Administrative and scheme delivery changes

Workers’ Psychological Support Service

Since 2018 the Office of Industrial Relations has administered a grant for the Workers’ Psychological Support Service, which connects workers with a work-related psychological injury with existing community and social support services, including emergency accommodation and housing support, family and domestic violence services, grief and loss support, financial counselling, and social inclusion programs. Workers and their families can access the service prior to, during, or after they have made a claim.

Mine dust health support service

The Queensland Government has established the Mine Dust Health Support Service as a shared initiative between the Office of Industrial Relations, Resources Safety and Health Queensland and WorkCover Queensland to support mine workers with confidential access to counselling, and guidance regarding respiratory health screening, community supports and compensation entitlements.

Research grants – occupational dust lung diseases

In 2022, the Queensland Government announced more than $3 million in grants for occupational dust lung disease research. The grants were part of a commitment to fund medical research into occupational dust lung diseases, particularly coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (black lung) and silicosis.

The University of Queensland (UQ) has been funded to collaborate with the Chicago School of Public Health, University of Illinois, to research early detection, prevention, and progression of mineral dust-related lung diseases. UQ has also been funded to collaborate with the University of New South Wales to identify factors critical to the development, severity and progression of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and silicosis. i-Med Queensland also received funding for an investigation to compare the effectiveness of diagnostic screening methods.

Safely returning to work after a mine dust lung disease (MDLD) diagnosis – expert medical guidelines

Queensland has developed world first expert medical guidelines to assist with decisions on safe return to work, including what levels of dust exposure are appropriate for workers with disease and ongoing health monitoring of workers. The guidelines provide a best practice and evidenced-based framework which considers the individual circumstances of the worker’s MDLD, including its severity and the best outcome that can be achieved.

Policy Developments

Third 5-yearly review of the Queensland workers’ compensation scheme

Under section 584A of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (the Act), the Minister for Industrial Relations must ensure a review of the operation of the workers’ compensation scheme is completed at least once in every 5 year period.

The Minister must prepare a report about the outcome of the review and, as soon as practicable after the review is completed, table the report in the Legislative Assembly.

The terms of reference for the 2023 review required the reviewers to consider:

• the scheme’s performance in meeting its objectives under section 5 of the Act
• the effectiveness of current rehabilitation and return to work programs and policy settings, including ways to increase Queensland’s current return to work rate
• the management of psychological injuries in the scheme, including the growth of secondary psychological injuries
• any matters that may be relevant in the remake of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2014, and
• any national regulatory proposals or findings from national reviews in relation to gig workers and other forms of insecure work that should be taken into account by the government in its consideration of the outcomes of the 2019 Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement for workers’ compensation entitlements for workers in the gig economy and the taxi and limousine industry.

The report of the 2023 review has been tabled in Queensland Parliament. The report made 54 recommendations of both legislative and administrative character. As at 31 December 2023 the Queensland Government was in the process of finalising a response to the recommendations.

Legislative Amendments

Personal Injuries Proceedings and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2022

On 30 June 2022, the Personal Injuries Proceedings and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2022 (the Act) received assent. The Act creates 2 main offences to protect the workers’ compensation and personal injury schemes and injured workers from “claim farming” practices. The new laws prohibit:

• approaching or contacting another person to solicit or induce them to make a claim, and
• giving or receiving financial incentives for referring claims or potential claims.

From 31 October 2022, law practices are required to show that they have not paid a claim farmer for a claim by submitting a Law Practice Certificate to the insurer at various stages of both a statutory and common law claim.

Insurers are required to collect these certificates and notify the Workers’ Compensation Regulator when non-compliance is identified. Additionally, the Act creates a new duty for insurers to report a reasonable belief a person has provided a false or misleading law practice certificate or committed a claim farming offence.

The Act also confirms the policy intent for when an entitlement to terminal workers’ compensation benefits arises by inserting an explicit 5-year timeframe in the definition of ‘terminal condition’.

These changes do not remove a workers’ right to access terminal compensation payments in the future. Access to common law and workers’ compensation entitlements, such as weekly benefits, medical, rehabilitation and return to work support and lump sum payments are still available to workers before their injury is in its final stages.