Several hundred unionists rallied outside the New South Wales Treasury in Martin Place on May 26 to demand NSW Labor drop its proposed cuts to workers鈥 compensation laws. The planned changes would severely limit workers鈥 right to access compensation for psychological injuries suffered at work.
Reportedly, the Martin Place protest was timed to coincide with Treasurer Daniel Mookhey鈥檚 meeting with the Labor cabinet to discuss pushing through the amendments.
The city protest was part of a series being held around NSW.
Unions NSW said the workers compensation system is 鈥渁lready broken鈥, but the Treasurer 鈥渨ants to make it worse鈥 by cutting off long-term support and mental health care for seriously injured workers.
鈥淭hese changes won鈥檛 prevent injuries or support frontline workers; they鈥檒l just make it harder for people to access the care they need to recover,鈥 it said.
It said Labor MPs and MLCs pledged to stand with injured workers before the election, but 鈥渘ow they are backing cost-cutting reforms that break that promise鈥.
鈥淓very worker in NSW should be able to access timely health cover so they can get back to work,鈥 the rally chair said.
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Amber Flohm, vice president of the NSW Teachers Federation, told the rally that the situation is clear. 鈥淲e either support the Treasurer throwing injured workers on the scrap heap, to their families聽to care for, on to social services that are already overburdened聽by demand, or we stand up against these cuts.
鈥淭he fact is that the financial burden is being shifted from the Treasury to the injured worker. The evidence is in. There was an inquiry report last Friday [which collected] 486 pieces of evidence 鈥 480 of which support the position of unions.
鈥淲e know that when you increase the whole-of-person injury from 25% to 31%, you effectively shut down psychological injury claims for workers.鈥
Flohm explained that this change would overwhelmingly affect workers in the caring industries, include teachers and nurses, 80% of whom are women.
NSW Parliament鈥檚 Law and Justice Committee recently handed down its聽聽into the proposed changes to workers鈥 compensation entitlements. This followed a mammoth hearing on May 23, during which the committee heard from almost 40 witnesses across nine-and-a-half hours.
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Abigail Boyd, Greens spokesperson for Treasury, Work Health and Safety, and Industrial Relations, said on May 26 the evidence received by the committee 鈥減ainted a damning picture of what the government proposes to do to injured workers.
鈥淓verything we heard pointed to just how ill-conceived and incomprehensibly cruel the [Chris] Minns Labor government鈥檚 proposed curtailment of support for psychologically injured workers is; these reforms will be actively harmful to thousands of injured and deserving people.鈥
Boyd said Labor鈥檚 鈥渋nability to present coherent modelling and financial analysis鈥 of either the scheme liabilities or the impact of these proposed changes is 鈥渃ause for great concern鈥.
鈥淧rojected future rates of growth of psychological injury are based on heroic assumptions that only an actuary could love and a highly motivated one at that. It鈥檚 on these shaky projections that the supposed crisis the government claims to be responding to is based.鈥
Boyd said that even if you believe there will be a catastrophic blowout in costs from psychological injuries, 鈥渢he answer is not to pretend those injuries don鈥檛 exist鈥.
She said the government has to 鈥渇ocus on stopping people getting injured at work in the first place and, if they are injured, doing everything we can to get them quickly back on their feet鈥.
鈥淭he proposal to increase the threshold for accessing long-term support to a level that would require a worker to be rendered essentially catatonic, or in need of permanent around-the-clock professional care, was identified by experts as being particularly cruel and without basis or justification. If allowed to go through, these changes will cost lives,鈥 Boyd concluded.