Injured giving up on compo claims

Original article by Anna Patty
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 4 : 15-Dec-14

New South Wales (NSW) Small Business Minister John Barilaro says the State Government’s workers’ compensation system changes have been a success, with a decline of 15% in claims. Insurance premiums are also down 17.5%. However Law Society of NSW president Ros Everett argues that the new rules, under which claimants can no longer seek the help of lawyers in appealing assessments, have simply shifted the burden to the federal Medicare and Centrelink services. This is as many injured workers are now unable to rely on court action

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. WORKCOVER AUTHORITY, NEW SOUTH WALES. WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION, THE LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF FINANCE AND SERVICES, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF COMMERCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. CENTRELINK, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA

Workers’ comp reforms being wound back

Original article by Anna Patty
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 10 : 26-Jun-14

The New South Wales (NSW) Government in 2012 took drastic action to deal with a forecast deficit of $A4bn in the state’s WorkCover scheme. Seriously injured workers no longer received payouts for items such as hearing aids or prostheses. However, WorkCover has now managed to generate a surplus of $A1bn, and on 26 June 2014 NSW Finance and Services Minister Dominic Perrottet will unveil legislation to restore some of the benefits. Earlier in the year, the state parliament had received a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers as the actuary of WorkCover, which showed that even without the 2012 cuts the deficit would fall to $A500m by mid-2018

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. WORKCOVER AUTHORITY, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF FINANCE AND SERVICES, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE GREENS NSW INCORPORATED