Minns government cops another blow on workers comp reform

Hopes of reforming the state’s broken workers compensation scheme before July have been dashed after the NSW government’s legislation is committed to a longer inquiry.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has been dealt a blow after his workers compensation reforms were committed indefinitely to a parliamentary inquiry. Photo: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Hopes of reforming the state’s broken workers compensation scheme before the end of the financial year have been dashed after an upper house committee voted to hold further inquiries into the proposed legislation in July.

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said on Wednesday he was still open to negotiate changes to the his controversial reforms to rein in the state’s ballooning workers compensation scheme, despite rejecting new amendments suggested by the Coalition and upper house independent MP Mark Latham to tighten definitions of bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace.

“Every day the opposition chooses to play political games is a day the scheme goes backwards by more than $6 million,” Mr Mookhey said.

“Who pays the price for that? Injured workers and small business.”

MP Mark Latham, along with the Coalition, backed amendments tightening the definition of bullying and harassment in the workplace. Photo Jeremy Piper

After a day of public hearings on Tuesday, the seven-person Public Accountability and Works Committee voted to continue its inquiry of the legislation, with further public hearings after July 29.

The Treasurer had hoped inquiry would allow the bill to be voted on in parliament next week.

Mr Mookhey, speaking at the hearing on Tuesday revealed that the state’s workplace insurer was now going further into deficit by $6 million each day, as opposed to previous estimates of $5 million per day.

The Treasurer also said he did not believe that the current psychiatric scale used to determine whether a worker is capable of working, was “fit for purpose”.

The psychiatric impairment rating scale (PIRS) is used by medical professionals and insurance companies to determine how bad a person’s psychological injuries are and whether they are capable of returning to work. This rating is then used to determine that worker’s “whole person impairment” (WPI) score and if they are eligible for ongoing compensation.

“NSW does need to look at whether these scales are fit for purpose,” Mr Mookhey said.

“This scale has been used since 2002 in NSW.”

The Treasurer also dismissed amendments by the opposition and Mr Latham to tighten the definition of bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace, requiring it to be proven that the perpetrator acted with “deliberate intent”. Mr Mookhey said including that definition would “extinguish bullying and harassment completely from the scheme”, due to being too hard to prove intent.

The parliamentary committee rejected the government’s claims of the urgency of passing reforms after hearing evidence from Kim Garling, the former chief of the independent watchdog for the workers compensation system, that the scheme had been in deficit for most of its existence.

Committee chair, Greens MP Abigail Boyd said the evidence presented showed there was “no imminent danger of scheme collapse”, and that the proposed WPI threshold was “unbearably cruel” and that “people could die”.

The hearings in July will continue to look at the estimated impact of raising the WPI threshold to 31 per cent, which means workers under that threshold would have their compensation cut off after two and a half years.

Originally published as Minns government cops another blow on workers comp reform