WorkSafe Victoria
Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (12:01): My question is for the Minister for Workplace Safety. Minister, the minutes of the 27 April 2021 board meeting of WorkSafe Victoria show the board has a requirement to make a recommendation to government on the target rate for 2021–22, with the overarching aim of returning the scheme to being financially sustainable. Yet the minutes of the 27 May meeting of the board show that WorkSafe had been advised by your office that the Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet had resolved to hold the premium rate at 1.272 per cent for the 2021–22 premium year. Minister, given your government rejected WorkSafe’s premium recommendation for returning the scheme to a financially sustainable status and instead tipped into WorkSafe $500 million of taxpayers money, what premium rate was recommended by WorkSafe for 2021–22?
Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (12:02): I thank Mr Davis for his question. Of course we know that the WorkCover scheme has faced some significant pressures, not least of which is the COVID-19 global pandemic. But in addition to that we have seen the scheme under some pressure because of the number, the complexity and the nature of mental injuries in particular in our modern workplaces. I have been quite up-front about those challenges, and the government has taken a range of initiatives in order to address some of the challenges and the pressures on the scheme as a result of the significant increase in mental injury claims and the length of time which those injured workers are having to spend on the scheme.
You would recall, Mr Davis, that following a successful trial with emergency services workers, who we know are at the front line and do experience some pretty horrendous things as a result of the work that they are sent out to do every day and have a high prevalence of mental injury—
Mr Leane: They do a fantastic job.
Ms STITT: They do an incredible job. As a result of that successful trial, the government legislated so that every Victorian worker suffering from a mental injury could get provisional payment support for the first 13 weeks to ensure that they get that early intervention. We know from all of the research here in Victoria, around the country and internationally that early intervention is the key to getting workers back to work successfully and safely, so that is an important initiative. We have also had the Rozen review into the management of complex claims. We have accepted the vast bulk of those recommendations, which will see us overhaul the way in which complex claims are managed in order to make sure that those workers have got every support that they need.
In terms of premium, you would know very well, Mr Davis, that there are a range of factors that are taken into consideration when arriving at a decision around premium. The government was never going to walk away from Victorian businesses at a time when they were trying to recover from the pandemic. So I absolutely stand by the decisions that were made around providing support for the WorkCover scheme so that the WorkCover scheme could do what it is intended to do, and that is to support injured workers to get back to work sooner and at the same time support business and the economy.
Mr Davis: On a point of order, Deputy President, the minister has certainly covered a lot of context, and that is of interest. But leaving that aside, the question was a very specific question: what premium rate was recommended by WorkSafe for 2021–22?
The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr Davis. As you know, I cannot direct the minister how to answer. She has 18 seconds to go, and perhaps you will hear what you are wanting to hear in those 18 seconds.
Ms STITT: Mr Davis will hear what he wants to hear as usual, but the reality is that there are a range of factors that are taken into consideration when considering premium each year, not least of which have been the impacts on the Victorian economy of the global pandemic. I stand by the decision that was made by the government to support Victorian businesses as they recover from the pandemic.
Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (12:06): I note that the minister has not answered the very simple question about what was recommended by WorkSafe, and I therefore ask: Minister, given there has been no change to the WorkSafe Victoria premium in 2022–23 and your government is again tipping in taxpayers funds—this time $300 million—what premium rate was recommended by WorkSafe for 2022–23?
Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (12:07): I thank Mr Davis for his supplementary question, which is just a bit of a re-run really. I do not think he listened to the very comprehensive answer that I gave him about the balancing act that needs to be made each year and getting that balance right between supporting injured workers, particularly those that have suffered a mental injury in the course of their duties—our government will always stand by those workers and their rehabilitation back to safe employment—and doing what is the right thing to do in the economic circumstances that we find ourselves in. So he can play little gotcha moments all he likes and quote from purported board minutes that he seems to have, but the reality is that the government will always make those decisions based on the considerations that prevail at the time the decision is being made.