabinet, the Labor caucus, the Parliament and the public based on claims now exposed as false. The Opposition will be moving amendments to give effect to these two key recommendations of the Committee, with the aim of helping secure the passage of a balanced Bill that will deliver substantial savings without abandoning those who genuinely need ongoing support", Mr Tudehope said.
