Australian Athletes Alliance calls for workers compensation law revamp

THE peak body representing athletes wants an overhaul of laws to ensure sporting bodies are required to cover player injuries.

THE peak body representing professional athletes has called for an overhaul of workplace compensation laws to ensure sporting bodies are legally required to cover players’ injuries.

The call came after The Australian yesterday revealed that Medicare had identified hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims by professional sports players and clubs for ­medical benefits it believes should not have been paid.

Doctors groups and sports bodies have been sent letters warning that professional sportsmen and women should not be claiming Medicare benefits for injuries for which their employers are liable or which are connected to their employment.

Australian Athletes Alliance general secretary Brendan Schwab said current workers compensation arrangements in most states excluded athletes. It was only through players’ collective-bargaining that most employers had agreed to pay for their medical expenses.

“Whenever we sit down to negotiate a collective-bargaining agreement ... we know that the employer, unlike any other employers in the country, are in a position to refuse to protect the players in the event of a workplace injury,” he said.

Mr Schwab said many players who had injuries that extended beyond the term of their contract were left without proper compensation. “We think the exclusion of athletes from workers compensation should be revoked in all jurisdictions and appropriate statutory schemes can and should be developed.”

NSW had a sports injuries ­insurance scheme, he said, but it provided basic cover only and was not suitable for elite athletes.

Health Minister Peter Dutton yesterday said he had held a “productive” meeting with NRL chief executive David Smith.

“The legislation around claiming of items under Medicare on the MBS are quite ... ­specific,” Mr Dutton said.

“The government will obviously enforce that law and we’ll work with the codes to make sure we can provide appropriate support within the existing legislation, and ways we can provide support to the codes otherwise, we’re happy to discuss.”

The executive director of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports, Malcolm Speed, said that workers compensation was one of the issues being discussed with the government.

“That is the anomaly here,” he said. “With this interpretation, professional sports players can’t claim Medicare and it puts their private health cover at risk, and they’re also not entitled to workers compensation payments.”

Private health insurers warned that professional sports players should not be making claims for medical expenses for workplace injuries.

BUPA head of corporate communications Brooke Lord said it fully supported Medicare’s stance.

NIB group manager of Australian residents health insurance, Rhod McKensey, said it was standard practice for NIB to identify if other third-party organisations, such as workers compensation, were responsible for the payment of claims.