Monday, 2 March 2015
Law Society supports move from Comcare
The President of the ACT Law Society, Mr Martin Hockridge, today cautiously welcomed the ACT Government’s decision to exit the Comcare workers’ compensation scheme.
“The Society is concerned that the move does not result in a scheme that is worse for injured workers,” said Mr Hockridge. “We would support bringing the ACT’s public sector workers under the existing private sector workers’ compensation arrangements rather than establishing a new and separate scheme.
“The Society supports the ACT Government’s decision to move from Comcare to a more responsive and efficient workers compensation scheme for public sector workers. Injured public sector workers should be entitled to the fair and equitable compensation, increased and early rehabilitation and appropriate ongoing care. These outcomes can all be achieved through shifting future public sector claims into the ACT’s existing private sector scheme.
“The Society believes that the ACT’s existing private workers compensation system is working well and would be seriously concerned at any move to downgrade those arrangements. The scheme functions effectively, providing the necessary care and support for people injured at their workplaces. Recent actuarial reviews of the scheme have noted an overall decrease in the number of claims and have not shown a spiralling of average claim sizes over recent years.
“The Society’s collective experience in working with injured workers and insurers in both the public and private sectors places it in a unique position to assist in the transition to a fairer and equitable scheme.”
