
Issue No 111		14 September 2001

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News

Compo: Threshold Too High

The Carr Government faces another battle with the union movement over workers compensation if it pushes to implement the recommendations of the Sheahan Inquiry into workers compensation in their totality.

While welcoming aspects of the report, the Labor Council's workers compensation campaign committee this week signaled it had serious issues with the findings.

Labor Council secretary John Robertson said the recommendations must be gauged against two criteria - have workers benefits been reduced?; and have workers access to benefits been reduced?

"The union movement has said from Day One that we are not anti-reform," Robertson said says.

"But we have also made clear that our number one priority is our members' interests - we are not going to compromise on their rights at a time when they are extremely vulnerable."

At a meeting of affiliates NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca signaled the recommendations were up for negotiation with all stakeholders.

Threshold Too High

Primary concern revolves around the recommendation to increase the threshold to access common law to 20 per cent of the whole of body.

Sheahan would offset this by increasing the benefits under the stautory scheme to $250,000, but he has not provided any date to implement this increase - instead saying it should be upped when the scheme can afford it.

There also continues to be uncertainty about how workers with psychological damage will be assessed, the Sheahan report being silent on the issue, meaning it will be determined by a separate review of medical assessment.

The Labor Council has referred the report to its medical advisor Porofessor Michael Fernside to profile the impact of the common law threshold at 20 per ncent, 15 per cent and 10 per cent thresholds.

Some Good Ideas

Unions have, however, welcomed aspects of the report including the end to election and the universal payment for domestic care.

Justice Sheahan recommends that workers should not have to choose between taking common law action or taking benefits under the no-fault scheme. Currently a worker suing their employer forfeits their rights to statutory benefits.

And the report also recommends that seriously injured workers should receive compensation for home care, rather than the current situation where this can only be sought through common law damages.

A further meeting of the workers compensation campaign committee will be held

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  Issue 111 contents

Interview: Amidst the Debris
ACTU President Sharan Burrow surveys the wreckage from a week that rocked the world.

Politics: Consequences of Empire
The horror of the events in New York has not led to all American and international observers feeling committed to bloody revenge.

Industrial: Grounded
Ansett workers lay bare their feelings at seeing their company driven into oblivion.

International: Election Results from East Timor
Fretelin as expected has topped the poll in East Timor�s first free democratic election and the violence predicted by some has not eventuated.

E-Change: 3.2 The Electronic Consumerist
In their latest instalment Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel ask how effective has the law become in safeguarding the things that really matter to us?

Legal: Howard's Falkland War
Zoe Reynolds chronicles the bizarre tale of the Tampa and how a group of refugees bacame pawns in a bigger political game.

Compo: Round Two Begins
Nancy Searle reviews the Sheahan Report and highlights some of the areas of concern to injured workers.

Economics: Knowledge, Power, Banking
Raj Patel questions whether a new World Bank initiative is actually designed to control the way the Third World thinks.

Review: Political Theatre
The Naked Theatre Company is a youthful, adventurous, professional, Sydney theatre company committed to the development and production of Australian playwrights.

Satire: Howard US Visit "Marginally Overshadowed"
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said his US trip was a complete success, if slightly upstaged towards the middle.

» Howard Deserts Ansett Workers

» Trans Tasman Battle for Entitlements

» Qantas Workers Move To Protect Their Entitlements

» Unions Denounce Muslim Attacks

» Fund Established for New York Workers

» Australian Unionist Lost in New York

» US Flight Crews Support Ansett Workers

» Compo: Threshold Too High

» Della Moves on Premium Evasion

» Travel Site Severs Burma Links

» Paint Company Wants Strike Declared Illegal

» Casino Staff Locked Out Again

» Tax Staff to Strike Back

» Union Applauds Deet Ruling On Clothing

» Unions Take Message to Migrant Workers

» Get Ready to Wobble

» Activists' Notebook

» STOP PRESS: Howard Rolls Abbott on Entitlements