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Howard steals workers' compensation
Michael Rowney
The Howard Coalition government is removing workers' compensation rights of injured military personnel and other federal government employees with retrospective changes to the assessment system, according to the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).
In a February 25 media release, the ALA said that a new guide for assessing permanent impairment, due to come in to effect on March 1, will make it much harder for federal government employees injured at work to get compensation or sue the government for damages.
ALA president Tom Goudkamp said the guide's criteria covering the ability to qualify for damages for compensation for permanent impairment “have been specifically targeted at military personnel”, as they will apply to orthopaedic injuries, such as fractured limbs and back injuries.
“Most of the comp claims from the armed services fall under this category, but employees such as Telstra and Australia Post workers will also be affected”, Goudkamp said. He claimed the move was “a cynical attempt by the Howard government to reduce its comp liabilities, with the military accounting for the bulk of claims”.
He said ALA would consider a constitutional challenge to the guide as the High Court had previously found that abolishing the compensation rights of commonwealth employees breached the constitution.
From Green Left Weekly, March 9, 2005.
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