4Q2X, our friends and supporters alerted us via tweeter that 9 News just reported that changes to the NSW WorkCover scheme will be considered by a parliamentary inquiry, with Finance Minister Greg Pearce saying urgent action is required to rein in a deficit of more than $4 billion.The parliamentary inquiry, which will begin next week and report back within 28 days, will investigate the health of the scheme and potential reforms.
Inquiry to examine NSW WorkCover changes
Changes to the NSW WorkCover scheme will be considered by a parliamentary inquiry, with Finance Minister Greg Pearce saying urgent action is required to rein in a deficit of more than $4 billion.
Mr Pearce says the scheme’s deficit has blown out to $4.1 billion, which would cause premiums to skyrocket by 28 per cent unless the compensation scheme is reformed.
The parliamentary inquiry, which will begin next week and report back within 28 days, will investigate the health of the scheme and potential reforms.
Mr Pearce says he hopes no worker would be worse off under any change, but says change is inevitable.
“We want to be as generous as we can to injured workers. We want to see injured workers looked after and return to work as quickly as they can, but the scheme has to be viable,” he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.
“Our problem is that at the moment it is not viable.”
He would not rule out claims in a Fairfax newspaper report, which said the government harboured plans to abolish lump sum payments for injured workers with less than a 10 per cent impairment, and introduce a sliding scale for weekly payments.
“We are not issuing at this stage a series of government decisions – we haven’t made those decisions,” Mr Pearce said.
“We’re going to have a transparent process, where the parliamentary inquiry will give all of the stakeholders the opportunity to put their views and test those views.
“(But) everything is under consideration at the moment. The scheme is going backwards so quickly, that we have to consider everything.”
However, raising premiums by 28 per cent was “not an option we think is viable”, he said.
“It’s an extremely important part of our economy to ensure that we remain competitive with other states,” Mr Pearce said.
“One of our concerns is that premiums in NSW are already 20 to 60 per cent higher than our main competitors in Victoria and Queensland.”
The NSW opposition and the Greens accused the government of stacking the parliamentary inquiry with conservative MPs from the coalition, Shooters Party and Christian Democrats to ensure it recommends cuts to compensation payments.
There are only two Labor MPs on the eight person committee, while the Greens have been excluded entirely.
NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson predicted “massive cuts” to entitlements, which he said would leave injured workers destitute.
“The committee is nothing more than a facade for this government to hide behind as it rips away those entitlements of workers,” Mr Robertson told reporters in Sydney.
“The workers compensation system is set up as a safety net for everyone who goes to work.
“Accidents can happen at work at anytime to anybody, and that safety net is the difference between families losing their house or being able to pay their bills while they are rehabilitated to make their way back to work.”
“Already those injured at work struggle to get by and meet their daily expenses on the modest amounts they get from the current NSW workers compensation system,” Mr Shoebridge said.
“If (cuts) are brought about, injured workers will be forced into poverty – many of them will lose their homes, many of them will lose their families from the financial stress that’s created through no fault of their own, because they’ve injured at work.”
Unions NSW said it would participate in the inquiry, but added sick and injured workers should be invited to tell their stories.
Secretary Mark Lennon also questioned the tight one-month timeframe in which the committee must report back to government.
“For this inquiry to be worthwhile, it must be sufficiently wide ranging to look at all aspects of the scheme,” Mr Lennon said in a statement.
“The government must also commit to giving all recommendations from the inquiry due consideration as well as wide opportunity for consultation with all relevant stakeholders.
“Given the nature and complexity of the scheme and the consequences of the outcomes, a month is not long enough for this inquiry to run.”
Twitter alerted by 4Q2X with great thanks 
[Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8455829/inquiry-to-examine-nsw-workcover-changes?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter]
Government stacks committee to slash comp benefits
The committee to inquire into WorkCover announced today by Finance Minister Greg Pearce has no credibility and reveals the government’s agenda to push injured workers into poverty, according to Greens NSW Industrial Relations spokesperson David Shoebridge.
As reported by AAP
“With four Coalition members, one Christian Democrat, one Shooter and only two Labor members this make a mockery of the Parliamentary committee system.
“In the 2010 financial year, private insurers ripped $476 million out of the system, which was almost a quarter of the $1.9 billion paid to injured workers.
“The Workers Compensation system needs reform and a close eye on the hundreds of millions of dollars that go to private insurers before this government slashes the benefits paid to injured people.
“No committee can seriously investigate the complexities of the workers compensation system and report back in as little as a month.
“One month is not even enough time to get initial submissions from stakeholders, let alone hear evidence and produce a considered report.
“Clearly the government does not want the committee to be asking the hard questions about the impact of benefit cuts to injured workers and the need for a workers compensation system that delivers dignity, not poverty.
“This is clearly part of Barry O’Farrell’s plan to take a hatchet to the rights of working people in NSW, following on from his attack on public sector workers last year.
Twittered by @grathom with a big thank you
[Source: http://davidshoebridge.org.au/2012/04/23/government-stacks-committee-to-slash-comp-benefits/#more-3493]
Shortlink: http://aworkcovervictimsdiary.com/?p=7252
Mr pearce the schemes going backwards you dont have to be a rocket scientist to work that out another inquiry if my name was bazza id send you down to the quay to be flogged
Times are bad for every one at the moment cost of living ,mortgages and just getting by,the only people who will suffer with the changers to work cover will be the workers who need to be properly looked after if they are injured at work. Once you are injured at work they do not want to know you and if work cover is change is the government going to pay for the injured work with a pension or just let the loss every thing a live on the street.