ACT Independent Senator David Pocock and Senator for Tasmania Jacqui Lambie have today welcomed the release of the independent review of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, entitled Getting the best outcomes for injured and ill workers.
The Albanese Government agreed to conduct the review in December 2023 as part of a package of measures negotiated by Senators Lambie and Pocock. The Review shows what injured workers have been saying for years: that Comcare’s processes and the laws that underpin them are outdated, too complex, too adversarial and are leaving injured workers without support they need to recover and return to work.
Senators Lambie and Pocock urged the Government to engage with the review in good faith and look to urgently progress implementation of its key recommendations.
“Comcare is failing people, many of them Canberrans, and they can’t afford to wait forever for the government to fix what this independent review clearly highlights is a broken system that in many cases causes more harm than good,” Senator Pocock said.
“With 124 recommendations, it’s going to take some time to get across all the details, but from a preliminary reading, this will be really vindicating for the workers who have been raising concerns about Comcare for years.
“This is particularly important for the ACT, as these laws cover both Federal and ACT public servants. I have spoken to dozens and dozens of Canberrans who have truly been let down by the current system, and who I would argue have actually been left more injured as a result of dealing with Comcare.
“This Review is the first step forward into not just modernising the laws but fixing this broken system for workers and their loved ones and I look forward to speaking with the Government about the next steps.”
Senator Lambie said: “I thank the Commissioners very much for their work, these are very important recommendations which will vastly improve the ComCare system. I hope this report is another step towards getting our commonwealth employees, like our Australian Federal Police Officers, a “Blue Card’ so they can get the protections and support that Veterans have with a “White Card”. I have been pushing for this for years now, this situation is urgent and I don’t think we should waste any time getting it done. Like Senator Pocock - I look forward to working with the government on the next steps”
Senators Pocock and Lambie thanked the independent reviewers Ms Justine Ross, Emeritus Professor Robin Creyke AO and Mr Gregory Isolani and thanked the injured workers, who gave up their time and put their mental health on the line to contribute to this Review.
Key recommendations:
Removal of the so-called “step-down provisions” that allow Comcare to reduce a person’s weekly payments after a certain period of time off work. The reviewers found that these provisions do not incentivise people to return to work and instead penalise people who often can’t return to work for reasons beyond their control (Rec 76).
Change the law to stop Comcare from interfering in a person’s right to choose their treatment team and who is present during medical treatment of an injury (Rec 57).
Employers should have a legal duty to intervene as soon as possible after an injury or incident and should be prevented from making an offer of early support conditional on not making a claim for workers compensation (Rec 16).
Payment of immediate crisis payments and support to family members when a worker dies, payable within 7 days (Rec 21).
Media contact: Fiona Scott M| 0407294620 E| [email protected]