Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:47): (2274) My adjournment matter today is for the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC, and the action I seek is that the WorkCover system be reformed to be patient focused and compassionate in its interactions with injured workers. As I have done in this place before today, I am sharing the concerns of an injured worker who has engaged with my office. They wish to remain anonymous, but it is important that the minister hear their thoughts. They have been injured at work and have had a terrible experience trying to navigate the WorkCover system. These are their words:

[QUOTE AWAITING VERIFICATION]

I want to speak about the hurdles faced by injured workers navigating the WorkSafe system, a system built not for the worker but for the employer. From the moment a worker creates an online account to lodge a claim, their employer and the insurer are notified, often before the claim is even complete. Anything shared with the insurer is shared with the employer. The employer chooses the agent who will ‘best serve their needs’, not the injured worker’s, and drives the entire process, instructing the insurer on what to do and what not to do. WorkSafe itself is not customer focused. Compare it with the Transport Accident Commission – same state and same system, yet the TAC is patient focused. Why is WorkSafe so different?

There are virtually no protections for workers against employer intimidation or retaliation. Legal protections exist on paper, but there are no enforcement and no physical measures in place. Employers can turn up at a worker’s home with impunity, and notifying WorkSafe about claim interference is met with silence. Workers’ claims can even be denied without an independent medical examination. Is that not unlawful?

Navigating WorkSafe is a labyrinth of rules and laws. The agent handbook is effectively the Bible, but it is not written in plain English. Injured workers are expected to manage this alone, often without legal advice. In Victoria a lawyer is essential, yet most will not get involved until 130 weeks have passed and payments have ceased. The system is deliberately opaque. If it were easy, everyone would apply. WorkSafe is the only system in the world that rewards agents with performance bonuses for denying claims rather than supporting workers. This means less money is available for treatment and rehabilitation.

It is time to ask: why do we have two parallel systems, WorkSafe and TAC, in the same state? WorkSafe should be merged into TAC. We need a system that supports injured workers, not one designed to protect employers and deny claims. Injured workers deserve fairness, clarity and protection. Anything less is unacceptable.