Tuesday, 2 December 2025
Adjournment
WorkCover
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Table of contents
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Bills
- Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
- Parks and Public Land Legislation Amendment (Central West and Other Matters) Bill 2025
- State Taxation Further Amendment Bill 2025
- Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority Bill 2025
- Voluntary Assisted Dying Amendment Bill 2025
- Justice Legislation Amendment (Vicarious Liability for Child Abuse) Bill 2025
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Bills
- Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
- Parks and Public Land Legislation Amendment (Central West and Other Matters) Bill 2025
- State Taxation Further Amendment Bill 2025
- Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority Bill 2025
- Voluntary Assisted Dying Amendment Bill 2025
- Justice Legislation Amendment (Vicarious Liability for Child Abuse) Bill 2025
WorkCover
Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (19:18): (1457) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC, and the action I seek is for the minister to fix the serious flaws in Victoria’s WorkCover system and the devastating impact on injured workers and their families. I recently met Byron Foley, a 24-year-old who suffered a catastrophic workplace injury on 13 November 2021, when a steel pipe struck his head. At the time, Byron was a 20-year-old second-year apprentice. He spent over five months in hospital and required surgery to insert a titanium skull. On this day Byron’s life changed, and his family’s life changed, forever. Byron will never work again. Four years on, Byron and his family are still battling the system they describe as ‘fundamentally broken’. Despite the severity of Byron’s injuries, the Foleys have faced endless barriers: no family assistance, no transport vouchers, no home modifications, termination of benefits, denial of necessary medical treatments and constant battles with the insurer just to secure the bare minimum.
Recent amendments to the Workplace Industry Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 were intended to improve fairness and dignity for injured workers, yet Byron’s experience shows this is not happening. Fortunately Byron has a strong family support system around him, but this should not be the only safety net. This family is exhausted. They are calling for urgent legislative reform, a streamlined one-stop shop for injured workers and their families, fairer compensation and better support services. How do we have a system where a young apprentice suffers a life-changing injury and the scheme designed to protect him fails? In 2023–24 Victorian businesses faced dramatic WorkCover premium hikes generating $1.7 billion in revenue, yet this money is not reaching the injured workers who need it most. Minister, Byron’s case is not isolated. It reflects a system that is failing those it is meant to protect. I urge you to act now to fix this broken WorkCover scheme.