WorkCover

• Dealing with WorkCover for work injuries: Closing the gap between injury and returning to work

  18th Jul 2024

  Employers can play a crucial role in speeding up the recovery time following an employee’s work injury by implementing effective early intervention programs. Australia, however, has a long way to go in terms of uniformity and ensuring injured workers are treated fairly across all industries as they navigate their compensation claims. Compensation Lawyer Yasmine Chalvatzis explains.

• Inquiry into the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (WorkCover Scheme Modernisation) Bill 2023

  19th Jan 2024

• Table of Costs Review 2023

  31st Oct 2023

• New WorkCover restrictions 'troubling'

  19th May 2023

  The sustainability of Victoria’s WorkCover scheme is critical but new restrictions on worker eligibility announced today are concerning, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• VIC Workcover report highlights systemic failings in the system

  3rd Dec 2019

  The Victorian Ombudsman’s report into Workcover released today, which found that insurance agents are unfairly denying claims, highlights the need for urgent improvement to the scheme according to the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• Comcare must prosecute for Nauru abuses

  10th Aug 2016

  The Nauru files detailing large-scale abuse of detainees in offshore detention camps on Nauru show that Comcare, the Commonwealth workplace regulator, must prosecute for offences, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Criminal offences may have been committed by DIPB in offshore detentio

  27th Jun 2016

  Criminal offences may have been committed by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIPB) or its contractors against people being held in immigration detention, according to a recent report released by the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• Timeframe for applying for Workers' Comp: A Change in Interpretation

  25th Sep 2015

  Kaine Shanahan examines the timeframe for applying for statutory workers' compensation in light of recent case law in Qld.

• Workers comp changes a step in the right direction, but more to do

  31st Aug 2015

  The NSW Government is to be commended for partially restoring workers compensation benefits which were heavily cut in 2012, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Injuries in detention centres apparently not investigated by Comcare

  1st Jul 2015

  Workplace insurer Comcare appears to have failed to investigate numerous serious incidents and injuries which occurred at Commonwealth detention centres, according to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request made by the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• ICA workers comp report looks after insurers, hurts injured workers

  15th Jun 2015

  State and Territory Governments should reject outright a self-interested report that seeks to hand operational control of workers’ compensation schemes to private insurers and cut the right to compensation of injured workers in every jurisdiction, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Senator Abetz’s attacks on injured workers do nothing to fix Comcare

  15th Apr 2015

  Comments from Federal Public Service Minister Eric Abetz that seek to minimise the impacts of proposed changes to the nation’s Comcare scheme are not only dishonest, they also serve as a further hit on injured workers, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Queensland Election - A Win for Workers

  1st Apr 2015

  The rights of injured Queensland workers are set to be reinstated following the Australian Lawyers Alliance and Workers Protection Coalition’s campaign against unfair legislative amendments to Queensland’s WorkCover laws.   

• Proposed changes to Comcare a further attack on injured workers

  25th Mar 2015

  Amendments introduced today by the Federal Government to the national workers’ compensation scheme are a further attack on the rights of the nation’s injured workers, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• ACT’s new compensation scheme can heal Comcare’s damage

  27th Feb 2015

  Arbitrary time limits and cuts to injury and rehabilitation entitlements have no place in a genuine workers compensation scheme which protects workers’ rights, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• Comcare changes threaten workers’ rights and workplace safety

  28th Nov 2014

  State and territory-based workers’ compensation schemes are in danger of being abandoned by employers if changes to the Comcare scheme are approved, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• The bitter taste of WorkCover SA

  17th Jul 2014

  Renowned nationally for its battered financial status, inadequate benefits to workers and long delays, it’s time to consider a new scheme for injured workers in South Australia, writes Patrick Boylen, SA President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance. 

• Media coverage, July 2014

  1st Jul 2014

  Just some of the media coverage generated by the Australian Lawyers Alliance or its members during the month of July 2014.

• South Australian conference highlights workers comp

  20th Jun 2014

  The ALA's South Australian conference will take place at the Intercontinental Hotel, Adelaide on Friday. Featuring Deputy Premier John Rau as keynote, Mr Rau will address the failings of South Australia's workers compensation scheme. The ALA continues to call for a fundamental overhaul of the scheme.

• Injured workers still burnt by compo changes in NSW

  12th Jun 2014

  The stark reality is that the 2012 amendments to the NSW Workers' Compensation Scheme have slashed injured workers' entitlements and their ability to make an early, safe and durable return to work, writes Anthony Scarcella, NSW Director of the Australian Lawyers Alliance.

• Drop in premiums shows Qld govt's WorkCover changes were unnecessary

  20th May 2014

  Today’s announcement of a drop in WorkCover premiums for employers proves the Newman Government’s changes to the workers’ compensation scheme, rammed through Parliament last year, were unnecessary, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said today.

• A Q&A on QLD workers compensation changes

  8th May 2014

  ALA QLD President Michelle James answers questions about Queensland's workers compensation scheme, which removed workers' rights following amendments passed into law this year.

• New poll shows Qld Premier's seat at risk if WorkCover laws pass

  17th Oct 2013

  A new poll shows the Premier’s own seat is at risk if the Queensland Government passes laws today to reduce injured employees’ rights for workplace injuries.

• ALA to discuss Qld premier at risk of losing his seat

  17th Oct 2013

  Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Rod Hodgson will be speaking on new polling that shows the Premier is at risk of losing the seat of Ashgrove as a result of the State Government’s proposed changes to Queensland’s WorkCover scheme today (Thursday) morning at Parliament House.

• WorkCover changes hurt all Queenslanders

  15th Oct 2013

  Today's changes to Queensland's WorkCover scheme announced by the Attorney-General will hurt employers, employees and taxpayers and have been announced without any basis in fact.

• Queensland still has nation's best WorkCover scheme

  14th Oct 2013

  The Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) has welcomed the release of WorkCover Queensland’s latest Annual Report, which confirms the scheme remains the best in the country and is both financially stable and fair for employers, employees and taxpayers.

• Queensland workers compensation poll

  13th Oct 2013

  Click here to view the workers compensation poll results following a survey of 1,258 Queensland residents on 10 October 2013.

• Queenslanders reject Government's changes to workers compensation

  13th Oct 2013

  As State Cabinet prepares to consider drastic changes to Queensland's workers compensation scheme, a new poll has shown that Queenslanders overwhelmingly support the State's current system.

• Planned SA WorkCover overhaul benefits injured

  28th Jun 2013

  “Industrial Relations Minister John Rau’s announcement today to pay out long-term SA WorkCover injury victims is likely to facilitate better health outcomes for such workers and is a long overdue development,” Australian Lawyers Alliance SA President, Patrick Boylen, said.

• NSW govt errors show more financial capability to help injured workers

  8th Nov 2012

  A manufactured deficit of $1billion on NSW Government’s books, which arose because of 37 accounting errors of more than $20 million each, looks like having indirectly played a role in winding back the financial entitlements of injured workers, Australian Lawyers Alliance NSW Committee member, Cliff Baker, writes.

• SA WorkCover’s $4 million blow-out

  17th Oct 2012

  A significant deterioration in South Australian WorkCover’s performance has resulted in unfunded liabilities increasing from $1.billion to $1.4 billion the Auditor-General’s report tabled in parliament, yesterday, reveals.

• ALA tells inquiry Newstart puts injured workers in hardship

  27th Aug 2012

  Concerns about Newstart Allowance payment inadequacy and the transition from alternative payments such of WorkCover has prompted the Australian Lawyers Alliance to submit to and appear before an Inquiry on the subject today.

• NSW WorkCover changes - Expect mental health crisis says ALA

  4th Jul 2012

  “Traumatised families struggling to cope with horrific deaths of loved ones are being forced into financial hardship following the O’Farrell Government’s cuts to WorkCover compensation last month,” the Australian Lawyers Alliance said today.

• O'Farrell Government adds insult to injury with WorkCover changes

  21st Jun 2012

  The Australian Lawyers Alliance has expressed its disbelief that the O’Farrell Government has pushed new severe workers compensation measures through the NSW Legislative Council yesterday, just five days after it tabled its report.

• WorkCover mismanagement bodes ill for proposed insurance schemes

  5th Jun 2012

  The Australian Lawyers Alliance is concerned that the mismanagement, which has eroded NSW WorkCover making it financially unsustainable, may be replicated in other insurance models such as the proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme and National Injury Insurance Scheme, unless greater transparency is adopted in government processes.

• WorkCover advertises its own mismanagement

  28th May 2012

  WorkCover has released a list of what it describes as some of the worst cases of excessive claims that have ever been referred to it.

• Victorian WorkCover funds continue to be plundered - ALA

  4th May 2012

  The Australian Lawyers Alliance is concerned that a three percent reduction in Victorian Workers Compensation premiums, while enticing superficially, hides a very black cloud that is floating over the rights of seriously injured workers.

• Lawyers meet minister to discuss proposed WorkCover changes

  28th Mar 2012

  Representatives of the legal profession including, The Australian Lawyers Alliance, The NSW Bar Association and The NSW Law Society, met with Finance Minister, Greg Pearce, today, to discuss proposed changes to Workers Compensation and Motor Accident compensation schemes.

• Removal of Victorian WorkCover funds threatens injured workers - ALA

  10th Feb 2012

  The Australian Lawyers Alliance is concerned that a Victorian government plan to redirect $471.5 million in WorkCover funds away from injured worker compensation and occupational health and safety will result in more injured workers in Victoria being left without adequate care and support.