Treasurer Daniel Mookhey will today warn parliament that the State's workers compensation system is unsustainable without reform to how it deals with workplace psychological injury.
Mr Mookhey will set out plans to make greater use of workplace health and safety laws to prevent psychological injuries, instead of relying solely on the state's workers compensation system as the main response.
In a Ministerial Statement, the Treasurer will also advise Parliament that:
- If claims continue growing at recent rates, the State insurer icare expects an additional 80,000 people will make psychological injury claims over the next five years,
- For every $1 needed to care for injured workers, the State's main workers compensation scheme currently holds only 85 cents in assets, and
- Without reform, premiums for businesses facing no claims against them are forecast to rise by 36 per cent over the three years to 2027-28.
Mr Mookhey will outline a program of consultation with Business NSW and Unions NSW, as well as other interested parties, to create the reform. The model he will outline will see NSW:
- Give the NSW Industrial Relation Commission a bullying & harassment jurisdiction ahead of requiring those claims to be heard there first before a claim can be pursued for compensation. This will allow the Commission to address psychological hazards, fostering a culture of prevention.
- Define psychological injury, as well as 'reasonable management action', to provide workers and businesses with certainty - rather than let the definitions remain the subject of litigation.
- Align whole-person-impairment thresholds to standards established in South Australia and Queensland.
- Adopt some of the anti-fraud measures recently enacted by the Commonwealth to protect the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
- Respond further to the recommendations retired Supreme Court justice Robert McDougall made in his independent review of Safe Work NSW.
The Treasurer has been working closely with Minister for Industrial Relations Sophie Cotsis and Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib on the reform.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:
"Our workers compensation system was designed at a time when most people did physical labour - on farms and building sites, in mines or in factories.
"A system that approaches all psychological workplace hazards the same way as physical dangers, needs to change.
"Allowing the system to stay on autopilot will only trap more employees, employers, and the state of NSW to a fate we can avoid.
"We must build a system that is fit for purpose - one that reflects modern workplaces and modern ways of working."
