Gympie cancer patient Steve Dawson slams compensation law changes

Sixty-five-year-old Gympie cancer patient Steve Dawson has asbestos poisoning in his stomach after he was exposed to it as a teenager. Read his story here, and the cruel implications of a bill affecting people like Steve, which has been introduced to Parliament.

A Gympie man with asbestos poisoning in his stomach has slammed a proposal from the State Government to deny compensation to workers with terminal illness unless they have three years to live.

Steve Dawson, 65, is dying of mesothelioma, a cancer typically found in the lungs, after he was exposed to asbestos while working at a hardware store in Mt Isa when he was a teenager.

He told Shine Lawyers he was exposed to the deadly material while helping cut some fibro material at the hardware store.

“We never wore gloves, we never had dust coats on,” he said.

“I must have got it on my hands, and I must have licked my fingers and it’s gone straight down my throat and into my stomach.”

Steve Dawson, 65, is dying of mesothelioma, a cancer typically found in the lungs, after he was exposed to asbestos while working at a hardware store in Mt Isa when he was a teenager. Photo: Shine Lawyers (contributed).

Now, 50 years later and Mr Dawson has been told he has between 18 months and five years left to live. There is no known cure.

“If I get through to 70, I’ll be happy. If I get through to 75, I’ll jump for joy,” he said.

A silver lining to Mr Dawson’s otherwise grim outlook was being able to access a compensation payout through WorkCover Queensland, which he then used to pay for medical bills and buy a house for he and his wife, Sandra.

“All the money in the world isn’t going to save me but if I can set my wife up pretty good, I’ll be happy,” he said.

At the time of publishing, terminal workers are eligible for compensation payouts from WorkCover Queensland regardless of how much time they have before they pass away.

But all that may be about to change.

65-year-old Gympie man Steve Dawson (right) is dying of mesothelioma after he was exposed to asbestos as a teen. He and his wife, Sandra (left), have been taken care of after a lump sum compensation payout was used to buy a house and pay medical bills. But all that may be about to change. Photo: Shine Lawyers (contributed).

A press release from WorkCover Queensland from April 2022 said a bill had been introduced to State Parliament to reintroduce a time frame around terminal illness or injury claims.

This means only those who have been given three or less years to live will be eligible for a compensation claim.

Mr Dawson described the change as “bureaucratic BS”.

“All they’re doing is making the lives of people who’ve got (a terminal illness) an absolute misery. They need the money,” he said.

Shine Lawyers dust disease litigation lawyer Kathryn Townsend said in a press release the proposed change was “disgraceful”.

Shine Lawyers dust disease litigation lawyer Kathryn Townsend. Photo: Shine Lawyers (contributed).

“(The dying workers) can’t breathe, they can’t move, they struggle to care for themselves and WorkCover is telling them you need to die faster if you want to access these payments because it’s too expensive for us to compensate you properly,” she said.

An Office of Industrial Relations spokesperson said on Friday the proposed change would “clarify” when a terminally ill worker could receive compensation.

“That is, when they are in the final stages of their injury and their life. It does not remove a workers’ right to access a terminal compensation payment into the future,” they said.

“The proposed amendment does not stop a worker from accessing other workers’ compensation entitlements or common law, including weekly benefits, medical, rehabilitation and return to work support and lump sum payments, before their injury is in its final stages.

“It is important the policy intent of this entitlement is confirmed to ensure funds are provided at the right time so workers and their families receive it when they are most in need.”