The Government must drop its proposal to increase impairment thresholds to 31% and should instead find savings by clamping down on insurance companies, Unions NSW said following the release of a report into proposed workers compensation changes.
The report - released on Monday by the NSW Parliament’s Public Accountability and Works Committee - found that raising the Whole Person Impairment (WPI) threshold to 31% for psychological injury would disqualify people who are not 'fit to work in any capacity'.
“This report supports what we have been saying all along. People with impairment levels between 21 and 31 per cent need the full support of the scheme,” said Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey.
“Raising the threshold would undermine the scheme by disqualifying the very people it was set up to support. This approach cannot be justified and the Government must take a different path forward.”
The report found that the majority – perhaps nearly all – of those with impairment between 21% and 31% are not 'fit to work in any capacity'.
Mr Morey said proposals by the Opposition and others to make it harder for workers injured through sexual harassment or bullying to access the scheme should also be dropped.
“This approach is also wrong. We need a system that recognises injury and gets workers back to work as soon as it is safe to do so,” he said.
The report supported recommendations by Unions NSW to reduce costs by clamping down on the adversarial approach taken by insurance companies.
“There is a clear way that we can reform workers compensation without ripping support away from injured workers,” said Mr Morey.
“Insurance companies are wasting more than $300 million a year of the scheme’s funds fighting legal battles that have no reasonable chance of success.
“They are bleeding the scheme dry and must finally be reined in.”
The report recommended the Government require insurers to obtain legal advice confirming a ‘reasonable prospect of success’ before public funds are used to defend denied claims, and legislate a cap so insurers cannot spend more than 50 per cent of a claim’s value on legal and investigation costs.
Contact details:
Charlie Moore: 0452 606 171