Essential workers who risk their mental health to serve the community would will be denied crucial support under the NSW Government's proposed workers compensation cuts announced last night.
"Whether it's a hospital worker or prison officers with PTSD, a child protection worker who has had to remove a child from an abusive home, or a shop assistant abused at a checkout, these workers deserve support when workplace trauma catches up with them. The Government's plan rips that away," said Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey.
Under cuts revealed today, already traumatised workers would have to prove their suffering in court to get help, and 95% of legitimate mental health claims would be blocked under Australia's harshest injury threshold.
The Government is trying to rush the changes through in less than six weeks.
"Essential workers in our hospitals, schools and railways deal with trauma, harassment and assault regularly. They risk their mental health for the rest of us. We should support them—not cut them off."
Unions NSW has released a five-point plan which charts a path to financial sustainability without abandoning frontline workers when they reach their breaking point by, focusing on prevention, improving return-to-work rates, reducing waste, and creating sustainable funding models without cutting benefits to injured workers.
The five-point plan includes:
1. Adopting best practices from other states to prevent injuries before they happen - including empowering the NSW Industrial Relations Commission to resolve safety hazards raised by workers and making WHS Codes of Practice enforceable
2. Making it easier for injured workers to return to work - including empowering the NSW Industrial Relations Commission to resolve return-to-work disputes and preventing termination of injured workers
3. Incentivising employers to prioritise safety and return to work - reintroducing premium loadings based on claims performance to reward safety-conscious employers
4. Cleaning up waste and inefficiency within the scheme - expanding the State Insurance Regulator Authority's powers to reduce insurer waste and addressing under-insurance by employers
5. Diversifying the insurance pool - abolishing self-insurer and specialised insurer arrangements to create a more sustainable funding model
"There are better ways to fix the system than cutting support for injured workers—like cutting waste," Morey said.
"The Government's cuts mean when you need help most, it might not be there. We're calling onthe NSW Government to stop trying to find savings at the cost of mental health."
Mark Morey 0425 231 812
