BY VIV MILEY
HOBART — Premier Jim Bacon's Labor government introduced amendments to workers' compensation laws in parliament on November 21. While claiming that workers will benefit, the changes have been designed primarily to save the bosses money.
The key feature of the amendments is a guide that purports to determine the amount of impairment that would result from loss of, or injury to, specific body parts. For example, the loss of one foot is deemed to be a 25% impairment, loss of an arm a 60% impairment and quadriplegia an 84% impairment. The guide is based on an American Medical Association document which was used by the former Victorian Coalition government of Jeff Kennett as the basis for its changes to workers' compensation in 1993. The schedule is arbitrary, making no allowance for the occupation of the injured worker.
The biggest restriction that workers would face under the new legislation is that they would not be able to take common law action against their employer for injuries deemed to be less than 30% impairment. This is a significant restriction since a high proportion of injuries do not meet this threshold.
Under the amendments, workers who receive compensation payments will be paid at 100% of their previous earnings for 13 weeks (instead of the current six), but for the rest of the first year would receive only 85% (instead of the current 90-95%) of their previous earnings. Payments would start automatically one week after an injury even if the claim is disputed by the employer.
The legislation has been welcomed by the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, despite indicating that they will be seeking amendments "over time". Support from this quarter is hardly surprising since the average premiums paid by employers would be reduced from 3.1% to 2.7% of wages. Employers expect to make considerable savings by not having to contest court cases or make payments in cases where injuries do not make the 30% threshold.
The Liberal Party also supported the legislation, voting with Labor against motions to withdraw the bill and to reject changes to common law provisions.
The legislation has been widely criticised by socialists, unions, the Greens, the Bar Association and others. Democratic Socialist Party Hobart branch secretary Alex Bainbridge told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly "The bosses might be laughing but this legislation quite simply will make many workers worse off."