Second Reading – Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill 2025

Everyone deserves to have a safe workplace and to return home after a hard day’s work. We have heard quite a lot of stories in the chamber today, and it is so important that we continue to do all that we can to make work a safe space and put provisions in place so that they are supported if something was to go wrong. We do have some concerns with this bill. As we know, WorkSafe has been a broken system and workplaces have struggled with the costs associated, which I will speak a bit more to in my contribution.

It was pleasing to hear the minister in his contribution this morning admit to the failings of WorkSafe in the past. It has taken a long time to get to this stage, and I am hoping that we can work with this government on this important bill and that the sensible reasoned amendment put forward by the member for Evelyn are supported. On this side of the house we do support WorkSafe improvements and financial and counselling support to family members who are impacted by the work-related death of a loved one or someone that has been injured. We also support businesses who are trying to support their workers. When an accident occurs, it can have an immediate and devastating impact on the lives of many.

When I received this bill I straightaway thought of a very close friend of mine, Katrina Mooney, who lost her son in a tragic workplace accident back in 1997. Adam Mooney was only 25 years old when he died and Katrina’s only child. Katrina was out the front of Adam’s workplace waiting to pick him up for lunch. She was taken into an office onsite and told of the tragic fatal accident – just the most heart-wrenching, tragic circumstances of a life lost way too young. Katrina’s life was changed forever that day. In the community I live in the impact of Adam’s tragic accident was felt broadly.

I spoke to Katrina just last week in relation to this bill and the need to ensure families that do suffer such a tragic loss do get the support they need. It is hard raising the accident with Katrina, and I was really interested in what support she had been provided way back then. She was very keen to talk about her beautiful son Adam, but the sadness of that day never goes away. It was sad to hear that Katrina was provided with no avenues of support back then – no counselling, no compensation, literally nothing. She said she sought her own counselling, something she knew she needed to do. Katrina was pleased to hear that we are discussing WorkSafe and family support, and it should be a priority, but as she said, the loss and love of your loved ones never go away, and she has been a passionate advocate for workplace safety.

The bill contains several amendments that will improve support for families who have been impacted by serious workplace injuries and deaths to help them deal with their trauma and alleviate financial hardship. We need to have immediate financial assistance and systems in place to take away the stress of worrying about loss of income and financial hardship directly related to an incident. The family of those affected are going through enough. Families also need counselling support. Behind every claim under WorkCover is a Victorian who has been injured, is suffering and is trying to navigate a complex and at times confusing system, or a family confronted with the most tragic circumstances of losing a loved one, just like my friend Katrina.

Workers who sustain injuries while performing their jobs are entitled to timely and appropriate compensation, rehabilitation and support, and the claimants and users of the scheme must be treated fairly, respectfully and with dignity and receive high-quality service. The families of these workers are also deeply affected, as loved ones often struggle to cope with not just the physical pain and trauma of the loss or injuries of their loved one but also the emotional and financial uncertainty of its impact on their future and on their wider family. Workplaces are also significantly impacted when fellow workers are injured or tragically killed onsite. We have to ensure that both the employer and the employees are supported and that we have legislation that is fit for purpose and managed by a workplace. Currently workers across the state are faced with long delays in claims being processed, inadequate compensation and far too often a lack of transparency when it comes to their rights. This government has been failing injured workers for far too long. Whether it is a farm worker who sustains an injury lifting heavy equipment, a tradie who falls from a ladder or a factory worker exposed to hazardous chemicals over years of work, these Victorians deserve a system that treats them with dignity, respects their rights and provides the care and support they need to recover and hopefully return to their workplace when possible.

Labor has been overseeing this scheme for over 10 years now, and they have had every opportunity since taking office to address the systemic issues that have led to delays, inefficiencies and financial mismanagement. While the bill does propose some welcome changes to improve the efficiency of the claim process, it does little to tackle the root causes of the ongoing problems within the system. The bill presents several challenges concerning provisions that will have a financial impact on businesses and employees across the state. I do want to touch on the requirement to provide mandatory approved training for a return-to-work coordinator at a cost to the employer. We all agree in this place that we need to get people back to work when they have been injured. There needs to be a really clear pathway, but we also need to make sure that a business can manage what this might look like. The Hanks review found that mandatory training of return-to-work coordinators might impose an unreasonable cost, and while we have some figures suggested in this bill, there is still no in-depth detail. I note the member for Tarneit mentioned that workers already employed will take on the responsibility of training, and he made it sound like just another job and another expectation in their day of work, which in itself raises alarm bells, and there will be another cost imposed on these businesses.

As I said, we absolutely want to get people back to work. Businesses are already doing it tough, are on their knees trying to survive and have been faced with increased premiums and ongoing taxes. The impact of increased premiums has been significant. As the member for Narracan shared in his contribution this morning, he had heard of significant workplace premiums going from, in one example, $30,000 to $60,000, and we have heard of even higher WorkSafe premiums. Businesses have also mentioned across the board in my electorate that they are struggling, and they are concerned about WorkSafe costs. They want to do the right thing, and they want to make sure that they can afford to do that. The member for Euroa also talked to a business that contacted her which had to go on a payment plan for their WorkSafe premium and for their costs, which had increased significantly.

We want to keep businesses. We have to give them more support, not keep increasing the cost of doing business that leads to them shutting or leaving the state to do business elsewhere. Yes, we need this training in place. We need to make sure we can offer these improvements, but we have to make sure it is viable for businesses to do so. The government’s approach to managing the scheme has been characterised by financial mismanagement and lack of transparency. As I have mentioned, I support the sensible reasoned amendment that has been moved by the member for Evelyn, which is that:

… ‘this house refuses to read this bill a second time until the government:

(1) agrees to freeze the average premium rate at 1.8 per cent for 2025–26 to provide certainty to Victorian employers;

(2) consults with interested stakeholders and the public on proposed changes recommended by a WorkSafe review into family supports;

(3) makes available all modelling prepared for the legislative impact assessment for this bill in relation to the additional costs and financial impact the bill will have on employers and the WorkCover scheme;

(4) consults with industry to minimise fees for training for return-to-work coordinators; and

(5) implements measures to prohibit entities responsible for corruption on Big Build and Victorian construction sites from becoming an approved training provider.’

The reasoned amendment is consistent with the publicly stated policy position of the government to impose a freeze on any increases to workplace premiums. These are sensible, common sense amendments that I hope are supported from those on the other side as we need the proper reforms in place to move this bill in the right direction.