Tuesday, 1 August 2023

North-Eastern Metropolitan Region

Nicholas McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:26): (289) My constituency question is for the minister representing the Assistant Treasurer, and it comes from Luke Bolton. Luke is a proprietor of a Plumbers Choice outlet, and he asks:

As a Victorian employer for over 35 years, for the first time, I have experienced our broken Workcover system. Our claim was accepted on the basis of our employee’s perceptions …

without approaching the company involved.

We were kept in the dark as to why the claim was accepted. Our government appointed insurer, Gallagher Bassett, took 18 weeks to begin payments and left us without a case manager for over 10 weeks … This caused further issues for the injured worker. When we complained to Workcover about the incompetence of our insurer, Workcover simply referred us back to Gallagher Bassett, leaving us and the injured worker unsupported.

Mr Bolton asks:

When will the government overhaul a claims system relating to mental health where the acceptance of claim is heavily weighted on the perceptions of the employee? When will the government hold the insurers to account for the service they provide? When will the government insist that the insurers use EFT instead of antiquated paper cheques?

When will the government overhaul the Workcover Complaints process so that it shows genuine interest in acting upon complaints as a basis for improving the system?