Wednesday, 27 August 2025

WorkCover

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:58): (1890) My adjournment today is to the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC, and the action I seek is that the disastrous WorkCover ‘modernisations’ that came into effect last year be repealed.

[NAME AWAITING VERIFICATION]

Michael, who has asked me to share this story, his story, served as a health and safety representative committed to creating a safer workplace. His psychological injury arose from bullying and harassment by managers after he raised critical occupational health and safety concerns. But the trauma that broke him was not only from the workplace; it came from the workers compensation system itself. In November 2024 Michael was initially assessed at 30 per cent whole-person impairment, acknowledging the deep impact of his injury. Yet just two months later, in January 2025, this rating was inexplicably downgraded to 15 per cent without any explanation or consultation. This brutal cut was not just a number; it dismissed his suffering and stripped away his rights. Although legislation guarantees injured workers the right to timely payments, it took six months for the agent to correct mistakes in Michael’s weekly payments. During this time Michael was forced to survive on reduced payments while mentally fighting the agent and proving that he was at high risk of self-harm.

Since June 2025, following the downgraded whole person impairment rating requested by the agent and WorkSafe, Michael has endured two months with no weekly payments at all, leaving him isolated, vulnerable and desperate. Michael’s repeated requests for access to critical documents and transparency were met with stonewalling and silence. The gaslighting and dismissal shattered his trust and sense of reality, pushing him into despair, self-harm and hospitalisation. The psychological scars left by his workplace injury are deep, but it is the cruelty and neglect of the workers compensation system that nearly destroyed him. To make matters worse, the new WPI system, introduced last year intended to fairly assess ongoing entitlements, is being misused by agents and WorkSafe, lacking proper governance or oversight. Injured workers like Michael face premature and unfair decisions that strip them of dignity and support. Michael’s story is a devastating example of how the workers compensation system inflicts far more harm than the original injury. It reveals a system that retraumatises vulnerable workers, denies basic support and drives some to the brink of despair, all while failing those it was meant to protect. Minister, let us fix the system.