Qld Government reviewing Worker’s Compensation scheme

The Queensland Government has launched a review which will examine the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (WCR Act), with the review’s homepage indicating the Crisafulli Government “is committed to a workers’ compensation scheme that strikes a balance between providing appropriate benefits for injured workers and ensuring the costs incurred by employers are reasonable”.

The public consultation material identifies a review was last conducted in 2023, and although there is only a requirement to conduct a review at least once every five years, since the last review “there have been emerging trends and national developments relevant to the operation of the workers’ compensation scheme including increasing primary and secondary psychological injury claims, increased reporting of fraud and related offending, and suitability of self-insurance arrangements”.

When addressing Parliament to launch the review in March, IR Minister, Jarrod Bleijie, highlighted that in 2020-21, workers filed 1,950 primary psychological claims, which rose to 3,849 in 2024-25 (an increase of almost 97.4%). Secondary psychological claims purportedly increased from 1,921 to 3,118 during the same period.

The reviewers – being Mr Glenn Ferguson, AM, Managing Director of FC Lawyers, and Mr Gary Black, former Commissioner in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission – have been instructed that the terms of reference in respect of the WCR Act are to:

1)  consider any emerging issues impacting the operation of Queensland’s workers’ compensation scheme, in particular:

• the growth of primary and secondary psychological claims and its impact on injured workers, employers and the scheme;

• the effectiveness of the existing offence of fraud and similar offences (e.g. providing false and misleading information) to ensure these remain fit for purpose;

• the effectiveness of the scheme’s management of fraudulent claims (or suspected fraudulent claims), including its preventative, detective, compliance and enforcement measures to manage fraudulent conduct within the workers’ compensation scheme; and

• any relevant laws applying in other Australian jurisdictions and reform;

2)  consider whether the self-insurance scheme as it applies to workers and business is fit for purpose; and

3)  consider measures to ensure Queensland’s workers’ compensation scheme is fair, sustainable, and protected, delivering confidence for workers, employers and taxpayers.

The review will also examine the Industrial Relations Act 2016 with respect to its application within the public sector and local government with the deadline for stakeholder submissions being 31 May.

Unsurprisingly, the Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) has launched its own advertising campaign deriding the review, with a spokesperson being quoted as saying, “This is what year two of an LNP Government looks like: cutting wages and conditions, targeting injured workers on stress leave, and ripping the guts out of work health and safety protections for Queensland workers”. The QCU has instead urged the Government to focus on prevention strategies to protect Queensland workers, rather than cutting entitlements.