Victoria’s WorkCover reforms set to be examined via State Parliamentary Inquiry

A State Parliamentary Inquiry will examine the proposed WorkCover reforms that were initially expected to come into effect in Victoria in March 2024.  

This week, Victoria’s Legislative Council voted 23-17 in favour of the upper house Inquiry into the WorkCover reforms. The Inquiry is set to report back with its findings by 6 February 2024. The setting up of this Inquiry means the WorkCover reforms will not be enshrined in law this year.  

The Inquiry has come about as the Victorian Coalition and the Greens joined forces to vote against the proposed reforms by the Government, which are intended to overhaul the eligibility and testing requirements under WorkCover.  

Leader of the Opposition, John Pesutto, said: “The Liberals and Nationals welcome the support of the Parliament for proper transparency and scrutiny to get these important reforms right.” 

Shadow Minister for WorkCover, Cindy McLeish, said: “This short, sharp Inquiry will ensure stakeholders are properly consulted and the fundamental flaws in Labor’s WorkCover Bill are resolved.” 

One of the major points of contention in the proposed WorkCover reform is that those workers who want to claim weekly WorkCover benefits for things such as stress and burnout will no longer be able to do so.  

The weekly benefits for stress and burnout will instead be replaced by 13 weeks of provisional payments intended to cover medical treatments and other support services. Furthermore, there is a cap of 2.5 years in terms of eligibility – that is, workers who have been receiving benefit payments for 2.5 years will need to have their claim reviewed, to ensure they’re eligible for ongoing payments.  

The Victorian Government argues these reforms are necessary to overhaul the current workers compensation scheme.  

Premiums increased back in July this year, impacting Victorian businesses, to ensure the running of the scheme. 

If the reforms aren’t passed urgently, the Victorian Government argues that businesses across the state will be hit with yet another premium increase; businesses will have to contend with a further average premium increase of 2.4% of renumeration, making it the biggest premium increase when compared to all states across Australia.