An independent review has called for a major overhaul of the management of injured federal government workers.  

The inquiry into the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988, which underpins the Comcare workers’ compensation scheme, has made 124 recommendations.

They include the removal of “step-down provisions” that allow Comcare to reduce weekly payments after a certain time off work. Reviewers found it does not incentivise people to return to work but penalises those who cannot.

“Prior attempts to comprehensively modernise the act did not succeed, leaving the Comcare scheme increasingly out of step with the realities of contemporary work,” an inquiry report says.

Comcare covers almost 500,000 workers in the public service, Defence Force and federal police, plus ACT government workers and some staff at private corporations.

The review also recommends a law to stop Comcare interfering in a person’s right to choose their treatment team, and crisis payments to family members when a worker dies.

Reviewers also want employers banned from making early support conditional on not claiming workers’ compensation.

ACT independent senator David Pocock says Comcare is “failing people” and the key recommendations should be urgently implemented.

He says Comcare’s processes and the laws that underpin them are “outdated, too complex, too adversarial”.  

He says workers “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.

“This will be really vindicating for the workers who have been raising concerns about Comcare for years ... 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.”

The Australian Lawyers Alliance wants urgent implementation of recommendations, notably providing early payments to injured workers, support for commutation of claims and the removal of a cap on common law claims for non-economic loss.

“It was pleasing to see a review which truly focuses on the experience and outcomes for injured workers,” ALA president Ian Murray said.

“This is in contrast with recent discussions around workers’ compensation in some other states and territories, which have been more focused on insurers and financial savings.”

Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth says the federal government will “carefully consider the review recommendations with a view to progressing necessary reforms”.

See the report here.

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