A regulator could be empowered to overturn the decisions of companies self-insured against workplace injuries, with the Victorian Ombudsman finding the system is "patchy and unequal", and highlighting a case where a worker who was entitled to $75,000 was offered a $2,000 settlement.
This major user-friendly report looks back at all the major and most interesting workplace safety and compensation developments from the start of the calendar year, including the ministerial vote on industrial manslaughter, multiple manslaughter charges, the widespread introduction of new psychosocial risk regulations, and a major WHS case involving the deaths of overseas students.
This major OHS Alert report reviews all the need-to-know workplace health and safety and workers' comp developments from the past few months, including the passage of game-changing Respect@Work laws, numerous WHS amendments, COVID rulings, a state-first workplace manslaughter charge, and a record-smashing reckless conduct fine.
Australian researchers have identified factors contributing to the heightened risk of self-harm among workers' compensation recipients and others with disabling work injuries, and say there are numerous intervention opportunities, including for employers, "along the pathway between work disability and suicide".
Safe Work Australia has released the 24th edition of its Comparative Performance Monitoring Report, which shows safety regulators in some jurisdictions are increasingly resorting to prohibition notices to shut down unsafe work.
An artificial-intelligence chatbot can help injured workers who are off work and need psychological support tackle the everyday challenges of their recovery, researchers have found.
As part of a major project aimed at helping employers redesign work to prevent psychological injuries - supported by three leading Australian universities - researchers have identified the main causes of the high psychological injury rate in the health sector.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman's investigation into allegations that Comcare engaged in "doctor shopping", to block injured workers' claims, has "not identified significant compliance concerns", but called for the authority to improve record-keeping and transparency around its use of medical examinations.