Injured Vic workers receive $90m boost and it has strings attached!

Brisbane Times
June 17, 2009

The Victorian government will boost the benefits available to injured workers
by $90 million, with promises it will not result in higher WorkCover premiums.

The government announced the workplace injury reforms on Wednesday
following a review of the Accident Compensation Act.

But unions say the changes discriminate against workers with stress-related
injuries.

The $90 million-a-year boost includes a doubling of lump sum benefits for
dependants of those killed at work and a 10 per cent increase in no-fault lump
sum benefits for workers with spinal injuries.

An extra $20 million will be available per year to boost superannuation
contributions for eligible injured workers, on top of $20 million to increase their
weekly benefits.

"The improvements we are making to Victoria's WorkCover scheme will
ensure it remains the best in Australia, offering generous benefits for injured
workers without resulting in higher premiums for employers," Victorian
Premier John Brumby said.

Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Karen Batt said the
government would be the biggest winner under the "cunning" changes because
of exemptions to stress injuries.

"This retrograde step benefits the worst employers in Victoria which happen
to be the government's own departments," she said.

"Fifty per cent of all stress claims across Victoria arise in government
employment."

Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Brian Boyd said the changes also
did nothing to reduce the record levels of WorkCover claims in dispute.

And they would only make the authority's often poor record of getting injured
workers back to work worse, he said.

© 2009 AAP


WCV's: This is so typical of the Victorian Government!

Brumby needs to get his head out of the clouds so he can see what a
shitty system workcover actually is.

Increasing a few benefits will not fix workcover and removing stress claims
from their list of acceptable injuries is also not going to fix workcover especially
when 50% of stress claims are made by government departments.

Its obvious by the changes made he doesn't even give a rats about his own
workers?

Once again there has been no mention of those injured in the blackhole period
and what these changes will offer them, so as usual the government have picked
and chosen what they will let in and what they wont and from where I sit they have also completely disregarded all the submissions produced during the Hanks
Review stating that stress claims should not be removed from our legislation.

Now last time I checked people power still rules so why is the Victorian
government just implementing what they like without consulting the public
on what we want?

The pollies still work for us and they must abide by our wants and needs as a
nation they are not employed to serve their own.