Workcover Victims Victoria was established in 1999 and this blog was created in 2008. We are a fully Independent advocacy group for Injured Workers and their families. You can find up to date information on YOUR RIGHTS and making a workcover claim and we also have many other links for further information including; legislation, Guidelines & Reports, News & Contact Directory.
Maybe I'm a pessimist -- though I think it's reasonable to in the current "push the legislative bounaries of what you can get away with" -- but I have serious concerns about a program with a stated intention of reducing the costs, forcing disabled people to work, and fund their own care, and get more support from the community and businesses. In an optimistic read of it, it sounds great, but the pessimistic view is extremely worrying, offloading even more of the cost of disability onto the community using non-financial means (as a way of effectively increasing the 'profit' from existing revenue streams -- taxation won't be reduced due to this liability shifting onto business & community. And the community does not tolerate such charity over the long term -- the governments stated "social engineering" claim are simply unlikely to be successful in a competitive environment, where individual actors are incentivised to push the boundaries of what they can get away with, sometimes even just to survive with basic living conditions, let alone the 'success' stories of agressive competition in their million dollar homes. Disabled people cannot compete on an even footing with this, no matter how "nice" you ask people to be, until you change the incentives. And that requires a much more radical change than a new "disability policy" -- it requires a much more radical policiy shift, that redefines the market place, and work conditions for all austalians, not just disabled people. Until this shift occurs, this document, and the "we will reduce funding ... here's some promises that sound good to get people to agree with the policy" is just a giant scam to take even more dignity and opportunity in life from disabled people, while hiding and shifting the liability by abusing the good will of some people. It's everyones liability, not just good samartins. There's not enough of the latter to go around at very least, and taxation and distribution is an effective way of ensuring the burden is spread evenly. Increase tax, and actually fund disabled people properly so they may meet some of the "nice sounding" quality of life metrics stated in the document.
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Maybe I'm a pessimist -- though I think it's reasonable to in the current "push the legislative bounaries of what you can get away with" -- but I have serious concerns about a program with a stated intention of reducing the costs, forcing disabled people to work, and fund their own care, and get more support from the community and businesses. In an optimistic read of it, it sounds great, but the pessimistic view is extremely worrying, offloading even more of the cost of disability onto the community using non-financial means (as a way of effectively increasing the 'profit' from existing revenue streams -- taxation won't be reduced due to this liability shifting onto business & community. And the community does not tolerate such charity over the long term -- the governments stated "social engineering" claim are simply unlikely to be successful in a competitive environment, where individual actors are incentivised to push the boundaries of what they can get away with, sometimes even just to survive with basic living conditions, let alone the 'success' stories of agressive competition in their million dollar homes. Disabled people cannot compete on an even footing with this, no matter how "nice" you ask people to be, until you change the incentives. And that requires a much more radical change than a new "disability policy" -- it requires a much more radical policiy shift, that redefines the market place, and work conditions for all austalians, not just disabled people.
Until this shift occurs, this document, and the "we will reduce funding ... here's some promises that sound good to get people to agree with the policy" is just a giant scam to take even more dignity and opportunity in life from disabled people, while hiding and shifting the liability by abusing the good will of some people. It's everyones liability, not just good samartins. There's not enough of the latter to go around at very least, and taxation and distribution is an effective way of ensuring the burden is spread evenly. Increase tax, and actually fund disabled people properly so they may meet some of the "nice sounding" quality of life metrics stated in the document.
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